Morrison Kent Wellington 105 The Terrace, Wellington Central, Wellington 6011

"We were very disappointed in Morrison Kent lawyers. They have a culture of missing deadlines. When we raised this with them their response was that they didn't miss any deadlines because "the letter in reply to [other person's] lawyer was sent on the date they had requested". What that doesn't say is that they failed, time and time again, to get work to us by dates that they said they would in the two weeks prior to this. We had been following up with them throughout this time, asking about when we would get the draft back and they kept missing the dates they said. We finally got the first draft only two days before we had to get back to the other party, so then we had to take time off work to get it all finalised in time. They also try to make you pay for 100% of the work in advance before the work is carried out. Don’t! or better still don’t use them at all. The reason they say that they have to do this is because "there is uncertainty around how the matters will unfold". We suspect it is more because when they give poor performance, they already have your money and their attitude is “screw-you”. We politely raised a variety of issues we had with them including the fact that they repeatedly didn’t deliver things when they said they would (which is when we got the very lawyerish response quoted above back) and asked if we could have a discount for the sub-standard performance, but of course they said No – they already had our money. Maybe they often give bad performance and so that is now why they require payment upfront?"

"Edit: Morrison Kent said they would get in contact regarding my complaint, but have not for months. Add that to the extensive list of grievances. My property lawyer made major mistakes at every step of the home purchase process and didn't take accountability for most of them. Wrong title on the S&P agreement (this was initially a vendor mistake but I also paid $500 for a complete boilerplate contract here). It said Freehold on a Freehold in stratum title. I paid that $500 for an S7P because I explained there was an existing builder's report but I wanted indemnity insurance from a builder's report, so I had a conditional contract prepared. A mate with a competent lawyer told me afterward that you can actually get an existing report assigned to you for half the price and none of the hassle of the builder actually doing a report. So I had to get the report changed to remove the condition. I really unsubtly hinted the lawyer could have told me herself for her future reference, but she did not take the hint. Lawyer was not very available (1-2 days to answer fairly urgent and simple emails), so during contract negotiations I had to change the date (from a relative e.g. days after agreement to a fixed date) and also the price. This was really hard because the lawyer didn't give me pdf without any text fields to edit, but I made it work because I didn't trust her to do it. I think those fields I changed were the only ones the lawyer filled. Having them do the S&P literally only served to make the process harder Decided to charge me what seems to be $120 in a surprise office expenses fee (they must use liquid guide in those printers) and when I pointed out that wasn't part of the fixed price plus disbursements, the lawyer just said (and I paraphrase) "Nuh uh". The lawyer also tended not to answer direct questions like "Is this something the vendor must fix before settlement", instead giving a more general answer about types of things that might be fixed. If I wanted a general answer, I'd use google and not a lawyer's services. However the responses were so late it didn't really matter anyway. I actually went to Morrison Kent on recommendation of a family member. They ostensibly have a good lawyer, but that isn't the individual I worked with. I'm telling everyone who will listen to avoid this firm."

"Even though I had a very straight forward legal matter I was treated as a valued client. Debbie Dunbar and the team were all fantastic and very professional. I've had terrible experiences with legal representation previously so was cautious but can highly recommend Morrison Kent."

"I contracted Natalie Smith who was supported by Emily Hu to do the conveyencing on my property purchase in Wellington. I found their service to be effective, efficient and very timely. I was receiving responses to queries on the same day even in the later hours of an evening. As lawyers their language is impersonal, unambiguous and direct which can come off as distant, but its how lawyers should operate, fact based, plain speaking and clear. I appreciated this most in the service. I met with Natalie personally once, she presented well, was polite and the process of signing documents was clear and precise. I would gladly recommend Morrison Kent and Natalie and Emily to anyone seeking the same residential conveyencing of the sale or purchase of a property. Nāku nā, Raymond Faulkner"

"Maretta Twentyman is extremely knowledgeable about family law and the eternal intricacies of relationship breakdowns. Simply, she knows her stuff and is very easy to deal with. I have recommended her to a friend going through a difficult time and she has been really helpful."