Williams McKenzie

What Williams McKenzie does

Williams McKenzie is a privately held, full-service New Zealand law firm headquartered at 4 Durham Street, Rangiora, in North Canterbury. The firm was constituted under its current name on 1 August 2008, but its operational lineage stretches back to Arthur Rhodes' Christchurch practice in 1884 and to Alan Fraser's Rangiora practice from 1934, with successive mergers forming Rhodes Godby & Fraser (1949), Rhodes Fraser & Co, Fraser Venning Crerar, Crerar Williams (1999) and ultimately Williams McKenzie. Director Tania McKenzie, who joined in 1995 and became a partner in 2002, now leads the firm following Ron Williams' retirement in July 2022.

The firm delivers legal services across six practice areas: Property (residential, commercial and rural conveyancing; subdivisions), Commercial (business sales and purchases, corporate banking and finance, leasing, company formation, shareholder and partnership agreements), Family (relationship property, care of children, dissolution, domestic violence, paternity, adoption), Employment (contracts, disciplinary, redundancy, personal grievances, ERA proceedings), Private Client (wills, enduring powers of attorney, estate administration, trusts, retirement village advice) and Litigation, supplemented by Notary Public services after Tania McKenzie's February 2020 appointment by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Approximately 14 team members deliver this work, including a Director/Notary Public, a Senior Associate, an Associate, a Senior Solicitor, Registered Legal Executives and support staff. The firm is an accredited Legal Aid provider and offers a free Family Legal Advice Service.

Commercially, Williams McKenzie bills via hourly rates and fixed fees, with a disclosed Notary Public minimum charge of NZ$120 plus GST; broader pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market is traditional and sales-led: a single Rangiora office, walk-in and appointment-based consultations (8:30am–5:00pm with out-of-hours appointments by arrangement), direct referrals from existing clients, and community sponsorship of local organisations including Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Canterbury, the North Canterbury Soroptimists Christmas Tree Festival and the Rangiora Art Society. Technology is limited to general legal practice-management tools and a marketing website; there is no proprietary platform, no mobile application, and no API surface. The firm operates only in New Zealand and is regulated under the country's Anti-Money Laundering regime effective 1 July 2018.

Name

Williams McKenzie

Legal name

Williams McKenzie

Website

https://williamsmckenzie.co.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Williams McKenzie is a privately held, full-service New Zealand law firm based in Rangiora, North Canterbury, serving individuals, families and small businesses with property, commercial, family, employment, private client, litigation and Notary Public legal services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (54111), Title Abstract and Settlement Offices (541191)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate & Commercial Law (BPAHAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Family & Private Client (Trusts & Estates) Law (BPAHAAAK), Notary & Signing Agent Services (Remote/Onsite) (BPAJAOAF)

Keywords

• Property law services
• Commercial law services
• Family law services
• Employment law services
• Estate planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Bells

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Legal Services Billing: Professional legal services billed through hourly rates and fixed fees for specific services. Notary Public services have a minimum charge of $120 plus GST.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Williams McKenzie is a North Canterbury law firm delivering professional legal services across six practice areas: property law (residential, commercial and rural transactions), commercial law (business sales, corporate finance, leasing, company formation), family law (relationship property, care of children, domestic violence, dissolution), employment law (contracts, disciplinary, grievances, ERA proceedings), private client (wills, enduring powers of attorney, trusts, estate administration), and Notary Public services (document authentication for overseas use). The firm is accredited for Legal Aid and offers a free Family Legal Advice Service for care of children matters.

