New Zealand Law Society - Consultation on potential changes to the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 and secondary legislation
The New Zealand Law Society Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa consulted with the profession and the public about potential amendments to the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 (the Act) and to secondary legislation made under the Act.
This consultation closed on 26 September 2025, and a summary of feedback received has been published.
The proposed changes aimed to:
1. Maintain public confidence in the complaints process and improve consumer protection. The proposed changes would allow for some flexibility in the disclosure of information about complaints, particularly in relation to parties who are personally affected and other regulatory agencies.
The changes would also ensure that the regulatory criteria for practise on own account (POOA) applications more accurately reflect the applicant’s intended mode of practice and would allow the Law Society to respond to regulatory risk by imposing bespoke conditions on lawyers’ practising certificates.
2. Create greater flexibility in the regulatory regime. In addition to disclosure of complaints information, the proposed changes would allow for flexibility in the orders that can be made by Standards Committee, particularly in relation to fee complaints and apologies.
3. Ensure that resource within the regulatory framework is appropriately allocated. The proposed changes amended the types of Standards Committee decisions that are amenable to review by the LCRO.
4. Address inconsistencies in the regulatory regime. To the proposed changes resolved inconsistencies where these result in outcomes that were unlikely to be intended.