Doing a 'super job' for your client

For any business to succeed, it needs to attract customers, and law firms are no different. That is where marketing comes in. As the Oxford Dictionary says, marketing is “the action or business of promoting and selling products or services”. Marketing, however, is not a concept that sits well with many lawyers.…

Attracting people to your business

Marketing has two sides for professional firms such as lawyers, Auckland lawyer Michael Smyth says. “First of all, you need to attract people to your business by identifying a problem they may have and by identifying that you can provide a solution to that. Then, when people start coming through your…

From the Law Society

Marketing for lawyers An important aspect of the business side of law is marketing. That is true for every law firm, from the sole practice through to the large firm. In this continually changing world, marketing is becoming ever more important. In fact, just as you ignore cash flow at your…

Our Profession, Our People

Ian Haynes was conferred with an honorary master’s degree and a Fellowship of the College of Law at the college’s autumn awards ceremony in Sydney on 4 May. Mr Haynes is one of 13 inaugural Honorary Fellows of the college, the others hailing from Australia. An Auckland lawyer, Mr Haynes…

Students assist anti-violence project

Victoria University law students are contributing to a Harvard John F Kennedy School of Government research project which is evaluating the status of violence against women. Law schools from around the world have been approached by the Harvard team to research the perspective of individual countries on violence against women. Law students…

Challenges of practising Māori land law

If someone had told Haines Ellison when he was at secondary school that he would spend the first seven years of his working life as a lawyer specialising in Māori land law, he would have been somewhat surprised. Mr Ellison’s original intention was to become a planner. So he embarked on…

Selling legal services around the world

The continued growth in the sale of legal services across borders has resulted in preparation of a benchmark report which gives accurate and standardised information on an important sector of global trade. The International Bar Association (IBA) recently published a comprehensive 715-page report on the regulation of cross-border legal services: IBA…

Lawyer Scam 101: a model scam email

Emails which attempt to trick lawyers into acting for foreign fraudsters (and eventually to be robbed) continue to hit New Zealand law firm inboxes. Recent examples include requests for assistance with debt collection from an ex-husband and an errant “business associate”. NZLS posts details on its website of all lawyer…

Constitutional principles in legislation

Discussion about constitutional principles doesn’t typically draw the same level of passion from New Zealanders as the fortunes of the Black Caps or the All Blacks’ prospects in the next World Cup. Nonetheless, these principles, such as the separation of powers, the rule of law, and Parliamentary sovereignty, are exceptionally…

Resilience, self-management and the practice of law

Sue is a senior solicitor who has been consistently and rapidly promoted during her five years at a mid-sized firm. She is bright, hard-working, mature and highly motivated to progress professionally. The partner to whom she reports, John, is busy and often does not give Sue much time or feedback about…

Breach of a right is not a duty to enforce

Over the two years or so that I have written this column there have been some that have caused controversy; this column I suspect will be one such piece. My thesis here is that there are some wrongs for which litigation is available but is nonetheless inappropriate – some actions to…

New evidence of identity requirements for name changes

In 2012, the Person A Ministerial Inquiry was launched into the processes by which a convicted sex offender was able to be employed in the New Zealand education sector. As a result of that inquiry, the name change application process has been strengthened. The process of witnessing the signing of name…

Putting clients' interests first: financial advice

Lawyers, accountants and real estate agents can currently talk to their clients about investments. Is that about to change? The Financial Advisers Act 2008 (FAA) regime does not apply to lawyers when they provide a relevant service in the ordinary course of a law business or the service is incidental.1 Teachers,…

Coronial legislation changes welcome and timely

The New Zealand Law Society says changes proposed in the Coroners Amendment Bill are welcome and timely, including changes to suicide reporting and removal of the need to hold an inquest for all deaths in custody. In its submission to Parliament’s Justice and Electoral Committee on the Bill, the Law Society…

NZLS disagrees with mortgagee sale GST conclusion

The New Zealand Law Society says it does not agree that a mortgagee making zero rated supplies of financial services under the business financial services rules is not entitled to deduct input tax for costs associated with a mortgagee sale. The Law Society has released its comments to the Inland Revenue…

Australian commercial round-up part 1

Commercial agreements routinely contain “reasonable endeavours” clauses (or words to similar effect). Cases on these clauses are relatively infrequent, particularly at appellate level. In the Verve Energy v Woodside Energy Ltd and Ors [2014] HCA 7 case the interpretation of a reasonable endeavours clause came before the High Court of Australia.…

Certification marks - for non-traders only

In the first decision of 20151, Assistant Commissioner for Trade Marks Natasha Alley looked at an application for a Certification Trade Mark. This was not the usual Intellectual Property of New Zealand (IPONZ) case of two parties arguing about whether their trade marks would be confused by the public, but…

Advising clients in public inquiries: new challenges

The law governing the more powerful public inquiries has been substantially modernised with the passing of the Inquiries Act 2013. The new environment creates new challenges for those who may be affected by an inquiry. This article highlights the key changes lawyers need to be aware of when advising on…

Fixing NZ's conservation crisis

The Law Foundation has always been a strong supporter of legal policy development for environmental issues. A recent Law Foundation-backed project is challenging policy-makers to take much stronger action to arrest the alarming decline in our native species. Vanishing Nature: Facing New Zealand’s Biodiversity Crisis is the first comprehensive stock-take of…

Property Transactions and E-dealing Practice Guidelines updated

The Property Law Section has released updated Property Transactions and E-dealing Practice Guidelines. The updated guidelines took effect on 13 April and replace those released in July 2012. The guidelines can be accessed by all NZLS members and associate members at my.lawsociety.org.nz/property-law-section/property-law-information. The guidelines have been updated to correct various inconsistencies and…

Letters to the Editor

District Court Rules I refer to the complaints in LawTalk 860 and 862 concerning the Central Processing Unit rejecting documents for filing in the District Court which did not contain a heading on both the top of the coversheet and the top of the next page of the documents. The Rules Committee…

Lawyers Complaints Service: LCRO comments on trust account breaches

The Legal Complaints Review Officer (LCRO) has confirmed a lawyers standards committee’s determination that a lawyer D’s “conduct in relation to various trust account irregularities constituted unsatisfactory conduct”. The LCRO’s review was confined to addressing the standards committee’s determination as to penalty and publication as the LCRO had declined jurisdiction to…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Fined for acting for parties with conflicting interests

A lawyer, C, has been censured and fined $4,000 by a lawyers standards committee, which found he had acted for parties with conflicting interests. C also admitted failing to comply with rule 3.4 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008. This rule requires lawyers to…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Fined for not releasing client file

A lawyer, D, has been fined $7,500 after she failed to comply with a lawyers standards committee direction to release a file to a client’s new lawyer. The client lodged a complaint against D in April 2012 for failing to release her client file. On 25 September 2012, a standards committee…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Barrister who did little on client's behalf fined

A lawyers standards committee has fined a barrister, D, $6,000 and ordered him to repay a client $33,033.75 of the $34,500 she paid him after D “appears to have done little on the complainant’s behalf”. In September 2010, the investigating arm of Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ) contacted Ms L…