City lawyers seal merger

The October 1 merger of Whangarei law firms Webb Ross and Urlich McNab Kilpatrick will create the city's biggest law firm and consolidate a growing legal presence in the area around the Whangarei Courthouse.

UMK will join Webb Ross at the firm's premises in Hunt St at the back of the courthouse, creating a combined workforce of 54, made up of eight partners, 10 lawyers and three consultants, along with legal executives and support staff.

The merged business will be called Webb Ross McNab Kilpatrick (WRMK).

The "Urlich", which disappears, is Roko Urlich, who moved to Auckland about 10 years ago and retired from his UMK consultancy in 2011.

Webb Ross used to be the city's biggest law firm before staff cuts during the recession and is currently running neck and neck with Thomson Wilson barristers and solicitors. Each has 34-35 staff.

Thomson Wilson is also on the move, relocating from its inner city chambers in Rathbone St to the first floor of a large new building on the former World of Fitness site between Hunt St and Mansfield Tce on July 17, becoming a near neighbour of Webb Ross in the courthouse area.

The WRMK partners will be Megan Bawden, David Grindle, Jim Kilpatrick, Wayne McKean, Neil McNab, Tony Savage, Stuart Spicer and Steve Wong.

The lawyers will be Rosie Allen, Barbara Beck, Jared Cairns, Judy Collins, Andrew Easterbrook, Rebecca Merry, Emma Smith, Rowena Sith, Chris Taylor and Ryan Welsh.

The consultants will be Vanessa Crosby, Peter Dallas and Bruce McGregor.

UMK had been planning to move from its first floor suite in Cameron St, CBD, to the new offices being created in the former Whangarei Police Station but an approach from Webb Ross suggesting a merger led to a change of plan.

Neil McNab says ultimately both firms agreed they had similar philosophies and complementary areas of legal expertise, and a merger offered superior opportunities for combined strengths and flexibility of succession planning.