Grounded and growing
Five years on, BCH Law continues to deliver trusted, down-to-earth legal support with a team clients know and rely on.
WORDS JO-MARIE BAKER | PHOTOS QUINN O’CONNELL
From left to right: Jude Spicer, Holly Hawkins, Tom Castle, Nikki Burley and Brittany Ivil.
Walking into a lawyer’s office can often feel daunting. But for many who step out of Burley Castle Hawkins Law in Tauranga or Te Puke, there’s a noticeable sense of relief.
The team at BCH Law are known not just for their legal expertise, but for their calm, grounded approach to often complex and stressful situations. With decades of experience between them, they’ve built a reputation for solving tricky legal problems without losing sight of the human side.
“We are grounded, normal people who live grounded, normal lives,” explains director Nikki Burley. “We want our clients to know everything is under control and they’ve got someone on their side.”
Nikki is one of the most highly-respected and longest- serving lawyers in the Bay, and has been involved in several partnership arrangements during her 35-year career. But her dream was to own a firm that was bigger than just the name on the door.
“I wanted to run a law practice that wasn’t about any one person – a firm that had a good reputation and solid systems in place so every team member can provide excellent service to clients whenever they need help.”
Senior lawyers Tom Castle and Holly Hawkins shared that vision, and went into partnership with Nikki in 2020, followed by senior lawyer Jude Spicer in 2024. BCH is now celebrating its fifth anniversary, and while five years have zipped by, the firm has many decades of legal experience to draw on.
Several of BCH’s 34 staff members have worked together for over 25 years. The firm’s outstanding team of lawyers, legal executives, and support staff, handle business, family, property, trust and estate law along with litigation and mediation. “Our assurance to clients is ‘life is a journey – with you all the way.’ Whether you’re a first home buyer, a property developer, or someone who is in the midst of a complicated employment dispute or messy relationship breakdown, we’re here to support you.”
The four directors, whose ages span four different decades, each specialise in different areas of law and have a close working relationship. They are ably supported by senior associate Brittany Ivil and practice manager Deborah Palmer. “It’s wonderful having such diverse ages and opinions, and collective shared responsibility,” Nikki says. “I feel very lucky to work alongside such wonderful people and to see them grow wise and flourish in their own legal careers.”
While most staff are based in BCH’s Tauranga office in Monmouth Street, the firm also has a Te Puke office in Jellicoe Street. In 2018 Nikki's former partnership bought long-standing Te Puke law firm Manning Gibbs Brown, which now trades under BCH. “We are Te Puke’s only full service law firm and cater for everyone from elderly clients wanting to update a will, to clients needing to be represented in court matters, to multi-million dollar kiwifruit and farming operations,” she says.
“The thing I love most is that every single day is different. Every person and problem is different. You can learn so much from your clients and your staff. Law makes you think objectively and ethically, and many of my
clients have become good friends.”
BCH’s five-year milestone is also an opportunity for Nikki and her colleagues to reflect on where the firm is heading next.
Fellow director Holly Hawkins says stability and longevity are shared goals, and the firm is proud to offer such a wide and diverse range of legal services. “What I love is that we don’t pigeonhole ourselves. Every file is so different.”
It’s also significant that the majority of BCH’s leadership team is female. “There are lots of excellent female lawyers, but not many make partnership. We’ve got three female directors and we genuinely care about our staff and our clients. We provide a lot more flexibility than other law firms do.”
Community connections are also a priority at BCH, with all four directors actively involved in school boards, trusts, sports coaching and many other good causes. Nikki also holds a voluntary position with the NZ Law Society.
While she isn’t retiring anytime soon, BCH will be in good hands when the time is right for Nikki to step back from directorship. “She is well-respected and such a hard worker,” Holly reflects. “She set out to create a firm that serves clients well, where great staff can flourish.” She’s definitely succeeded in that, and we are all proud of the firm BCH has become.”