New Business Profile Enterprise Law, Takapuna
Legal firm chooses Takapuna The Enterprise Law team, from left:- Eddie Taia, Michael Taia, Anthony Ruakere, Dave Kapa and Savannah Petero.
At Channel Magazine we get goosebumps when interesting businesses decide to relocate to the Shore. Over the past few months this has been the case with boutique law firm Enterprise Law, who have moved from the city to a new office facing onto Hurstmere Green in the heart of Takapuna. Channel's Aidan Bennett sat down for a chat with Anthony Ruakere of the firm in mid-July. To say I am envious of the new Enterprise Law office in Takapuna is an understatement. To work overlooking the fabulous Hurstmere Green, only 100 metres or so away from the beach and only metres away from three of my favourite cafés – Melba, Jam and Zomer – is about as good as it gets. It was at Zomer that I met Anthony Ruakere for a chat. Anthony Ruakere explains that Enterprise Law relocated from the Auckland CBD to the heart of Anthony Ruakere. Takapuna as part of a perceived “trending suburban shift amongst lawyers, but also because we want to give our clients a more pleasant and laid back experience than that provided by the Auckland inner-city environs”. The firm combines three specialist areas with a thriving general practice. "We are a bit different from the norm in the legal industry in that whilst we run a general legal practice, we also specialise in three distinct areas that, to my knowledge, aren’t shared by other law firms.” Anthony's area of specialty is sports law and he's tall, fit-looking, and easy to pick as a retired top-level sports person. He played rugby professionally before breaking his neck which brought a premature end to his career. He spent five years in the UK, working in law in London, playing rugby and doing a post-graduate degree in law at Cambridge University. He returned to settle in Devonport, coach the Ponsonby Premier Rugby Team and Auckland 2nd XV, and work in athlete management and in-house legal counsel at sports management company Esportif International. It was at Esportif where Anthony gained a clear understanding of the professional athlete contracting landscape internationally and across codes, along with related issues such as product endorsements and advertising. "Sports law as we have come know it, is growing in scope and complexity, covering areas as diverse as contracting, corporate structuring and integrity in sport (doping, match fixing, misconduct, etc). Our collective experience at Enterprise Law allows us to cover that spectrum," explains Anthony. The areas that Anthony and Dave Kapa (who also has a sports law background) cover in sports include: athlete contracting; rights commercialisation (sponsorship, licensing and endorsement); intellectual property rights (protection and enforcement); broadcasting/rights proceedings; corporate governance/legal entity structuring; integrity in sport. Enterprise Law founder Michael Taia leads the Trade Law practice. In particular, Michael’s commercial law expertise positions him well to advise on supply agreements
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Issue 46 - August 2014 www.channelmag.co.nz
Anthony Ruakere addressing the attendees at the opening of the new Enterprise Law Takapuna office in early June.
Michael established Enterprise Law after studying law at Auckland University and gaining top level experience at some of New Zealand’s most prominent law firms.