Beach Law: Where legal advice meets real life
Beach Law is an unpretentious business where Papamoa locals can get sharp legal advice.
“We are normal, down-to-earth people,” explains Director and Solicitor, Rochelle Thornton. “We don’t use lawyer speak and make things really complicated. We’re not suit wearing, office tower people. Our premise is a converted old beach house and that’s what makes our clients feel comfortable.”
Beach Law set up shop on Parton Road over a decade ago and helps thousands of local families, business owners and retirees sort out their legal affairs. “We help them in a few different areas depending on their journey and their life stage,” Rochelle says.
“They might be buying their first home, buying or selling a business, refinancing, upgrading, downsizing or moving into a retirement village. We handle relationship property and do trusts and estate planning – so wills and powers of attorney. And then we do estate administration too, so we can sort out people’s affairs when they die.”
Making stressful times a little easier
Rochelle has been with Beach Law from the outset and bought it off her former employer in 2017. She then sold half the business to fellow Director and Solicitor, Diane Harvey, in 2021. Both women grew up in small town New Zealand and saw law as a chance to make their mark on the world. Rochelle loves being part of milestone moments in people’s lives, while Diane says alleviating stress for others during hard times is what drives her.
“It’s about happy clients and getting good feedback. We had a little old lady who was 92 who made us some shortbread the other day to say thank you. And then there’s the bunch of flowers from a lady who feels like you’ve helped her out in a stressful time. Those are the things that make my day.”
Beach Law aims to keep clients calm and grounded so they can focus on one step at a time. “I think that is a big part of our job,” Diane says. “We sometimes joke there’s a little bit of counselling involved in any kind of law, especially if it’s stressful times like someone’s passed away or relationship property stuff. You do become an ear to listen to people’s stories, and we’re here to make something that’s really stressful just feel easier.”
While their business has grown alongside Papamoa’s rapid expansion, both women still prioritise face-to-face time with clients and say they never want to be so big that they lose that personal touch.
Neither joined Beach Law to become a business owner. They are lawyers first and foremost. But the demands of running a successful business means having the right support behind the scenes is crucial.
Guided in the right direction
Bennetts Proactive advised both Rochelle and Diane when they each bought into Beach Law. “Being a business owner is so very different from just being an employee,” Diane says.
“They asked the hard questions up front and made us think about things we hadn’t considered – like how we would divide hours and profits when somebody wanted an extended break or was sick and needed extra time off.
Now, four years on, there are never any disagreements. We just give our records and figures to Bennetts, and they work out the profit share for us.”
Diane regularly liaises with Maria and says Bennetts Proactive – true to its name – proactively checks in throughout the year.
“She’s awesome at keeping an eye on things, particularly from a tax perspective, because neither one of us are accountants, nor want to be.
“But Maria regularly reassesses how we're doing through the year, and says, ‘hey, you’re actually doing really well. You need to pay some more tax in.’ It keeps us on track, so we don’t get any nasty tax bills that we’re not prepared for.”
Advice that keeps you a step ahead
Both women appreciate Maria’s availability to answer questions or sort out any problems that arise, as well as her practical advice.
“She’s got a fresh perspective,” Rochelle says. “She helped us out this year with some ideas with our bank that we hadn't thought of. And there are a couple of things in terms of coding, or the way that we were doing things, where she had a better idea. So, we made those changes within Xero. She also suggested doing a monthly fringe benefit tax adjustment to help spread the pain across the year. So that makes things smoother in terms of all our returns.
“It’s just nice to know that they’re there, and available, if we need anything. And we can get an answer out of them pretty quickly.”
Diane adds that without Bennetts Proactive, she and Rochelle would waste more time running their business instead of helping clients.