Preventing valuable young talent from leaving

“Last year the Law Society of England and Wales’ Insights Committee described Millennial mobility as ‘an emerging risk for [legal] employers’.1 “The committee reported that the legal profession – with its continued reliance on deep-rooted historical models of leadership, career progression and decision-making – had been slow to adapt to the…

Something that needed investigating

Last year I bumped into an old friend from law school who was visiting town for the weekend. I knew that he had gone to work at a law firm after graduating and I was surprised to learn that, two years on, he was no longer practising. “It’s strange how it…

Junior lawyers’ future plans

LawTalk Editor Frank Neill summarises some of the important findings from Josh Pemberton’s report First Steps: The Experiences and Retention of New Zealand’s Junior Lawyers. In this section: junior lawyers’ future plans. The vast majority of young lawyers surveyed were undecided or open-minded about their future, the research showed. Some, however, held…

Moving from university to practice

LawTalk Editor Frank Neill summarises some of the important findings from Josh Pemberton’s report First Steps: The Experiences and Retention of New Zealand’s Junior Lawyers. In this section: moving from university to practice. New Zealand’s law schools are performing very well when it comes to providing a good grounding in theory…

Work satisfaction

LawTalk Editor Frank Neill summarises some of the important findings from Josh Pemberton’s report First Steps: The Experiences and Retention of New Zealand’s Junior Lawyers. In this section: work satisfaction. Juniors’ decisions to remain in the profession or not can depend, at least to some extent, on how satisfied they are…

Work-life balance

LawTalk Editor Frank Neill summarises some of the important findings from Josh Pemberton’s report First Steps: The Experiences and Retention of New Zealand’s Junior Lawyers. In this section: work-life balance. Work-life balance and hours worked were frequently discussed by interviewees. Some interviewees were very happy. One, at a medium firm, reported that…

Pay and progress

LawTalk Editor Frank Neill summarises some of the important findings from Josh Pemberton’s report First Steps: The Experiences and Retention of New Zealand’s Junior Lawyers. In this section: pay and progress. Fewer than three in five survey respondents (59.1%) reported being satisfied with their remuneration. Salaries were a frequent talking point in…

Career information

LawTalk Editor Frank Neill summarises some of the important findings from Josh Pemberton’s report First Steps: The Experiences and Retention of New Zealand’s Junior Lawyers. In this section: career information. The vast majority of interviewees reported that their employment decisions out of university had not been particularly well informed. That happened in…

Women face variety of challenges

LawTalk Editor Frank Neill summarises some of the important findings from Josh Pemberton’s report First Steps: The Experiences and Retention of New Zealand’s Junior Lawyers. In this section: the experiences of young women lawyers. Many female interviewees reported that their gender presented a variety of challenges. Survey respondents were asked: “Do you…

From the Law Society

Retaining our junior lawyersJosh Pemberton surveyed over 800 junior lawyers around the country and interviewed 40. The research is insightful and, in some aspects, concerning. However, I suspect that the findings won’t come as a surprise to many practitioners. This issue of LawTalk takes an in-depth look at the research but…

Our Profession, Our People

Auckland barrister and commercial mediator Mark Kelly has been appointed to the World Intellectual Property Organisation Center’s List of Mediators. The WIPO Center is administered from Geneva, Switzerland, and facilitates the resolution of IP disputes worldwide. Mr Kelly is on the Council of the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New…

Three brothers excel at in-house practice

Their banter begins almost before the invitation to be profiled by ILANZ is accepted. Middle brother Mark fires the first shot, referring to the trio’s family graduation portrait in which it’s claimed Scott’s photo was “doctored” to add a couple extra inches in height – “to bring him up to the…

Canterbury-Westland President re-elected

Christchurch barrister Craig Ruane has been re-elected President of the New Zealand Law Society’s Canterbury-Westland branch. A long-serving member of what was the Canterbury District Law Society Council then the Canterbury-Westland branch Council, Mr Ruane has served as the branch President since December last year. He first joined the Council in the…

New Wellington branch President

In-house lawyer David Dunbar is the new Law Society Wellington branch President. Mr Dunbar was elected to the Wellington branch Council in 2011 and was elected Vice-President in 2014. He has also served as a member of the CLANZ (now ILANZ) committee for eight years until a couple of years…

Otago branch President re-elected

Frazer Barton has been re-elected President of the New Zealand Law Society’s Otago branch. Elected the branch’s Vice-President in 2014, Mr Barton became President last year. The chair of Anderson Lloyd’s board and the head of the firm’s Dunedin litigation team, he has always been a litigation specialist and specialises in court…

Queen’s and Senior Counsel in many jurisdictions

The appointment of 12 Queen’s Counsel in June brought the total appointed in New Zealand to 294. The title changes according to the gender of the New Zealand head of state and, of course, has its origins in England. Sir Francis Bacon was the first King’s Counsel, back in 1603. “The…

Making change stick

We all seem to have habits we want to change. We often struggle with them. Mostly they win and then we try again. It’s often said it takes 21 to 28 days to form a habit. If you’ve ever tried to make, break or change a habit, and chances are you…

How to thrive in disruptive times from a Silicon Valley entrepreneur

Seven takeaways for lawyersI was fortunate to attend an event with Silicon Valley entrepreneur and thought leader Gary Bolles in May. This included the opportunity to sit down with him privately for 30 minutes to discuss my plans for LawHawk.1 Gary is a frequent lecturer on innovation, entrepreneurship and the Silicon…

New books

Duties and Responsibilities of Directors and Company Secretaries in New Zealand, 5th editionBy Silvana Schenone and Igor Drinkovic Minter Ellison Rudd Watts partner Silvana Schenone and senior solicitor Igor Drinkovic have produced the latest edition of a work which was first published in 1989. They say their aim is to produce…

Ethics, Professional Responsibility and the Lawyer, 3rd edition

Reviewed by Mary Ollivier This new edition has been long awaited. As a legal regulator it is essential for me to have access to up-to-date texts about the various obligations and standards of the legal profession. The second edition was published in 2006 before implementation of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act on…

Informal unanimous shareholder assent doctrine on way out

The Supreme Court decision in Ririnui v Landcorp Farming Ltd [2016] NZSC 62, deliveredon 9 June, includes within the judgment of Justice O’Regan the expression of a view on an important company law issue. In Justice O’Regan’s view, the common law principle that the informal unanimous assent of shareholders binds the…

Child rights in international commercial surrogacy

In our increasingly interconnected world, technological, scientific and social developments push the boundaries of the law in novel and unpredictable ways. International commercial surrogacy (ICS) is one such development where science, technology and family-building intersect. In ICS, children are born to surrogate mothers in one state, for “commissioning parents” in another…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Fined for disclosing COCA report

A lawyer, D, who disclosed a Family Court report, despite legislative prohibition on disclosure, has been fined $2,000 by a lawyers standards committee. Ms A and her former partner Mr B were parties in proceedings under the Care of Children Act 2004 (COCA) relating to their two children. Ms A was…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Lawyer’s actions were to protect clients’ interests

A lawyers standards committee has determined to take no further action against a lawyer, B, after considering a complaint laid by a conveyancing practitioner, C. C’s complaint stated that they were aware of two recent occasions where B had instructed his purchasing clients to only proceed with making an offer to…