NZ lawyer admission process in UK changing

The New Zealand Law Society is advising its members that the process for overseas lawyers and other UK-qualified lawyers to become qualified as solicitors in England and Wales is changing from 1 September 2010. Details.

The Society is urging New Zealand lawyers who require a certificate of standing as part of this process to apply to New Zealand Law Society as soon as possible, to allow for processing and delivery before the 31 August deadline.

Certificates of standing normally take up to 3 weeks to complete, but the Society advises it will do its best to turn them around more quickly where possible.

Requests for certificates of standing should be made via the online application form. For speed, the NZ$30 fee should be paid by electronic funds transfer or by credit card.

The Society advises that practitioners who want to have their certificate sent by urgent courier to the United Kingdom should indicate this on the application form and add NZ$64 to their payment.

If using direct credit, payment should be made to: New Zealand Law Society, 12-3140-0119103-07, ASB Bank, Lambton Quay, Wellington, New Zealand. The Swift Code is ASBBNZ2A. Lawyers should quote “COS” and their last name as a reference when making the payment.

Lawyers wanting to pay by credit card should contact registry@lawsociety.org.nz or phone +64 4 463 2923.

© New Zealand Law Society 2008