Action Station

Long before Marianne Elliott took up the role of ActionStation national director, she had plans to pay off her student loan by being a litigation lawyer at Rudd, Watts and Stone before backpacking around the Middle East. In a hostel in Jerusalem, Marianne met a Palestinian family. It was there Marianne…

New Zealand Youth Delegation

Despite the Paris terrorist tragedies of early November, New Zealand Youth Delegation (NZYD) 2015 co-convenor James Young-Drew is all set to go to Paris for the United Nations Climate Change conference. NZYD is a non-partisan organisation that gives young New Zealanders the opportunity to be officially accredited at United Nations climate…

Refugees & immigration

Megan Williams, supervisor of Community Law Wellington and Hutt Valley's Refugee and Immigration Legal Advice Service (RILAS) notes that: "Many, if not most, refugee families are torn apart by the conflicts and/or persecution that they flee from. "Many refugees arrive in New Zealand having become separated from their children, spouses, parents…

YouthLaw Aotearoa

YouthLaw Aotearoa senior solicitor Jen Puah takes the view that all lawyers should incorporate human rights into their legal practice, "so in a sense all lawyers should be 'activists'". "Lawyers are uniquely placed with expert knowledge and abilities to work within the legal sphere to assist with important causes and marginalised…

JustSpeak

JustSpeak national operations manager Hannah Gabriel had always been interested in fairness but it was during her law degree – she will be admitted this month – that she became passionate about access to justice. Ms Gabriel haphazardly became involved in JustSpeak – a nationwide non-partisan group of young people who…

New Zealand Public Interest Project

Canterbury University sociologist and lecturer Jarrod Gilbert serves as a trustee of the New Zealand Public Interest Project (NZPIP) together with 26 students, Canterbury University's former Law Dean Chris Gallavin, private investigator Tim McKinnel, lawyers Nigel Hampton QC and Kerry Cook, forensic scientist Anna Sandiford, legal expert Duncan Webb, and…

New Zealand Animal Law Association

Auckland lawyer Danielle Duffield considers herself an "activist" – "if by 'activist', you mean someone who works to further a particular cause or to advance social change". The co-founder of the New Zealand Animal Law Association (NZALA) likes to steer clear of the term's "strong political connotations", however. While undertaking legal…

From the Law Society

Women in the law We are rapidly approaching the end of 2015 and this is the last LawTalk for the year. I would like to comment on three of the many activities that the New Zealand Law Society has been involved in this year The first is the Women’s Advisory Panel that…

Our Profession, Our People

Wellington lawyer Brigitte Windley has been appointed a Coroner. Ms Windley will succeed retiring Dunedin Coroner David Crerar. She was sworn in at the Wellington District Court on 23 November. Before taking up her role as a Coroner, Ms Windley was employed by New Zealand Police as a legal adviser…

In NZ for its people, idyllic lifestyle and the law

Despite coming from a family of actresses, singers, doctors, professors and teachers, Chilean intellectual property and environmental law specialist Federico Simon came to New Zealand three years ago for its people, the idyllic lifestyle and the law. "It's doesn't take a genius to see why so many people wish to live…

New Women’s Advisory Panel

Seven members of the New Zealand Law Society's Women's Advisory Panel have now been appointed. The full panel will be announced soon. This new group has been established with the aim of considering initiatives that will make a real difference to improving the retention and advancement of women in the legal…

Gender balance on bench

For the first time in New Zealand a bench has achieved gender balance. This happened with the appointment of Wellington lawyer Brigitte Windley as a Coroner. With the final sitting of former Wellington Coroner Garry Evans on 19 November, and Coroner Windley’s swearing in on 23 November, a majority of Coroners…

How stress makes you fat

If you’ve been dieting since your teenage years and you’re exercising like mad, the calories in/calories out equation that’s been around for so long says the results should be clear. If you’re not seeing the results you expect given the time, effort and sacrifice you’ve put in over the years, if…

Nevill’s Will Drafting Handbook, 7th Edition

Reviewed by Jacintha Atkinson Nevill’s Will Drafting Handbook (7th edition) updates practitioners on developments since the 6th edition, which was published in 2011. This book is written by Sarah Parsons and Nicky Richardson who are both lawyers (albeit Nicky is now retired), so it is practical and designed to be the…

New books

Public Law in the Age of Statutes: Essays in Honour of Dennis Pearce Edited by Anthony J Connolly and Daniel Stewart The nine essays have been prepared by the presenters at a conference in Canberra in October 2014. The essays celebrate the career and scholarship of Professor Dennis Pearce of the Australian…

Domain Name Commission seeks comment on .nz WHOIS

In the technology world, WHOIS is one of the more self explanatory words you’ll come across. Simply put, it’s the search protocol that lets you find out who the registrant (holder) of a domain name is. The WHOIS for .nz domain names is a publicly available search service that allows people…

Looking the gift horse in the mouth

Independence is a cornerstone underlying all other obligations owed by a lawyer. One aspect of the principle of independence is encapsulated in rule 5 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 (RCCC): “A lawyer must be independent and free from compromising influences or loyalties when…

Intimate partner violence

Since the enactment of the vaunted Domestic Violence Act of 1995, there has been an evolution in the understanding of and the response to intimate partner violence (IPV). Most recently, Justice Minister Amy Adams initiated a comprehensive, multifaceted review of family violence law, with a view to strengthening the legislative…

The Human Rights Review Tribunal

The amount of compensation awarded for hurt and humiliation by the Employment Relations Authority (the Authority) and the Employment Court has been a topical issue among those practising employment law. Some suggest that the awards given in the employment jurisdiction have been stagnant for too long. They claim those who successfully…

Private practice to in-house and back — some insights

In March of this year I was asked if I would consider working in-house for a client of my firm. The agreed period was for six months. I would be working inside an organisation that the firm worked closely with on a range of matters. It was a daunting prospect, not…

Lawyers Complaints Service: High Court upholds suspension

Anthony Bernard Joseph Morahan’s three-month suspension for breaching the intervention rule and misleading the court has been upheld by the High Court. In noting that the suspension began on 30 November, Justice Wylie said that “Mr Morahan is fortunate that the Christmas vacation will mean that the suspension is, in reality,…

Lawyers Complaints Service: High Court upholds censure of John Eichelbaum

The censure imposed on Auckland barrister John Revans Eichelbaum has been upheld by Justice Venning in the High Court. Mr Eichelbaum was censured by the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal after it found him guilty of two charges of misconduct and one charge of unsatisfactory conduct – [2014] NZLCDT…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Interim suspension

Robert John Moody of Auckland has been suspended on an interim basis by the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal. The Tribunal made the interim suspension order on 16 November. Effective immediately, the order suspended Mr Moody until a charge he faces has been heard and determined by the Tribunal. The…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Fined for breaching trust account regulations

A lawyer, C, has been censured and fined $4,000 by a lawyers standards committee for contravening the Trust Account Regulations and failing to honour an undertaking to the NZLS. The committee also ordered C to successfully complete a Trust Account Supervisor training programme within 12 months, and provide confirmation of…