Michael Kim is the principal of MK Law Barristers and Solicitors. He has been managing the firm since 2015. He comes from a unique background as a former immigration officer at Immigration New Zealand (INZ). As an immigration officer, he assessed various types of resident visa applications, interviewed applicants, and conducted site visits to workplaces.
While working at INZ, he dealt with many clients presented by an immigration lawyer or advisor. He saw some representatives better than others. Understanding the daunting nature of the immigration policies were only the starting point. Some were competent in all dealings with the particular immigration matters, and some were professionally unprepared. He was lucky to learn what set good representatives apart from the bad ones: the ability to portrait the full picture of the client’s circumstances honestly.
In 2008, Michael started LLB from the University of Auckland with the sole aim of helping migrants and their families. He focused on administrative law, including immigration, employment, and judicial review. He graduated and was admitted to the bar in 2011.
Since admitted, he has successfully helped many migrants and their families facing a legal conundrum. He conducted deportation proceedings at IPT and judicial proceedings in High Court. Since 2017, Michael has been a member of the Immigration and Refugee Committee at the Auckland District Law Society Inc. He is regularly invited to speak and chair professional seminars since 2019.
Apart from the immigration matters, he also helped many clients at the Employment Relations Authority and the Employment Court. As a counsel in criminal matters, Michael has successfully represented many criminal clients, including a repeat domestic violence offender, discharged without conviction.
As well as English, Michael speaks fluent Korean and Japanese. He can competently advise clients in Japanese.
Michael originally comes from South Korea, married with three children. In his leisure, he enjoys reading the bible and watching movies. He is a second-dan black belt Taekwondo practitioner.
Michael is a proud member of the following professional institutions in New Zealand:
MK Law is a specialist immigration law firm helping individuals and businesses in migrant communities of New Zealand. Michael Kim, the founder of MK Law, is our immigration lawyer, who brings unique experience as a former immigration officer. Having worked at INZ, Michael better appreciates the daunting nature of an application process as migrants on the one hand and the need for upholding the integrity of our immigration system and the national advantages on the other. His expertise will make your application process simpler and clearer. That way, MK Law is better positioned at helping genuine migrants in need of our expertise. For Immigration New Zealand, this is how there are lesser boxes to tick from cases represented by MK Law.
In New Zealand, your minimum employment rights are legally protected by law whether or not they are specified in your employment agreement. Examples are the minimum wage, holidays and leave entitlements. There are many other provisions that are simply matters for negotiation between you and your employer. For instance, hours of work, remuneration and redundancy provisions.
Talk to us if you have been unfairly dismissed or disadvantaged at work. If you believe your employer has victimised you against your minimum employment rights or your employment agreement, we can help you pursue your claim with the Employment Relations Authority without compromising your immigration status in New Zealand.
There is a strong policy against migrant exploitation in New Zealand. An employer who holds a resident Visa may be liable for deportation if he or she is found to have employed migrant workers to work in breach of the minimum employment rights.
On the other end of the spectrum, we could also help employers resolve any employment issues at work to minimise business disruption and costs. Most employment disputes settle amongst the parties privately or through mediation which is often cost-effective and timely resolution. If you believe your business has been undermined by your employee, we could help you pursue your claim through the Employment Relations Authority and employment court if required.
Facing a criminal charge (es) in court is very stressful and daunting experience whether you are guilty of the offence or not. Although charged with the same offence, every case is different with a unique set of fact arising from a different socio-economic and cultural context. This will be particularly the case if you come from a country where the moral codes and social value are vastly different to that of New Zealand. In order to achieve the best possible outcome in court, you must present your unique circumstances in which the offence allegedly occurred.
At MK Law, we carefully examine the relevant facts and evidence before composing an informed theory of your case to be presented in court. Being an expert in immigration law, we will also consider the effect on your immigration status upon formalising a strategy to ensure that you are not subject to a deportation liability.
