About Us
We have been providing legal services for our clients since 1912.
With our expertise in the business, finance and corporate fields together with our dispute resolution team, we provide solutions for our clients.
Our firm widely advises on securities law, securities enforcement, insolvency, establishing business and personal asset structures, and business strategy.
In addition to servicing corporate and commercial clients, we have extensive experience providing full-service legal advice for both onshore and offshore clients. Through our connection with the Consul Group structure and Migration Partners, we can also help you with banking solutions and migration services.
“We partner with our clients for optimal outcomes; in law and in life.”
Paul Connolly
Partner Auckland
Community and diversity
Stace Hammond has always been conscious of how we can assist both the local communities in which we operate, as well as make a difference further afield.
That focus on the community continues, both through the Kaitiakitanga Charitable Trust founded by Murray Grant, as well as our support of other charitable trusts and causes.
History
In 1912, New Zealand was a young country full of opportunities, and the firm that is now Stace Hammond was started in that year by George Percival Rogers, then 31 years old. The next year, George’s brother-in-law Edward (‘Ted’) Vincent Stace joined the firm (which became known as Rogers & Stace), in an upstairs room opposite the Hamilton Hotel in Victoria Street in Hamilton, New Zealand. Of the several law firms in existence at that time, only Stace Hammond remains as the oldest non-amalgamated law firm in Hamilton.
World War I hit the country and its inhabitants hard, and Hubert M Hammond, returning in 1919 from military service overseas, finished his solicitor’s exams and joined the firm in April 1921 at the age of 27 years. He stayed with the firm for the rest of his career, and died in 1981. Hammond was an avid gardener, and his name is enshrined in Hamilton’s Hammond Park, and the Hamilton Gardens Hammond Camelia Garden.
In 1922, the firm saw the loss of George Rogers at the young age of 41, who had a stroke while appearing in Court, and passed away the following night.
The names of Ted Stace (d. 1964) and Hubert Hammond, the remaining partners, still embody the firm today, more than 100 years later. James (‘Jim’) Alastair Grace joined the firm in 1954, and retired some four decades later. He stated at the firm’s 75th Jubilee celebrations that Ted Stace and Hubert Hammond “were both men of tremendous integrity and probity – both set a high standard of practice and were very sensitive to people”.
Jim Grace joined the firm in 1954, and retired some four decades later. In addition to carrying on the Law Society and local body representation he was also a Judge of the Court Martials Appeal Court. He served on the Hamilton City Council for 6 years and on the Trusteebank Waikato Board for approximately 24 years. He was President of the bank on 2 separate occasions and was the New Zealand President of the Trusteebanks Association.
Many staff and partners of Stace Hammond have been actively involved with iterations of the Law Society during its history, with several Council and Committee members and Henry J McMullin who was President of the Hamilton District Law Society from 1938 to 1941 and Ted Stace Vice President in 1933/34.
The local community and civic affairs have always been part of Stace Hammond partners ‘giving back’. In addition to Jim Grace’s Council service, Hubert Hammond was a Hamilton Borough Councillor for approximately 20 years amongst many other civic positions and received the MBE for services to civic affairs.
Ian Campbell Davidson, who joined the Firm in 1961,was also a City Councillor for 6 years and served on the Central Waikato Power Board.
John Anthony Faire, who joined the firm in 1971, retired in 1996 upon his appointment as a Master of the High Court, becoming an Associate Judge of the High Court in 2004. He became a full High Court Judge in 2013. He was also an author of the New Zealand Commentary – Interpleader in Halsbury’s Laws of England and co-author of various other publications, including Sim Court Practice. He spent three years as an Examiner of the NZ Society of Accountants for Commercial Law from 1975 to 1977. A yachting fanatic John was President of the New Zealand Yachting Federation, International Yacht Racing Union and assisted the New Zealand entrant in several America’s Cup campaigns including in relation to rules and protests.
Paul Robert Heath joined the firm in 1981. He became a QC in 1998, and was appointed as a High Court Judge in 2002, retiring from the Bench in 2018 to practice as an arbitrator and mediator from Chambers. He remains President of the Court of Appeal of the Pitcairn Islands and a Judge of the Court of Appeal of Kiribati. In June 2019, he was appointed as a member of P.R.I.M.E Finances Panel of Experts for Dispute Resolution.
Two Magistrates (equivalent of District Court judges) were part of the firm: Trevor Maxwell in the late 1960s and James Julian (Jim) Weir in the 1980s.
Stace Hammond, its partners and staff, have long been passionate about the environment and giving back to the community. Hubert Hammond, a partner from 1921 was associated with the Hamilton Horticultural Society from 1925 until his death in 1981, was president of the New Zealand Camelia Society and of the New Zealand Daffodil Society. In the 21st century, Murray Grant, Consultant and a former partner, is heavily involved in the Kaitiakitanga Charitable Trust, and was key in implementing the firm’s major Centenary Project, the ‘100 Trees for 100 Years’ project in 2012 which saw the firm gifting groves of native trees which were planted in schools in the greater Waikato region as part of their environmental awareness programs.
For much of its history, Stace Hammond has been based in Hamilton. From the 1990s, the firm has also had a strong focus on the Auckland market, with central city offices which showcase a strong commercial, immigration and litigation offering from partners and staff.
Stace Hammond are proud of our heritage and history, and we continue to use what we’ve learned as a firm and as individuals to carry us confidently into the future, of law, and of our communities.
Our Team
With offices in Hamilton and Auckland, our staff are experts in assisting clients who are both local to us, or further afield. We pride ourselves on the abilities of our staff to handle the most difficult of situations, and those that are most important to our clients.
