2014: The year ahead

2014 promises to be a busy year politically, and this will impact on the legal profession in terms of practice and structure. The first issue of LawTalk for the year lays out some important dates which are pertinent to the profession. These include new bills to be introduced and other…

From the Law Society

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment report Occupation Outlook for Lawyers says that employment growth for lawyers will be around 1.6% until 2016 and thereafter, from 2016-2021, the ministry projects lawyer employment growth at 1.1% a year. It says: “In the year to June 2013 the number of employed lawyers…

Disabled lawyer wins national award

Whangarei lawyer Vanassa McGoldrick is well-known as an advocate for people living with disabilities in Northland. Now she has won an award open to people who are disabled. Her tenacity and achievements were honoured on World Disability Day when she won the Spirit of Attitude Award at the national Attitude Awards. In…

Unprecedented award for Christchurch court

The District Court at Christchurch has been jointly awarded the prestigious Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration Incorporated 2013 Award for Excellence in Judicial Administration. The achievement, awarded in December, is unprecedented as it has never been made to a court as a whole and marks the first time a New Zealand…

Contributing to NZ’s constitutional debate

A study which will help inform New Zealand’s continuing constitutional debate has been awarded a $700,000 Marsden Fund grant for research. Professors David Williams from Auckland University’s Law Faculty and Cris Shore from the Arts Faculty jointly applied for the funding for the project. A particular concern of the study is to…

Why so few women QC's?

Why are so few women appointed Queen’s Counsel? This question came to the fore for the Law Society’s Wellington branch Women in Law Committee last year. No Wellington women QCs were among the 116 new silks appointed in the 2013 round. “Our committee was concerned at the low number of women appointed,”…

Emerging from the 'Slough of Despond'

There was once a young man who was unhappy in his employment. So with encouragement from his family, he did the only sensible thing he could do: he enrolled in law school. It was little more than an act of desperation, but just as it was with the man who stripped…

New Zealand's human rights performance under the spotlight

New Zealand recently submitted its second national report to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a United Nations mechanism which reviews the human rights situation in each UN member state. New Zealand will be examined on its report on 27 January 2014 in Geneva. At that time, a Working Group of other…

Copyright Act review overdue

The promised review of the Copyright Act needs to happen as soon as possible. In fact, one could argue that the review is overdue. On 14 June 2013 Susan Chalmers, Policy Lead at Internet NZ, discussed what she saw as the shifting sands of digital copyright policies and expressed concern that…

Legislation to protect vulnerable children needs strengthening

The New Zealand Law Society told the select committee considering the Vulnerable Children Bill that it supports initiatives to protect vulnerable children, but the bill’s framework needs to be strengthened. Law Society spokesperson Professor Bill Atkin said the bill’s objective of protecting vulnerable children is admirable, and if government agencies work…

Law Society calls for greater clarity in credit law overhaul

While it supports the effort to curb loan shark behaviour, the New Zealand Law Society believes improvements are essential in the Credit Contracts and Financial Services Law Reform Bill. In its submission to the Commerce Select Committee, the Law Society raised the need for better definitions, clarification and consistency across…

Law Society questions need for Public Protection Orders Bill

The New Zealand Law Society questions the need for a bill which would allow very high risk offenders who have served their full prison sentence to be kept in detention indefinitely. In its submission to the Justice and Electoral Committee on the Public Safety (Public Protection Orders) Bill, the Law Society…

Law Reform Report

The Law Society recently filed submissions on: Income tax – Entry of a new partner into a partnership – effect on continuing partners (draft QWB0101); and GST – Transfer of interest in a partnership (draft QWB0132); Criminal Procedure Rules 2012; Summary Offences (Possession of Hand-held Lasers) Amendment Bill; …

I've practised for 45 years and I'm aged 68. Perhaps I'll retire

Last year the number of people admitted as lawyers in New Zealand fell sharply from the previous year. During 2013 there were 777 admissions. This was down 16% on 2012, and the lowest since 2001. The fall in the number of admissions could be partly driven by a change in the…

The scammers didn't go on holiday... Pity

Lawyers returning from a long summer break may have found their email inbox contained several requests for legal assistance from people living outside New Zealand. Many of these are fraudulent attempts to steal from anyone who takes up the request for help. Among the names which have been used in emails…

A new era for New Zealand's financial markets

2014 marks the start of a new era for New Zealand’s financial markets – an ambitious and exciting period of change for market participants and for investors. This article is the first in a series outlining the key changes, the impact they will have on the future of our financial markets,…

Female genital mutilation and family law

The issue of female genital mutilation (FGM) may not cross the paths of family lawyers on a daily basis but we need to be aware of it so that we can help to minimise the level of risk sufficiently, be alive and sensitive to the issues with which the parents…

Courtroom Practice

Māori Land Court Practice Note The Māori Land Court recently issued a new Practice Note regarding the citation of Māori Land Court and Māori Appellate Court decisions. The Practice Note is available at www.justice.govt.nz/courts/maori-land-court/news-events/important-notices. This Practice Note confirms the current practice for citation of Māori Land Court and Māori Appellate Court decisions…

Criminal liability for mobile phone spying in NZ

Modern technology has made it easy for everyone, not only government agencies, to hijack private cell phone communication. Mobile phone spying software (malware) is used to eavesdrop on the wireless communications of lovers, children and business rivals. It is becoming an increasingly popular industrial espionage tool targeting technology-heavy businesses, and companies…

Leading Cases in Song: A Lawyer's Companion

Reviewed by Geoff Adlam My Lords, we make a claim today ‘Bout the making of a bargain The plaintiff read and did obey A poster’s specious jargon She used the ball but caught the flu And met the stipulation And from this court she claims her due In merited compensation. No prizes for guessing: Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball…

The bookshelf

Book Of The Month: Forensic Science and the Law: A Guide for Police, Lawyers and Expert Witnesses  By Anna Sandiford Dr Sandiford is director of an independent forensic science consultancy and has appeared as an expert witness since 1998. Her book aims to explain different aspects of forensic science in a non-technical…

People in the Law

New Year’s Honours The following members and former members of the legal profession were awarded honours in the New Year’s Honours list. Justice Lester Chisholm, of Christchurch, was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the judiciary. Justice John Priestley QC, of Auckland, was made a Companion…

Our Profession, Our People

Law graduate achieves Oxford dream Alice Wang, who is about to start work as a judge’s clerk at the Supreme Court, has been named one of the three 2014 Rhodes Scholars. Alice will serve as a judge’s clerk to Justine William Young from February to September. Following that, she will take up…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Lawyer guilty of gross overcharging

Gross overcharging has resulted in Auckland lawyer Eion Malcolm James Castles being found guilty of professional misconduct. The New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal found Mr Castles guilty of five charges in [2013] NZLCDT 53. The complainants, Mr and Mrs W, had purchased a home which turned out to be…