Interpersonal skills important for lawyers

The skills required to practise the technical aspects of the law are almost the polar opposite of the skills required to run effective relationships, says corporate psychologist Dr Lynley McMillan. She draws on 20 years’ business experience – specialising in corporate psychology – with law, finance, accounting, and consulting firms, and…

Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the ability to identify, use, understand, and manage emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathise with others, overcome challenges, and defuse conflict, says psychologist and sociologist Dr Jeanne Segal. If you have high emotional intelligence you are able to recognise your own emotional state…

Good lawyers are good with people

Emotional intelligence is on par with legal expertise, Chapman Tripp managing partner Andrew Poole says. “Those soft skills have moved, over some decades, from being much less relevant to highly relevant and a good component of what we’re looking for in terms of the complete package.” He says the firm has made…

Interpersonal skills in the curriculum

Waikato University’s Te Piringa – Faculty of Law views interpersonal skills as a very important facet of being an effective lawyer, according to senior law lecturer Juliet Chevalier-Watts It offers a compulsory year-long third year course in dispute resolution, which exposes students to experience real-world scenarios. “They’re [law students] heading towards the…

From the Law Society

We all know that becoming a lawyer involves much more than learning the law and its sources. What a client expects often differs in substance and form from the expectations of a judge, a magistrate, and a fellow practitioner.” The “Magistrate” is a hint that this was said a while ago;…

Working within high performing international teams

With the 34th America’s Cup beginning shortly, LawTalk spoke with Hamish Ross, an Auckland lawyer who has worked inside the America’s Cup for 15 years. Mr Ross was a partner of Bell Gully for 10 years before joining the Alinghi Team as general counsel. More recently he has been general counsel…

Lawyer sets new cycling record

Lower Hutt Lawyer Eugene Collins has carved his way into New Zealand’s sporting record books. Mr Collins has smashed the New Zealand 24 hour Indoor Velodrome record by 260 laps (or 65km). Cycling on the Invercargill Velodrome, he overtook the previous mark of 660.9km (set by endurance cycling legend Colin Anderson in…

Access to unrivalled business expertise

It has become an integral part of New Zealand society, becoming a volunteer business mentor so that you can put something back into the local economy and community, and almost 2,000 men and women across the country do just that. These people get a real buzz from helping people move forward…

Organisation and Guts

The sales pitch of any evidence and procedure scholar worth his or her salt goes something like this: “If you master the rules of evidence and procedure then you can negate the necessity of trial advocacy in a great many cases.” The pre-trial destruction of the foundation of an opponent’s case,…

Opportunity to get involved in law reform

Lawyers who are enthusiastic about making a real contribution to law reform in New Zealand have an opportunity to get involved. The New Zealand Law Society plays an active and important role in the reform of law in New Zealand. The Law Society has a reputation for producing high quality, impartial…

Moving towards CPD

All New Zealand lawyers in full time practice who provide regulated services will be required to complete an annual minimum of 10 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) from 1 April 2014. Details of how this initiative will work are contained in the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Ongoing Legal…

England pilots pre-recorded children's cross-examination

The government in England and Wales announced last month that they will be piloting the pre-recording of children’s cross-examination in three criminal courts around the country. The announcement comes amid mounting pressure from the senior judiciary and from within Parliament, as well as from the media, children’s charities and academics. The…

Public sector in-house innovation

The Ministry for Primary Industries legal manager’s monthly meeting is held in the innovation room. The door, reminiscent of a shipping container, opens up to a brightly coloured space with bean bags and colourful stools the only seating on offer. The environment is a far cry from the stereotype once held…

Document and data security

It was early on a Tuesday afternoon. A few lawyers in Christchurch were enjoying an extended lunch with clients, discussing the ongoing strategy in their case. Some were headed back to the office so they could complete the projects that started before lunch. Some chose to stay at their desks,…

Financial Assurance Scheme: Trust account operational issues

In this article we share a variety of matters that have been the source of recent inquiries. We also explain some enhancements to the trust account review process. Deduction of feesUnsurprisingly the subject of when and how lawyers can deduct fees for work done from client trust accounts arises with regularity.…

Is your PI cover compromised?

The exemption provisions in the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT) may give a false sense of security. There can be no doubt that the exemption provisions apply in terms of the day-to-day activities of lawyers but that presumes they are acting solely in the capacity of…

Law firms called upon to publicly declare support for gender equality

Law firms in New Zealand are being invited to publicly declare their support for gender equality by signing up to the Women’s Empowerment Principles. The Women’s Empowerment Principles were initiated by United Nations Women and the United Nations Global Compact office, and businesses and corporations around the world are being encouraged…

Leave to appeal research

Assistance from lawyers who have been involved in applications for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court is being sought for a new research project. The research is being undertaken by Dr Rhonda Evans Case, Interim Director, Edward A Clark Center for Australian & New Zealand Studies and Adjunct Associate Professor,…

Criminal Procedure Act implementation in the District Court

As a result of the NZLS CLE Limited intensives on the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 a number of queries from the legal profession have arisen. These have been considered by the Chief District Court Judge’s Advisory Group and the District Court Criminal Jury Trial Committee under the Chairmanship of Judge Bruce…

Retaining files following termination of a retainer

How long should a lawyer retain files following the termination of a retainer? This is a question the Law Society is asked on a reasonably frequent basis. The answer is not simple. Like so many things in life, considered judgement may well be required. The Trust Account Regulations require that records be…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Fined for failing to protect client's interests

Gisborne lawyer Dr John Bunbury has been censured and fined a total of $16,500 by the Legal Complaints Review Officer (LCRO 17/2012) for failing to protect a client’s interests. Mr E was a director of a company, E Ltd, which had operated a successful business for many years. Mr E and…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Fined for not paying bills

Struck-off former lawyer Barry Hart has been censured and fined $8,000 by a lawyers standards committee for failing to pay a forensic psychologist. Mr Hart instructed the psychologist to provide forensic report for four clients, but then failed to pay the fees, which ranged from $2,000 to $4,000. In two of the…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Lawyer fined after not explaining about affidavit

Robert Renshaw has been censured and fined $1,000 by a lawyers standards committee after he took an affidavit from a teenage girl without explaining its meaning and effect, and that he had acted on the contents of the affidavit and approached the mother of the teenager without knowing all the…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Firm failed to file permanent residence application

Christchurch lawyer Errol Parsons has been censured and fined $1,500 by a lawyers standards committee after an employee of his firm, A, failed to file an application for permanent residence. The complainant had been a client of Mr Parsons and his firm for some years and the services were primarily provided…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Interim suspension

The NZ Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal issued an interim suspension order against Errol Hamilton Parsons of Christchurch on 21 June 2013, pursuant to s245 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006. The interim suspension order was made because, in the tribunal’s view, there was an immediate need for protection of…

News points

Human rights needs strengtheningMechanisms protecting human rights in New Zealand would benefit from further strengthening, the New Zealand Law Society has told the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. In a submission to the council for the second Universal Periodic Review of New Zealand’s human rights record, the Law Society identified a…

People

Justice Terence Arnold QC has been appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court. Justice Arnold has a BA and two LLM degrees, from Victoria University and New York University. A partner of Chapman Tripp Sheffield Young between 1985 and 1994, he became a barrister sole in 1994. He was appointed…