Mark has practised law since 1995, and became a partner at Harmans in 2002. He leads a large commercial and property team, specialising in franchising, hospitality, rural law, property matters and asset protection.

He has been an elected member of the Executive Committee of the New Zealand Law Society’s Property Law Section since 2015.  He currently serves as the deputy chair of that committee, which is seen as being at the forefront of all matters relating to property law in New Zealand, and he is an Accredited Property Specialist.  Mark also has a specialist interest in commercial and business matters with a particular focus on franchising.  He is convenor of the Canterbury committee of the Franchise Association of New Zealand (“FANZ”) and he regularly writes for a specialist franchise magazine.  He has also been appointed as a specialist scrutineer of franchise documents by FANZ to ensure that member’s documents comply with all its compulsory rules and procedures.

Mark is a member of the Institute of Directors, and is the honorary solicitor for both the DARE Foundation of New Zealand and for Aspire Canterbury, the Disabled Persons Centre Trust.

His leisure time interests include running, mountain biking, playing golf, fishing and white-baiting as well as regular walks with his St Bernard. He is an avid rugby and cricket supporter and a self-proclaimed one-eyed Cantabrian.

Recent projects / work 

• Acting for prominent Queenstown developers creating complex residential subdivisions along Frankton Hill. 
• Acting for and advising a large commercial property owner in relation to the acquisition and leasing of a high profile shopping mall.
• Acting for and advising a large commercial property owner in relation to the acquisition of a vacant “as is” commercial building, associated building and financing matters, remediation and construction matters, and then the leasing of that building as a five star hotel.
• Advising the trustees and associated companies of a prominent Christchurch investment family in relation to their commercial affairs, including a high profile project associated with the regeneration of Christchurch after the earthquakes.
• Acting for a franchisee of a well-known franchise system in disputes with the franchisor.
• Advising a multi-generational farming family on succession issues, chairing family meetings and being instrumental in assisting them reach a resolution from disparate positions so that the farm remained in the family but each person received a fair outcome.

Many of the articles Mark has written can be found here.