The rise of employer branding

Perhaps the PR of PR is out of control, and marketing people have up-sold their worth – to the point of ridiculousness. Or, perhaps, the television-raised generations have the expectation that anything and everything desirable has a pretty public face? Whatever way you look at it, employer branding is now “a…

From the Law Society

Making a positive difference for Christchurch people

Bronwyn Arthur, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority’s (CERA) chief legal advisor, says the organisation has until mid-2016 to make as much difference as it can for Christchurch. In April 2016 the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act 2011 (CER Act) is revoked. As CERA was created by an Order in Council, it does not automatically expire…

Develop your contracting competence

Law students are not being taught win-win at law school and lawyers are failing to collaborate and build trust in business relationships. This was the message at a recent Contract Outcomes seminar hosted by CLANZ in Wellington with guest speaker Tim Cummins, CEO of the International Association for Contract & Commercial…

People in the Law

Minter Ellison Rudd Watts partner and former New Zealand Telecommunications Commissioner Dr Ross Patterson has been appointed by the Qatar Minister of Information and Communications Technology as a member of the Qatar Appeals Advisory Committee. The Committee is responsible for reviewing final decisions of the Communications Regulatory Authority, including disputes…

Our Profession, Our People

Volunteers thanked With 160 people attending, an event to honour and thank people who provide voluntary service to the New Zealand Law Society in the Auckland region proved a great success. The event was organised by the Auckland branch and was held on 6 August at The Northern Club. The Auckland branch President,…

Perfectionism - and that's a problem how?

I will fully admit that we psychological health professionals always appear to have discovered yet another diagnosis. It appears that way, because there is a lot of it going on. Problem behavior in children – ADHD. Shyness –Social Phobia and now we appear to be obsessed with the obsessives –…

Ground rules for great meetings

I recently attended a memorably good board meeting. It began on time, it ended a bit early, we covered more material than we had anticipated and the board chair masterfully facilitated the discussion. However, the success of the meeting had to do with more than that. In fact, what made the…

Litigators and the Election

With the election looming I thought it opportune to pen a call to arms – an encouraging piece (hopefully) that emphasises the importance of litigators to the election process and in particular, the importance of litigators in informing and educating the public. Two columns ago I fired a shot across our…

Health and Safety - abolition of self-incrimination privilege for corporates

Section 31(6) Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 (HSEA) preserves the right of a corporate to refuse to answer questions on the basis that the answer might incriminate it. That privilege will be abolished if clause 185 of the Health and Safety Reform Bill (HS Bill) is passed into…

Closing down or selling a law firm

Closing a law firm or sole practice, or selling it, involves a lot more than just simply shutting up shop. A series of regulatory, practical and procedural steps need to be taken. This article covers some of the important steps and it is aimed at helping lawyers plan the closure. Communicate with…

The Internet - Opportunity and peril

The internet has provided and continues to provide new ways for competitors to seek advantages. Sometimes competitors on the receiving end don’t like it and look to the courts for help. One recent example of the opportunity and peril the internet presents is the Aereo case in the United States. In…

Changes to the minimum service period for applications for summary judgment

Recent amendments to the High Court Rules – The High Court Amendment Rules (No 3) 2013 and the High Court Amendment Rules 2014 – have increased the period a defendant has for filing papers in opposition to summary judgment. A plaintiff must now serve an application for summary judgment and supporting…

The lighter side of lawyering: death of a judge

I am in possession of a document which purports to be the journal of the late Cedric Park, who was associate to Sir Hayden Erskine Starke, the notoriously abrasive judge of the High Court of Australia between 1920 and 1950. I cannot verify the authenticity of the document. Even though it…

Foundation backs a greener NZ

The Law Foundation is moving increasingly towards assisting public policy development in areas that extend beyond traditional legal research concerns. One such area is the environment. We are currently supporting several interesting studies that show great potential for making a significant contribution to environmental protection. These three projects, all due for…

Managing tax risk through a binding ruling

Managing tax risk requires more than just getting the numbers right. As recent cases before the courts have demonstrated, the risk that Inland Revenue may take a different view on the interpretation of tax legislation is very real. And even if the taxpayer’s position is ultimately upheld by the Court, the…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Suspended for not obeying standards committee order

Boon Hong, of Auckland, has been censured and suspended for 10 months from 25 July 2014 after he admitted he did not obey an order of a lawyers standards committee. “This type of offending needs to be marked with a firm response in order that the institutions of professional discipline are…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Acting for both parties breached professional standards

A lawyer, A, has been censured by a lawyers standards committee for unsatisfactory conduct in acting for both an elderly woman and her grandson in circumstances giving rise to a conflict of interest. The standards committee ordered A to pay a fine of $12,500, and damages to the elderly woman (via…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Agressive demand for payment breached rules

A lawyer, C, has been censured and fined $2,000 by a lawyers standards committee after he took what the committee described as “a very aggressive approach” to requiring payment of his fees. C’s conduct, the committee said, was unsatisfactory, and breached rules 3.1, 10 and 11 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Suspended

Helen Eileen Monckton, of Hamilton, was censured and suspended for one month from 1 September by the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal at a hearing on 7 August. The Tribunal made these orders after Ms Monckton pleaded guilty to a charge of negligence in her professional capacity of such…

All aboard!

Collaboration between small- and medium-sized firms could be key to cutting costs and securing top graduate talent. Seriously. It may seem counter-intuitive to band together with your competition when it comes to recruitment, as what essentially differentiates one firm from another is its people. Since accounting firms operate on a service model similar…