When Auckland’s DG Law sought an accountancy firm with its finger on the pulse of the legal industry, Moore Markhams Auckland was the obvious choice.
The accountancy and business advisory firm has a wide breadth of experience and knowledge in the competitive Auckland legal market – providing DG Law with insights and benchmarking so it can ensure it is delivering the best possible services for clients.
The 22-person firm based in Mt Wellington was established in 1984. DG Law provides a broad range of general practice legal services, including commercial law, trusts and estate planning services, employment law, property law and family law, says practice manager Brandon Tam.
In 2021, DG Law was looking for a new accountant and business advisor. “We wanted accountants who understood the nuances of the legal market well and had legal clients – Moore Markhams fit the bill.”
Led by director and legal expert
Sam Bassett and manager
Elwin Loo, the Moore Markhams team provides DG Law with a range of accounting and advisory services, says Brandon.
“While maintaining professionalism and confidentiality, they can give us insights as to what they’re seeing in the legal market. For example, when it comes to hourly rates, they know what legal firms have done in the past and what current rates are, so they can put things into context for us. We can compare ourselves – it’s very hard to benchmark yourself without that information.
“Sam and the team are approachable, and we can communicate with them whenever we need to,” says Brandon.
“They can convey the right information while avoiding technical accounting speak. They can break things down into a simple context, which is not something all accountants can do well.”
DG Law is part of NZ Law – an association of independent legal practices from around New Zealand that shares knowledge and insights, training opportunities and assists each other for out-of-town clients.
A key point of difference of the firm is the range of languages it can cater for, with its multi-lingual lawyers able to converse in Mandarin, Japanese, Cantonese, German, Korean and Bahasa Melayu (spoken in Malaysia).
“These services do get used quite often, given the diverse range of nationalities in Auckland.”
The firm’s ‘mobile lawyer’ service is also a point of difference and DG Law’s branded cars can often be seen on Auckland roads en route to clients.
Strong people skills, coupled with legal expertise, are vital when it comes to providing the best service for clients, says Brandon.
“As a general practice firm, we help a wide range of people in many different situations. These situations aren’t always simple, and being able to understand and effectively communicate the matter at hand is important when providing legal services for our clients.”
Specialist legal services offered by Moore Markhams Auckland include advice on firm mergers, partner admission and succession / retirement, law firm valuations, litigation support, expert witness support, and audit and forensic accounting.
www.dglaw.co.nz