Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger and his siblings are suing the law firm their ailing father used to gift more than $1 million to two of his employees before he died.

Warner Mauger, who was a mechanic and successful businessman, gifted $550,000 to Simon Tucker and $485,000 to Louise Hermansson in 2019.

Mauger’s solicitor, Saunders & Co partner Cran Bull, told him it would not pay the employees unless Mauger got a medical certificate confirming he had the capacity to make the gifts.

Mauger’s doctor, Harsen Chima, certified he was “currently of sound mind” and the payments were made.

Mauger, who had dementia, and his daughter Penelope Cron then took Tucker and Hermansson to court to recover the money.

He died in November 2020, but Cron and her brothers Phil, Timothy and Stephen continued seeking the funds. The parties settled out of court in 2024.

Mauger’s children then sued Saunders & Co, alleging the law firm’s advice was deficient and it failed to act in Mauger’s best interests. Saunders & Co filed a separate claim against Chima.

Chima used a limitation defence, saying Saunders & Co filed its claim more than six years after he issued the medical certificate. Saunders & Co argued its claim was valid because it was not aware it might suffer a loss until Mauger’s children put it on notice in October 2023.

Chima sought to test Saunders & Co’s account with earlier documents, including communications with the firm’s insurer. Saunders & Co argued documents from before the siblings’ October 2023 letter were irrelevant and listed groups of documents as privileged.

Saunders & Co then made a separate application questioning Chima about his usual practice for assessing patients’ mental capacity. Associate Judge Bill Gambrill declined the application, saying Chima could be cross-examined when he gives evidence at trial.

A trial has been set for February 22 next year.