Development key component to legal work

Anderson Lloyd partner owner Kerry O’Donnell moved to Queenstown in 2002 after working for the firm’s main office in Dunedin for 18 months when she graduated from law school. Ms O’Donnell says in the first three to four years of being in the region she specialised in property as “there was…

Wide ranging legal needs at Shotover Park development

Mitchell Mackersy Lawyers partners Ron Mackersy and Tess Wethey have recently sold branches in both Dunedin in Christchurch in a bid to focus on opportunities presenting themselves in Queenstown. The firm continues to do work related to the rebuild in Christchurch and work in other regions, but is running it all…

Opportunities for new lawyers

Bonnie Zareh, who is 26, joined Mactodd in February 2012. Before moving to Queenstown, Ms Zareh worked at a large Auckland firm as a law clerk. She graduated from Auckland University in 2011 with an honours degree in law and a BA in psychology. “My sister was living here and working for…

Q&A with Judge Kevin Phillips

Judge Phillips took up practice in Queenstown in 1984. His background was primarily in litigation. There were no specialist litigation lawyers in Queenstown when he first arrived. Queenstown Court sat one day a month with only Criminal jurisdiction. Civil and family cases were heard in Alexandra. The visiting judges were…

Increase in Chinese investment

Elliot Goldman set up Goldman Legal in May 2012 after having worked at another Queenstown practice for seven years. “My wife and I moved to Queenstown in 2005 and we were drawn to Queenstown because of the skiing, outdoor lifestyle and not having to sit in traffic that is common in…

From the Law Society

Lawyers’ organisations are important participants in the justice systems of countries around the world. In their role as guardians of essential institutions such as the rule of law, human rights and a nation’s constitution, law associations have been prominent. New Zealand has the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of lawyer organisations…

People in the Law

Wellington lawyer Chris Sygrove has been appointed a District Court Judge with jury and Family Court warrants. He will be sworn in on 4 July in Wellington and will sit in New Plymouth. Mr Sygrove was a partner of McCulloch & Sygrove from 1979 to 1996. During that time he…

Hashtag Privacy Commissioner

Privacy Commissioner John Edwards used to know most of the world’s information law specialists. In the 1990s, the informal network of privacy and data lawyers contained just dozens of lawyers, but since then has ballooned into an enormous industry. “The whole landscape has changed immeasurably since then,” Mr Edwards says. “There are tens…

Top in-house lawyers recognised

Two lawyers, Cristina Billett and Liam Mason, were the joint winners of this year’s CLANZ-Chapman Tripp Public Sector In-house Lawyer of the year award. The awards were presented at the 27th annual CLANZ Conference Gala Dinner and Awards, held on 16 May at the Dunedin Town Hall. Matt Vaughan won the…

Our Profession, Our People

World Bar Conference coming to NZ The World Bar Conference comes to New Zealand for the first time this year. Hosted by the New Zealand Bar Association, the conference will be held in Queenstown from 4 to 6 September.  “I want to encourage everyone to attend this conference,” says Kate Davenport QC,…

Lawyers standards committees now more mature

Lawyers standards committees are functioning with greater confidence in the exercise of their powers compared with six years ago, Auckland barrister Paul Collins told a standards committees training day in Wellington on 7 May. More than 80 people from throughout New Zealand attended the training day, including one lay member of…

BNZ provides big boost to community law

The Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) will voluntarily halve the amount it will keep from the interest on solicitor nominated trust accounts so that it can increase its contribution to community law. And both the BNZ and community law are challenging the other banks that have solicitor nominated trust accounts to…

Three Ethel Benjamin winners

Three young lawyers – Lani Inverarity, Elizabeth Chan and Zoe Fuhr – are the winners of this year’s New Zealand Law Foundation Ethel Benjamin Scholarship. Lani plans to study towards an LLM at Yale University, where her two areas of intended specialisation will be intelligence law reform and the rights of…

Expertise available to help run your business

There’s an old saying, in fact it’s almost a cliché, that two heads are better than one. It is, however, very true. In fact, a whole team of heads, if well co-ordinated, is frequently very much better than one. This is a fact well worth keeping in mind for a person who…

Why numbers matter

It’s not that often that the legal profession gets mentioned in the mainstream media so it was a surprise to see entries in The Economist and The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in the same week. The Economist carried a feature on 3 May about large international firms’ amalgamations not delivering the…

The art of listening

Listening is the key to effective communication. There isn’t anything hard about understanding this so why do so many of us listen so ineffectively? How often do we listen to someone’s story, all the time planning the witty and interesting responses we are going to give when they finally shut up!…

Play to your audience

I am not sure what is more fascinating, the in-court behaviour of Pistorius, the media attention lavished upon his counsel Barry Roux or the over-the-top public clamour for more of a case that has captured the world’s attention. In this week’s column I will explore the influence of dramatics in court…

Client service and lawyers nominee companies

This article covers several issues that have been the source of recent inquiries. Terms of engagement Under Chapter 3 Competence and Client Service of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 (RCCC), lawyers must provide clients with client care information which includes the information set out in…

Answers to questions about CPD

In this issue of LawTalk, we begin a column with information about Continuing Professional Development (CPD). It follows a “question and answer” format. Question: How can I prove I have completed a CPD activity? Do I always have to have a special certificate? Answer: Many CPD providers will give you a completion/attendance…

Money laundering: Beyond cash-stuffed briefcases

Part one addressed a pervasive myth that money laundering affecting professional services firms mostly involves cash transactions. In part two, I outline why criminals and their professional money launderers seldom use cash when they use the services of lawyers, accountants and real estate agents. As reported in Stop criminals misusing legal…

The importance of investing time in developing a discovery strategy

With discovery often being the largest cost of litigation, it is important to invest time in developing a discovery strategy. The discovery process is still largely the same as it has always been, but the increasing volume of electronic information has complicated the process. Without investing sufficient time at an early…

Contributory mortgage scheme complaints

In early April the New Zealand Law Society contacted all law firms operating contributory mortgage schemes to update them over a number of regulatory matters. One such matter was the need to register as a financial service provider and join a financial Dispute Resolution Scheme before 1 July 2014 if they…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Client care information is to protect consumers

G was a lawyer who acted for Ms J, in respect of her relationship property claim against her former partner. Ms J complained about G’s competence, manner, invoicing, charges, and responses to requests for information. She claimed G had not provided a client care letter. A lawyers standards committee upheld…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Fined for signing an e-dealing before authorised

A solicitor, D, signed an e-dealing correct before he had an Authority and Instruction Form from his client. A lawyers standards committee found this was unsatisfactory conduct and censured D, fining him $2,000. The standards committee commenced an own motion investigation into D’s action on a particular conveyancing transaction which had…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Instructing solicitors have obligations to the court

An instructing solicitor, A, who was party to filing a claim alleging deceit without satisfying himself of the propriety and viability of the pleaded claims has been censured and fined $2,500 by a lawyers standards committee. Before the investigation of the complaint, the standards committee asked A, as instructing solicitor, for…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Unorthodox case management was unsatisfactory conduct

A lawyers standards committee has found a barrister, A, guilty of unsatisfactory conduct in relation to the preparation for and conduct of Family Court litigation. The committee also found A guilty of unsatisfactory conduct in relation to the fee invoiced, and ordered that A reduce the fee from $42,575 to $10,000. A…