With its high ceilings, welcoming fireplace and kauri mantelpiece, Blackman Spargo's Rotorua office is not that of your usual law firm.
The design was intentional, according to senior partner Ian Blackman, who set up the boutique Froude St law firm 12 years ago with fellow partner Chris Spargo.
"Part of what we wanted to do was specialise in the rural sector and create an office that looks like a farmhouse."
Mr Blackman said Blackman Spargo was the only law firm in New Zealand that worked exclusively in the rural sector. "That's all we do."
At the recent 2013 New Zealand Law Awards, the firm was named runner-up for regional/suburban law firm of the year - open to all firms outside the four main centres.