Press Release: 19 November 2013

McShite and Associates has again been recognised as one of New Zealand’s top law firms.

At the New Zealand Law Awards held on 7 November, McShite and Associates was recognised as the 2013 Golden Dragon Chinese Takeaways Mid-size Admiralty Law Practice.

This award recognises excellence in the provision of legal services, and cements McShite and Associates’ position as one of New Zealand’s leading mid-size admiralty law practices.

The award comes only months after it was announced that the firm had been ranked Silver for New Zealand in Admiralty Law by Fanny’s Law Asia-Pacific Who’s Who, a publication so prestigious and exclusive that McShite and Associates had to pay over a thousand dollars for its placement.

“This award recognises our commitment to excellence and our absolute dedication to our clients,” said the firm’s managing partner, Sarah Johansson.

“In the last year we have seen dynamic growth in our organisation, despite a challenging economic environment and an inconvenient Serious Fraud Office investigation into our trust account practices.

“We continue to grow and develop as an organisation. We appointed three new partners this year, after several senior members of our firm quit in disgust and set up a rival firm, taking with them most of our key clients.

“We also made a strategic decision to move our offices from Queen Street in Auckland, and our decision to relocate to Huntly puts us on the very doorstep of the exciting and growing North Waikato admiralty law market.”

Ms Johansson said that McShite and Associates expected even bigger and better things in 2014, particularly with the recent retirement of Bruce Booger, the firm’s former managing partner, a bully and misogynist who was universally loathed by clients and staff alike, and whose gradual decline into senility and incontinence towards the end of 2011 severely affected organisation morale.

The 2013 Golden Dragon Chinese Takeaways Mid-size Admiralty Law Practice award recognised McShite and Associates’ excellence in the field of winning awards, said Ms Johansson.

“The win vindicates my decision this year to instruct staff to personally call clients and beg and plead with them to go online and vote for us,” she said.

“It shows that talking a lot about having an uncompromising commitment to client care, and including a message at the bottom of every client email and letter telling them where and how to vote, really paid dividends.

“Last year we decided that the Law Awards were a waste of time, and that they existed solely to enable service providers in the legal industry to market themselves to law firms. We distrusted their polling and judging methodologies, and we considered many of the past winners to be average performers at best. We regarded the entire exercise with a mixture of bemusement and contempt.

“But this year we were nominated in the top five for admiralty law for some reason, so we thought we’d have a go at winning it.

“Naturally we’re delighted with our win. It shows that we’re one of New Zealand’s very top law firms, and that all those people in the industry who reckon we’re one of the country’s most disgraceful and disreputable operators must be wrong. It also means that the Law Society inspectorate must be wrong.”

Ms Johansson paid tribute to McShite and Associates’ clients, many of whom have stuck with the firm despite being regarded for years by senior partners as cash cows to be milked at every available opportunity.

“A huge thank-you to the four clients who voted for us,” she said. “I know we’ve had our issues in the past, but we appreciate your taking the time to talk to our staff about the voting process. Our invoice is in the post.”