Waiata Groot
Senior Solicitor
tel:+6472620422
mailto:waiata.groot@hobec.co.nz
Qualifications
- LLB University of Waikato 2015
- Admitted to the High Court of New Zealand 2017
Contact
- DDI: +64 7 262 0422
- M: +64 27 738 4754
- E: waiata.groot@hobec.co.nz
Waiata is a Senior Solicitor in our Family Law team, specialising in a broad range of family law matters.
Waiata’s expertise includes:
- Separation & division of relationship property – advising on division of assets (including complex Family Trust and Company structure), negotiating settlements, and preparing Separation Agreements
- Asset protection – including advising on and preparing Contracting Out Agreements (a.k.a. “Prenups”)
- Childcare, Parenting and Guardianship issues – providing legal advice, negotiating agreements, and preparing Family Court proceedings if necessary
- Family Violence – advising on family violence issues, assisting with protection orders and appearing in the Family Court
- Estates & Wills – including legal advice relating to challenging Wills or Family Protection Act claims
- Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act – Court applications regarding personal and/or property orders
- Dissolution of marriage (divorce law)
Waiata achieves practical and desired outcomes for her clients by understanding their needs and resolving issues with sensitivity and legal expertise. Recognising that family matters can often involve high-stress or emotional situations, Waiata is committed to supporting clients through the legal process to find the best solutions for them and their families.
Waiata Groot's Expertise
Waiata Groot's News & Resources
Learning and celebrating Te Reo Māori
This week we are celebrating Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori - Māori Language Week.
The learning and use of Te Reo is something that Holland Beckett supports and encourages, recognising the importance of diversity, inclusion and Māori customs to our firm, the business and legal space, and the wider community.
Over the last few months, our people have had the option to join weekly in-house Te Reo classes. The firm has run these classes previously, to very positive engagement and feedback from staff, and the second series run by kaiako (teacher) Atirau has been a great learning opportunity for our team.
“The classes provide a basic grasp of Te Reo (including pronunciations and a ko wai au/pepeha), Tikanga practices, local myths and legends”, Cory Lipinski explains. This was the first time beyond school that he has taken a Te Reo course, and he has enjoyed the challenge of learning something new that is important to him. “As someone who lacked a proper understanding of Te Ao Māori, I wanted to have a grasp on the language, customs and traditions and their importance to Aotearoa. I believe that everyone in Aotearoa should have a grasp of Te Reo, whether this be speaking and reading the language or a basic understanding of the pronunciation of words. Given that there is a general stance from Government to disincentivise the use of Te Reo and a push back from our own profession to introducing tikanga Māori into the law courses, I think use of Te Reo in everyday activities needs to become the usual practice.”
Cory is a Solicitor in our environment and planning team - “a large part of our work in environmental and planning law is associated with the effects that projects may have on mana whenua. It is important that we have a firm grasp of the Māori language and Tikanga.”
Senior Solicitor Waiata Groot also joined the classes. She is deepening her knowledge of the language “because many of the ongoing challenges Māori face in society today are better understood if we, as individuals and a collective, expand our knowledge on Te Ao Māori (the Māori world view – including the Māori language, the customs and traditions, embracing Māori stories, and understanding their importance)”. This is important to her as Māori she has “seen firsthand the value in both Māori and non-Māori having mutual respect for different ways of doing things and working collaboratively to achieve for results everyone (which, simply put, can only be done if we understand and appreciate cultural differences).”
As a family lawyer, Waiata sees encompassing this knowledge into her work as not only relevant, but essential - “for example, from a care of children perspective, two of the seven principles that NZ Courts must consider when making decisions regarding children include consideration of a child’s relationship with both parents, and that a child’s relationship with his or her family group, whānau, hapū, or iwi should be preserved and strengthened, and, consideration of a child’s identity which includes the child\'s culture.”
Also in our Family Law team, Hannah Robins wasn’t born in Aotearoa and joined the classes as she feels it is “important to have understanding of the values and Tikanga especially while working in the family court”, to better grasp pronunciation and “to learn my mihi enough to confidently speak it in public”. Along with everyone in the class, Hannah praised Atirau as an great teacher, “he has incorporated games and activities into the learning which has made it fun. He is also very good at giving feedback and I don’t think anyone has felt embarrassed or judged if they haven’t known something”.
This Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori we\'re encouraging the whole firm to get involved with Te Reo Māori phrases and cue cards in and around the office, competitions for the use of Te Reo, and Te Reo Māori Bingo along with a Hangi lunch.
Mā te kimi ka kite, Mā te kite ka mōhio, Mā te mōhio ka mārama.
Seek and discover. Discover and know. Know and become enlightened.