Unsatisfactory conduct. Registration of estate administration dealings

This is a summary of a decision by a Lawyers Standards Committee under the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006. This summary was published in LawTalk 752.

A lawyer who failed to register dealings in an estate administration matter was found guilty by a Standards Committee of unsatisfactory conduct. He was ordered to execute the necessary transfer within a set time, and was also fined and ordered to pay costs.

Transfer of a property from the executor of the estate to the two beneficiaries was necessary before the estate could be finalised. The beneficiaries’ lawyers wrote to the lawyer who was the subject of the complaint, urging him to progress matters, but to no avail. The lawyer provided no explanation or response.

The Standards Committee found that the lawyer had breached his obligation under Rule 10 of the Conduct and Client Care Rules to promote and maintain proper standards of professionalism in his dealings. He had also failed to meet the standards of “competent, ethical and responsible practitioners” (B v Medical Council [2005] 3 NZLR 810). The Standards Committee found him guilty of unsatisfactory conduct in the form of conduct unbecoming.

The lawyer’s failure had prevented other lawyers from registering dealings to vest the estate in the beneficiaries. The Standards Committee ordered him to execute the necessary transfer at his own cost and to confirm to the committee, in writing within 45 days, that he had done this. The Standards Committee also fined him $1,500 and ordered him to pay $500 in costs to the New Zealand Law Society.

© New Zealand Law Society 2008