Christchurch-based law firms say they are returning to some normality following the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that shook the region on September 4, but it will be a long time before the full affects of the quake are seen.

Chapman Tripp chief executive Alastair Carruthers said that his team have returned to their offices, which suffered minor damage, having moved operations to a hotel outside the CBD for the week following the earthquake. “We had a meeting with key staff on the Saturday afternoon via telephone. We then sent some people to Christchurch on Sunday morning, to survey the damage and then organise temporary premises – because we thought it would be at least a week before we could return to our offices [and it was],” said Carruthers.

Fortunately for Chapman Tripp’s clients and staff, the firm has a disaster contingency plan in place and had practised a scenario similar to what occurred earlier this year. “We plan for any disruption,” said Carruthers. “Good disaster planning is about knowing you have good resilience systems in place. If we had not built our systems to that level of resistance, it would have been a lot more chaotic.”

The firm had a temporary office up and running at 8.30am on the Monday morning following the quake as a result of their planning. "We had clients that really needed us during that period [following the earthquake] and we were able to help them and our own people,” said Carruthers.

Since then he says the firm has received a range of questions from businesses in the region, and says there are quite a lot of insurance issues to be resolved. “One of the emerging  issues we have seen is that people trying to get finance for a property are having trouble accessing new insurance policies, which are essential in order to get finance for the purchase of a property,” he said.

While some commentators in the New Zealand media have said the earthquake could “kick start” the region’s economy, Carruthers said it was wise to start with the proposition that natural disasters “don’t add to economic growth”.

Buddle Findlay chairman of partners Christchurch, John Buchan, is of a similar point of view to Carruthers. “I think there will be the potential for a downturn because it will freeze activity in the short term, but then there will be a lot of dollars pouring into the city and this will unlock some economic activity as the re-construction begins,” he said.

Buddle Findlay’s office suffered some structural damage with a number of large cracks in the walls and the building still remains closed to the general public. “There is a fair bit of property damage around the area,” said Buchan.  “We have so far been asked to give quite a bit of advice on the rights of parties with regards to lease agreements and also buyers and sellers of properties. I can’t recall anything as serious as this happening in Christchurch before.”

Chapman Tripp has donated NZ$50,000 to the joint mayoral relief fund to assist residents affected by the earthquake. Donations can be made online through the Red Cross.

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