A boutique commercial and private law firm acting for founders, families, and first-movers. Clear advice, flat-fee quotes, no billable-hour theatre.
Harrow & Finch was founded in 2004 on a single, unfashionable idea: that the best legal advice is the kind you actually understand when you walk out of the room. Twenty years on, we remain deliberately small — three named partners, nine associates, and a long list of clients who stay with us through three decades of company, family, and property.
We act for founders building their first cap table, families restructuring inter-generational trusts, and executives negotiating the terms of their next chapter. The work changes. The approach does not. You meet a partner on day one; you still have that same partner on the day the matter resolves.
Our practice spans commercial, property, family, trusts, employment, litigation, and private client — each led by a named specialist, all of whom sit around the same meeting table when your file requires it. We price flat where we can, itemise where we can't, and tell you honestly when your matter is outside our circle of competence.
The following pages are an introduction — to the partners, the work we've done, and the clients who have written to us unprompted. If any of it resonates, the consultation is on the firm. Please do say hello.
| I. | Commercial & Corporate | Mergers, shareholder agreements, capital raises, joint ventures, SaaS contracting. From seed-stage term sheets to nine-figure exits. | Enquire |
| II. | Property & Conveyancing | Residential and commercial property transactions, subdivisions, leases, and cross-border purchases. Flat-fee quotes on standard sales. | Enquire |
| III. | Family & Relationship | Relationship property, prenuptial agreements, separation, care of children. Handled with discretion and without drama. | Enquire |
| IV. | Trusts & Estates | Family trusts, estate planning, succession, probate, and contested wills. Structured for the new Trusts Act 2019. | Enquire |
| V. | Employment | Senior employment agreements, restructuring, personal grievances, and restraint disputes — for employers and senior executives. | Enquire |
| VI. | Litigation & Dispute Resolution | Commercial disputes, shareholder actions, mediation, and appeals through to the Supreme Court. | Enquire |
| VII. | Immigration & Private Client | Investor visas, high-net-worth residency, cross-border structuring. Acting for founders relocating to and from Aotearoa. | Enquire |
Twenty years in M&A and corporate advisory. Previously at Bell Gully and Linklaters (London). Acts for New Zealand's most discreet family offices and two of its quieter unicorns. Known for the kind of term sheet that takes forty minutes to negotiate and never lands in dispute.
Twenty-two years in property, trust, and private client work. Former chair of the ADLS Property Law Committee. Specialises in the quiet art of the inter-generational transfer — the matters that never make the papers because they were structured properly ten years before.
Eighteen years in commercial disputes. High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court advocacy. Five years at the independent bar before joining the firm. Takes the cases other firms have already declined, and settles most of them quietly on the courthouse steps.
| № | Year | Category | Matter | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | 2024 | Commercial | Sale of privately-held NZ SaaS business to a Nasdaq-listed acquirer. Advised founders from term sheet to completion across a 14-month earnout, including cross-border tax structuring. | $112M enterprise value |
| 002 | 2024 | Property | $38M commercial portfolio refinance. Coordinated with ANZ and Westpac across seven CBD assets in three weeks. | Closed on schedule |
| 003 | 2023 | Litigation | Shareholder oppression claim — High Court. Represented a minority shareholder in a six-month action resolved at mediation. | $6.2M recovered |
| 004 | 2023 | Family | Out-of-court relationship property settlement. High-net-worth matter resolved pre-filing, preserving trust assets and privacy. | Resolved confidentially |
| 005 | 2022 | Corporate | Series B capital raise for a NZ deep-tech company. Structured the raise with three Australian and one US institutional lead, including IP assignment. | $22M raised |
| 006 | 2022 | Trusts | Trusts Act 2019 restructuring of a 40-year family trust. Brought vesting structure into compliance, unwound three layers of nominee ownership. | $64M under advice |
We've had three sets of lawyers during eight years of growth. Harrow & Finch are the only ones who got the commercial shape right and the human shape right. I take every important contract to Eleanor first.
James handled both our family trust and the sale of the Remuera house. Clear, calm, and always returned my calls the same day.
Amina took on a case two firms had declined. Six months later we settled on terms I wouldn't have imagined possible.
If you have read this far, it likely means you are weighing something. A business decision. A family matter. A letter you have received and do not know how to answer. Whatever it is, the first conversation is on the firm — there is no obligation, no junior associate, and no attempt to win you as a client on a first call.
Tell us what you are dealing with, in whatever detail is comfortable. Within twenty-four hours we will write back with an honest assessment — whether we can help, who the right partner is, and what a realistic fee range looks like. If your matter sits outside our practice, we will tell you, and recommend a firm that does the work better than we would.
That is, in the end, the old-fashioned premise of the firm. Good counsel, offered plainly, before the meter begins.