Product overview

Williams McKenzie is a law firm offering comprehensive legal services across six main practice areas: Property Law Services, Commercial Law Services, Family Law Services, Employment Law Services, Private Client Services, and Notary Public Services. The firm serves clients in North Canterbury, New Zealand from their office in Rangiora, providing expert legal advice and representation across these interconnected practice areas.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Property Law Services Legal services for buying and selling residential, commercial and rural property, including structuring ownership, mortgage financing, subdivisions and land development, and occupation right agreements. Targeted at property buyers, sellers, owners, developers, and rural clients.
• Commercial Law Services Legal services for businesses including buying and selling a business, corporate banking and finance, commercial leasing, company formation, and shareholder and partnership agreements. Targeted at business owners, entrepreneurs, and corporate clients.
• Family Law Services Legal services for family matters including contracting out agreements, separation and relationship property division, care of children, dissolution of marriage, domestic violence, paternity, adoption, and claims against estates. Targeted at individuals and families.
• Employment Law Services Legal services for employment matters including pre-employment advice, employment contracts, disciplinary procedure and redundancy, personal grievances representation, negotiated settlements and mediations, and Employment Relations Authority proceedings. Targeted at employers and employees.
• Private Client Services Legal services for individuals including wills, enduring powers of attorney, deeds of family arrangement, estate administration, retirement village and rest home care advice, asset protection, and trust establishment and administration. Targeted at individuals planning estates and elder care.
• Notary Public Services Notary public services for verifying authenticity of documents for use overseas, witnessing signatures on legal documents, administering oaths and certifying documents for international recognition. Targeted at individuals and businesses with cross-border document needs.

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of North CanterburyminorOthersCommunity sponsorship relationship where Williams McKenzie sponsors the organization's decorated tree at the North Canterbury Soroptimists Christmas Tree Festival. Supports the organization's mission to support youth in the community.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Tompkins Wake: A New Zealand commercial law firm with offices across the country. Comparable in commercial, property, and private client offerings, and competes with Williams McKenzie for North Canterbury-based business clients seeking larger-firm capabilities.
• Duncan Cotterill: A South Island-rooted full-service New Zealand law firm with strong Christchurch presence and offices in multiple regions. Directly comparable in practice-area breadth (property, commercial, family, employment, private client) but operates at materially greater scale than Williams McKenzie.
• Lane Neave: A Christchurch-based full-service New Zealand law firm covering property, commercial, employment, family, and private client work. Direct overlap in practice areas and Canterbury-region competition with Williams McKenzie, though Lane Neave operates from multiple offices with a much larger team.
• Buddle Findlay: One of New Zealand's largest full-service commercial law firms. While operating at a much higher tier, it competes indirectly with Williams McKenzie for North Canterbury commercial, property, and corporate-finance mandates that exceed the smaller firm's capacity.
• Bell Gully: A leading New Zealand corporate and commercial law firm. While focused on larger commercial mandates, it competes with Williams McKenzie for higher-end North Canterbury corporate, banking, and property-transaction work that the smaller firm would refer up.
• Anthony Harper: A New Zealand full-service commercial law firm with strong South Island presence in Christchurch. Comparable in commercial, property, and private client service offerings, and competes for the same North Canterbury regional client base, albeit with significantly greater scale and specialisation.
• Wynn Williams: A long-established Canterbury-headquartered full-service law firm with property, commercial, family, and private client practices across the South Island. Comparable to Williams McKenzie in service mix and Canterbury regional presence, but significantly larger in headcount, geographic reach, and resource depth.

Direct peers

• Saunders Robinson Brown: A long-standing regional New Zealand law firm with multiple South Island offices. Closely comparable in model: a multi-generational, community-rooted full-service firm with property, family, commercial, and private client practices, competing for the same tier of regional clients as Williams McKenzie.

Others

• NZ Legal: The New Zealand Law Society is the professional body governing lawyers and notaries public in New Zealand. Relevant as the regulatory ecosystem in which Williams McKenzie operates, including the Legal Aid accreditation framework and Notary Public appointment system that underpin the firm's differentiated credentials.

Emerging players

• Connect Legal: A New Zealand online legal-services platform offering fixed-fee conveyancing, wills, and other commoditised legal products. Represents the digital, technology-enabled competitive threat to traditional community-based firms like Williams McKenzie, particularly in conveyancing and simple private-client work.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/williams-mckenzie

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Williams McKenzie