The Ministry of Justice is seeking expressions of interest from senior lawyers who would like to be considered for the position of Chair of the Performance Review Committee.

The committee is established under section 79 of the Legal Services Act 2011 and provides recommendations to the Secretary for Justice about the performance of legal aid providers who have been referred to them for consideration.

The ministry may refer matters to the performance review committee if it believes that a lawyer has failed to comply with the Legal Services Act 2011 or regulations, or any condition of his or her approval, and the failure, if proven, would be serious enough to justify cancelling or modifying the lawyer's approval to provide legal services.

The Chair is responsible for ensuring the committee's function can be properly carried out, and acts with secretarial support from the Ministry of Justice.

The successful candidate will have:

• At least seven years' legal experience.
• Demonstrated proficiency in various areas of law.
• A strong understanding of a lawyers' professional obligations.
• An interest in legal ethics.
• Experience in, or knowledge of, providing legal aid services or specified legal services.

The ministry says a working knowledge of financial management in the State sector is also desirable. It is not necessary that the successful applicant be approved as a legal aid provider.

Applications can be made by submitting a CV, a valid Certificate of Standing, and a cover letter to legalaidprovider@justice.govt.nz by 1 December 2017.