About
We are a general legal practice. We represent and advocate on behalf of our private clients, agencies, businesses, and farmers. Themis Law was established to offer considered, well-reasoned and balanced advice for all matters and when routine law turns complicated. We provide specialist insight into complex areas of property law, dispute resolution, and arbitration.
Our skills and experience are unique in Australasia. We offer unique perspectives on land-based problems others are not trained or experienced to do. We know that life isn’t always easy. We believe that problem-solving using legal tools is very powerful and we use these tools to guide and inform you to solve your problems and disputes. We put ourselves between you and the problem giving you the chance to make well-thought-out decisions about how your solution is reached. Our objective is to establish long-lasting positive relationships with you our client, to work towards reconciliation between the parties in dispute, and uphold respect and integrity throughout the process.
Lawrence Hill
I was admitted to the New Zealand Bar in 2000 having followed a passion for dispute solution in the mid-1990’s. I became more involved with rent disputes as a registered valuer and sought to gain a greater understanding and knowledge of the law and arbitration. That passion prompted a move from the valuation profession to the legal profession.
I am an Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand, a Registered Valuer, an Associate of the Arbitrator's and Mediator's Institute of New Zealand, an Associate Member of the New Zealand Institute of Valuers, and a Senior Member of the Property Institute of New Zealand.
I also have Australian qualifications in environmental noise, people and noise, noise modelling and prediction, and wind farm noise.
I actively promote a wide variety of dispute resolution techniques to advance the needs of my clients. As a trained arbitrator I have been involved with a very wide range of disputes. Over the past 20 years I have helped to organise and develop Arbitrator's and Mediator's group meetings in Hamilton and Christchurch and I have taught law and valuation practice and procedure at university before re-entering private practice in 2016.
I have always had an interest in farming and primary industries. I attended Lincoln College (as it then was) and maintain strong ties to the rural community and the land. I have developed a strong interest in resolving rural disputes. In 2010 I was proudly elected to the Lincoln University Council by my fellow academic staff members and I have maintained a very active interest in governance, tertiary education, and tertiary education law.
Things you should know about me … I loathe the lack of a salutations – especially in emails. If I had an epitaph it would probably be "He cared what he did, but cared more about who he did it with." In my spare time ponder land economic philosophy and theory, farm cattle and bees with my wife and our two dogs.
For more about Lawrence, see his LinkedIn profile...
Why Themis?
Themis is the daughter of Gaia (earth mother) and Uranus (sky father). Themis is one of the twelve Titans who were the second generation of divine beings in Greek mythology. Themis may be described as being the Lady of Good Counsel and is seen as the personification of divine order, fairness, law, natural law, and custom.
Justitia has similarities in Roman mythology, although the mythologies are subtly different. The blindfold seen on some depictions of both Themis and Justitia is said to represent "blind justice" meaning that the law is the same for all those who come before it. However, in early Greek mythology, Themis was the first to hold the office of Oracle so, with or without her eye sight, Themis could still ‘see’ the future and the consequences of her judgment.