Employment Law
Employment Law

Who are Sacked Kiwi?

Sacked Kiwi are the latest no win no fee provider to start operating in the employment law market but who are they? They say they are New Zealand’s leading Employee Advocacy service. They claim they have employment experts in Christchurch and have worked tirelessly throughout the industry for over a decade, helping clients throughout Christchurch to succeed in cases of all kinds. If so, then how come we have never heard of them until recently? They say they are based in the sunny Hawkes Bay and cover all of NZ and that they are able to assist with cases around Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, Hawkes Bay and Auckland. They claim their team comprises a team of successful law experts and business operators with decades of legal experience both in New Zealand and around the world.

We asked Sacked Kiwi for the name of their Christchurch representative. A person who signed his email Alex replied asking whether our enquiry related to a specific matter or was it a general enquiry. We advised them it was a general enquiry. We explained we like to know who we are dealing with, particularly amongst the no win no fee providers because, unlike most law firms, they invariably don’t have the profiles of their people on their sites. They have not yet provided us with a name.

We would also like to know the names of the people who make up the team of successful law experts and business operators with decades of legal experience in New Zealand and around the World.

If there is a company trading as Sacked Kiwi, they have not published their name on their website. Our enquiries establish that Alexander Kersjes is associated with this business. Sacked Kiwi’s office is reportedly at the Blue Water Hotel where Alexander’s company, now in liquidation, once operated The Dutch bar.

What do we know about Alex Kersjes? We know he is not known to us as a law expert in employment law. When we checked employment cases on Westlaw he is not reported as having represented a person at the Employment Court or the Employment Relations Authority. While this does not mean he has not represented people at mediation, it does raise a question about his expertise should he hold himself out as a law expert.

We know the New Zealand Herald reported in March this year that a Hawke’s Bay entrepreneur had been adjudged bankrupt in the latest outfall from the collapse of businesses he used in a dramatic rise-and-fall buy-up of bars and restaurants in Hastings, Napier and Havelock North. This businessman was Sander Kersjes, also known as Alex Kersjes. This may qualify him to hold himself out as a business operator with decades of legal experience both in New Zealand and around the world but from our experience it is not the sort of background that people with employment problems are looking for. Significantly, as an undischarged bankrupt he can no longer direct or own a company, which begs the question is Alexander Kersjes Sacked Kiwi?

We wish to make it clear that we have no information that would say that the services you will receive from Alex Kersjes or Sacked Kiwi will not be of good quality. Equally, unlike 0800SACKED, we have no experiences that would cause us concern. The reason we have published this is to remind people looking for a solicitor or advocate to represent them, to make certain they find out about their reputation and background. Judging the person or firm solely on the fees they charge, what they say on their websites, the size of the firm, and titles of lawyer and consultant may mislead them about the quality of the services they will get.

Published on Monday, June 15th, 2015, under Blog

5 Responses to “Who are Sacked Kiwi?”

  1. Phil Butler says:

    We have checked with five professional colleagues and only one has come across them and this occurred recently. The person from Sacked Kiwi was Napier based Alexander Kersjes and not one of Christchurch experts that purportedly operate under the Sacked Kiwi banner.

  2. Alf says:

    I am an employer with a letter from sacked kiwi and i too did some research back in february/March. . I find it terribly unusual that a firm of experts does not name a single one. His letter is signed with his name but no title or position. There are no physical addresses other than the bar location and no land line numbers. It was my opinion that alex or Alexander or sander (he uses all 3 names) was attempting to operate a business anonymously while bankrupt so i contacted the official assingee in march but have had no response..

    • Phil Butler says:

      The short answer we received is that the Official Assignee has given consent to Mr Kersjes being self-employed. Their reply does not answer the question who are Sacked Kiwi.

      They said “As you may be aware, the Insolvency Act 2006 provides that an undischarged bankrupt cannot be self-employed without the consent of the Official Assignee (OA) or the Court. Every application made to the OA for consent to be self-employed is considered on its own merits and in the context of the proposed business, e.g. whether the bankrupt proposes to be employed as a labour only contractor, or if the business will involve employing staff. The OA considers all such applications in a careful and balanced way and any consents granted are subject to appropriate conditions. For example, conditions may be imposed by the OA requiring that:
      - a suitably qualified financial supervisor must be retained to oversee the bankrupt’s business; and
      - the bankrupt must ensure that any statutory obligations relating to the business must be kept current and maintained (e.g. taxation, health and safety etc).
      If the OA becomes aware that such conditions have been breached the consent may be withdrawn. Mr Kersjes made an application to the OA to be self-employed and provided all necessary information for the OA to make an informed decision to consent to Mr Kersjes’ application.
      In deciding the application, The OA gave regard to the interests of the bankrupt, creditors and commercial community.”

  3. chris says:

    It now appears that sackedkiwi or Alex is also representing the employer against sacked kiwis.

  4. Phil Butler says:

    Sacked Kiwi market themselves through their name and their website as an employee advocacy business, however, they do not state they do not act for employers or exclusively act for employees. Given they are very new to the market they will be looking to earn a dollar wherever they can and one cannot criticise them for that. But the big question remaining unanswered is WHO ARE SACKED KIWI?

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