The ADLS Environment & Resource Management Committee monitors legal developments at both central and local government level concerning environmental law and resource management. The committee is comprised of practitioners working in both the public and private sector.  It liaises closely with a wide range of stakeholders in the environmental and resource management sector including the Environment Court, Ministry for the Environment, and Auckland Council.

“There is so much going on in the Environmental Law sphere at the moment.  The next few years are going to see fundamental change in the sector as the RMA is repealed and replaced with the Natural and Built Environments Act and the Spatial Planning Act” says Joanna Beresford.  “I am looking forward to being able to make a positive contribution to the Committee’s work and working with the other Committee Members and drawing on their considerable breadth of talent, skill, and experience as we acclimatise to the changing regulatory and policy landscape”.

The appointment recognises Joanna’s knowledge and expertise in the field of environmental law and resource management.  Joanna and Beresford Law extend their congratulations to all new and returning members of ADLS committees.

Geoffrey and Joanna have each worked for leading Auckland CBD litigation firms since being admitted in 2005/2006.  Joanna specialises in resource management, environmental and local government law and Geoffrey specialises in civil/commercial litigation.

“In the past four and half years I have helped local authorities consent three waters infrastructure projects.  These are projects that make a positive difference to the environment and the communities they serve.  However, I found that the most rewarding work that I did was helping small to medium businesses participate effectively in the resource management system”, says Joanna.

“I have worked as an insurance litigator over the past five years.  Insurance disputes can cover a very wide range of industries.  I have worked on professional negligence claims, products liability claims, and health and safety prosecutions under various insurance policies.  I enjoyed the variety in insurance but now is the right time to start Beresford Law” said Geoffrey.

Perfect (pandemic) timing

Starting a new business at the best of times comes with a great deal of uncertainty.  We carefully considered whether the middle of the first major global pandemic in almost a century was really the right time.  Ultimately, however, we decided that life is just too short to put our life plans on hold (pandemic or no pandemic).

A new way of working

The key question that we discussed when founding Beresford Law, and kept coming back to, was what is really needed to provide high quality legal service clients.  The lockdowns proved that, with modern technology, lawyers can work incredibly flexibly and from just about anywhere.

Right now, with so many CBD businesses working from home until the Omicron surge passes, we have decided to operate our firm on a fully remote basis from our home in Mt Albert for the time being.  This has worked well for us.

Concluding comment

As a part of establishing Beresford Law, it has been a pleasant surprise to find that there are many amazing people in who are choosing to run their businesses in similar flexible ways to us.  We have also met some amazing and highly talented people, and we have really appreciated how generous they have been with their time, advice, and expertise.  The advice that we have received has allowed our business to hit the ground running.  We look forward to doing some good work in the year ahead.

Postscript

From April 2022 onwards we found that more and more people were returning to the CBD.  So, in May 2022 we moved into office premises at 6/20 Waterloo Quadrant – close to the High Court.