Women & the Legal Profession

Every year over 60% of new lawyers are female. At the same time, 98% of lawyers who have been in practice for 41 years or more are male. Women comprise almost 60% of employees in law firms yet only 26% are directors or partners. Among the 282 ever appointed King’s…

Perspectives

Mai ChenMai ChenChen Palmer Managing Partner, Auckland University Adjunct Professor, BNZ Director, NZ Asian Leaders Chair, NZ Global Women Inaugural Chair and Superdiversity Centre for Law, Policy and Business Chair Mai Chen says the problem is not limited to gender. Women of colour are more discriminated against. "I have just finished…

Women’s Advisory Panel

The Law Society recognises that the lack of retention of women in the legal profession and the underrepresentation of women in senior legal roles are real issues for the profession, NZLS law reform and sections general manager Fazleen Ismail says. "We made the subject of the retention and advancement of women…

From the Law Society

Advancing women in the profession During my time as President I have consistently advocated for the retention and advancement of women in the legal profession. This issue of LawTalk looks at women in the law. You may perhaps be thinking “there are well over 50% of women lawyers in my firm” or…

Our Profession, Our People

Wellington Queen’s Counsel Matthew Palmer has been appointed a High Court Judge. He was sworn in on 27 October in Wellington and sits in Auckland. Justice Palmer was recently appointed convenor of the New Zealand Law Society’s Public and Administrative Law Committee, having served on the committee since 2010. As…

Working for start-up is great

Being in-house counsel for a company which began as recently as August last year is great, says Nikki Bloomfield. Ms Bloomfield works for electricity retailer Flick Electric Co, taking up the role in February when the company’s customers numbered in the hundreds. By October, Flick had just ticked over the 5,000…

New Law Society President-Elect

Auckland lawyer Kathryn Beck is the New Zealand Law Society's President-Elect. The Law Society's Auckland Vice-President, Ms Beck is a founding partner of SBM Legal, a boutique employment law firm based in Auckland but operating throughout New Zealand. Kathryn Beck "I am a passionate, committed lawyer," Ms Beck says. "I love my job…

Key international issues

Nuclear weapons, climate change, the application of law to armed conflict and pandemics are four key issues of immediate concern to the United Nations (UN) international committee, according to Sir Kenneth Keith. The first New Zealander elected permanently to the International Court of Justice, Sir Kenneth recently gave an address at…

Legal Information

Genetics, Crime and Justice By Debra Wilson Canterbury University senior lecturer Debra Wilson brings together a number of strands to look at how the criminal justice system reacts, and ought to react, to the new challenges presented by genetic evidence. With identification of “criminal genes”, should the focus be on society’s desire…

The anatomy of a difficult conversation

Phil, a senior partner at the fictitious law firm of Smith & Same, located in Anywhere, New Zealand, works closely with his younger partner Sue. Recently, Phil sent me an unexpected email. It was unexpected (if not startling) because he presents as a relaxed, genial and unflappable person who remains…

Clayton v Clayton - the last chapter?

Senior relationship property barrister Ross Knight, with his specialty interest in relationship property and trust litigation, decided he would sit in on the recent Supreme Court hearing of Clayton v Clayton. His comments on the appeal as an observer and his views on possible outcomes follow. The Supreme Court reserved…

Age and the provision of housing finance

It is still not certain whether lenders can legally consider age when determining applications for longer term finance. Following recent amendments to the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003 (CCCFA) which require a lender to do an assessment of the borrower’s ability to repay a loan without substantial hardship,…

New financial market regulatory powers

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) is moving away from criminal enforcement and is using a new set of regulatory powers which provide the FMA with “a much wider range of options” in terms how it might deal with misconduct, says the FMA’s acting director of enforcement and investigations, Paul O’Neil. “Our…

Civil court delays compromising access to justice

People are becoming litigants in person because they cannot afford the cost of civil proceedings, recent research by the University of Otago Legal Issues Centre shows. “The average person can’t fund a case. It’s not unusual for the cost of cases to get to over $100,000 for an uncertain outcome,” says…

Front-loading the discovery process

The High Court discovery rules (which commenced in February 2012) require considerably more work in advance of the first case management conference (CMC). The front loading of work is designed to assist in limiting the scope of discovery to what really matters and provide considerable value later in the discovery process. On…

Risk-based consenting

The proposed risk-based (or “stepped” or “streamlined”) building consenting process is housed in the Building Amendment Act 2012 and despite other parts of the Act coming into force, is still inactive. There is a timeframe for the accompanying regulations to be drafted by the end of this year. However the legislature…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Brett Cooper's suspension appeal dismissed

Brett Cooper’s appeal against a suspension of 18 months has been dismissed by Justice Venning in the High Court. On 2 March 2015 the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal found Mr Cooper guilty of misconduct in [2015] NZLCDT 7. Mr Cooper pleaded guilty to a charge of unsatisfactory conduct. The…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Suspension follows misconduct findings

Anthony Bernard Joseph Morahan has been suspended for three months from 2 November for breaching the intervention rule and misleading the Court. In [2015] NZLCDT 29, the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Tribunal found Mr Morahan guilty of three charges of misconduct. The first charge related to a breach of the intervention…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Censure for failing to honour undertaking

Jane Maree Stevenson has been censured by a lawyers standards committee for failing to honour an undertaking she gave. Ms Stevenson gave a written undertaking to hold the balance of sale funds from the sale of a relationship property asset. However, she released $12,000 to her client so he could clear a…