University of Auckland

In 2014 Auckland will offer 50 different electives for students who have completed the compulsory courses, 20 in corporate and commercial law alone. It is a function of the strength of our faculty and the depth and breadth of our specialisations that we can offer many more papers than any…

Victoria University

The Law Faculty at Victoria is finishing 2013 on a high note, with the announcement of Professor Claudia Geiringer’s Marsden Research Fund grant of more than $500,000 to put “the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act under the microscope”. This grant is, in many ways, emblematic of the faculty in its…

University of Canterbury

The goal of the Law School at Canterbury is to be known as “the internationally recognised, professionally relevant, community focused law school”. The new focus at Canterbury is born from both the need for our students to develop professional skills as part of their university education but also the incredible…

University of Waikato

For all of its 23 years Te Piringa – Faculty of Law at Waikato University has been committed to Māori and indigenous jurisprudence – in its teaching and research, and has long placed a strong focus on environmental law. Within the faculty two research centres have specific focus in those…

University of Otago

This year has been notable for the many achievements of both students and staff at the Otago Law Faculty. Otago law students showed strong representation in competitions with Alec Dawson making it through to the grand final of the World University Debating Championship in Berlin and being a member of the…

Auckland University of Technology

Each of our law schools emphasise some areas of law over others. These differences are a positive rather than a negative in a country this size. AUT Law School does not pretend to be good at everything. In shaping the content of our courses we have been guided by two imperatives…

From the Law Society

Many years work went into developing the continuing professional development (CPD) scheme that came into effect on 1 October. The aim of all the years of work was to develop a scheme that was internationally cutting edge in its focus on lawyer-centred learning. Annette Black, a former director of the Law Society…

Important contribution to law reform

The Law Society’s law reform work is made possible by the hard work and commitment of the members of its Law Reform and specialist committees. These committee members volunteer their expertise and time for the benefit of the profession and the wider community. The Law Reform Committee prepares submissions, with…

Service was very rewarding

Auckland tax lawyer Casey Plunket found his almost a decade of service at the helm of the Law Society’s Tax Law Committee “very rewarding,” he says. Mr Plunket has stepped down as the committee’s convenor after more than eight years in the role. He has really enjoyed working with people, not only…

A most interesting journey

Long-serving ACC Committee convenor Don Rennie plans to step down before the end of the current two-year term of the Law Society’s law reform and specialist committees. Mr Rennie joined the committee when it was established in 1990 and has been its convenor since November 2002. “Since I came on the committee,…

Depression and suicide: coming out from the dark

The reality of workplace stress is widely known. Similarly, there is plenty of talk these days about depression, with sporting celebrities talking about their experiences and encouraging us to get help (with the depression helpline, on 0800 111 757 being a great way to access free, confidential support.) But suicide is…

Be proficient in the science

With this, my last column before Christmas, I want to explore some of the challenges litigators face with science, both in the context of investigating a case and ultimately challenging expert scientific evidence in court. On reading the latest edition of the New Zealand Universities Law Review (the 50th anniversary edition)…

England rewrites rules on cross-examining young children

There is always a certain fascination in watching a revolution, provided of course you aren’t in the thick of it. In a couple of previous articles for LawTalk I have written in general about the English courts’ radical new approach to the cross-examination of vulnerable witnesses in criminal trials. This article…

Financial Advisers legislation: Implications for lawyers

A clear understanding of the 2008 Financial Advisers legislation is important for all lawyers in the context of their daily practice. Although the intention of this article is to assist lawyers understand the practical application of the legislation, it is always recommended that lawyers seek professional advice where they are not…

Infringing file sharing two years on

The copyright law that has become known as the “three strikes” law, the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Act 2011, came into force in September 2011. The new law provides a system where internet account holders can be sent warning notices for illegal downloading and uploading of copyright material on…

Policy changes on transgender prisoners: a step forward?

Earlier this year, the Equal Justice Project (EJP), a student-led pro bono organisation based at the Auckland University Law Faculty, produced Transgender Prisoners’ Rights Ignored, a report on the Department of Corrections’ policies regarding transgender prisoners. The report concluded that policies on housing and healthcare were discriminatory and placed transgender prisoners…

Law schools value Distinguished Visiting Fellowship

New Zealand’s law schools have gained huge benefit from a Law Foundation programme enabling them to host a distinguished international scholar for up to two months each year. Law school deans point out that the value of the Distinguished Visiting Fellowship extends to the wider profession, from exposure to the visitors’…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Censured for failing to achieve enforceable agreement

A lawyer, B, who failed to achieve either an enforceable agreement or file an application to make an order for costs that could be enforced, has been censured by a lawyers standards committee. B assumed responsibility for civil proceedings issued by his client against another party. The client was partially successful…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Censured for overdrawing trust account ledger

Auckland lawyer Lavanya Dunraj has been censured by the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal for overdrawing her firm’s trust account ledger and failing to ensure accurate monthly certificates regarding that trust account were filed with the Law Society. Ms Dunraj has been ordered not to practise on her own…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Failure to keep client informed and respond to ministry

Failure to keep his client informed and to respond to the Ministry of Justice about a complaint has resulted in a fine of $1,000 for a Christchurch lawyer, D. D was assigned to represent a legally aided client in a criminal matter involving burglary, indecent assault and attempted sexual violation. The client…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Fined for using trust account of another firm

A law firm, F Ltd, has been fined $1,500 by a lawyers standards committee for using the trust account of another practice for transactional work where F Ltd had control of client funds. The committee ordered F Ltd to immediately cease using the trust account of the other practice, or any…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Lawyer who misled client fined

A lawyer, E, was fined $2,000 and censured for failing to provide client care information, not following instructions, and for misleading a client about whether proceedings had been commenced as instructed. E had acted for the client on various matters for some years, and was instructed by the client to act…

People in the Law

Havelock North lawyer John Bergseng has been appointed an acting District Court Judge with general and jury warrants. Judge Bergseng was sworn in on 13 November in Rotorua and sits in Waitakere. His two-year appointment is to cover for a District Court Judge who has been seconded to the Supreme…