Our Profession, Our People

The Executive Officer of ILANZ, Helen Mackay, has resigned from her role, effective in the middle of October. Helen has served in this capacity for the last seven years, and her contribution has been considerable. She leaves with the best wishes of the New Zealand Law Society. Russell McVeagh solicitor Nathalie…

Lawyer an international rugby ref

West Auckland lawyer and long-time Auckland Rugby referee Don Thomas added a new entry to his CV last month. He can now boast that he has refereed an international rugby match on the famous Cardiff Arms Park, the spiritual home of Welsh rugby. Don was in Cardiff as a referee at…

What do clients really think of their lawyer’s writing style?

Overseas research on the question of what clients really thing of their lawyer’s writing style has already been completed and reported, but what do New Zealand clients think? This question will be answered at the upcoming Clarity Conference, Clarity2016, to be held in Wellington from 3 to 5 November. Professor Chris Trudeau…

A Constitution for Aotearoa New Zealand

Reviewed by Geoff Adlam New Zealand’s constitution is a hodgepodge of rules formed by a jumble of statutes, a plethora of obscure conventions, letters patent and manuals, and a raft of decisions of the courts. Accessing the basic material required to understand the current New Zealand constitution is both arduous and…

I still haven’t found what I am searching for

Keyword searching is a very common method used in litigation or investigations to target potentially relevant information, but it is easy to get it completely wrong. The use of search terms is an approach that many lawyers are familiar and comfortable with. We all use keywords every day through search engines…

Most law firms believe they’re innovative, but …

Most law firms in New Zealand and Australia rate themselves as innovative but there is little evidence to support this claim, according to the results of the 2016 ALPMA/InfoTrack Adapting to the Changing Legal Landscape report. The report was released at the 2016 Australasian Legal Practice Management Association (ALPMA) Summit…

Looking after lawyers’ clients

Protection of client money entrusted to lawyers is paramount for the work of the Inspectorate team. A team of 10 people are involved in this work – the Inspectorate Manager, one administrator and eight inspectors located throughout New Zealand. Their role is varied, but in summary, the Inspectorate: conduct reviews of lawyers’…

The work of a Law Society inspector

What is it like being a New Zealand Law Society Inspector? To answer this question, LawTalk spoke with one of the Inspectorate team, Ben Potaka, who is based in Wellington. Ben has a law degree and previous experience in investigating fraud and breaches of the Fair Trading Act. "I thoroughly enjoy…

From the Law Society

Helping look after our clientsOur New Zealand Law Society inspectors carry out a very important role on behalf of the profession. The Inspectorate team has a variety of functions, all connected with ensuring that lawyers are looking after clients’ funds according to the various requirements set out in the Lawyers and…

Law so applicable to so many areas

“Law is so diverse and so much more applicable than you would think,” says Anna Watson. “We interact with law in our everyday life,” says the former lawyer, who is now working for Inspiring Stories Trust to run a programme designed to help young New Zealanders become leaders of the future…

From indigenous rights advocate to Cabinet

Becoming Attorney-General and Minister of Justice was not on Jody Wilson-Raybould’s radar when she left law school to become a Crown prosecutor in Canada’s biggest criminal court in Vancouver. Ms Wilson-Raybould did, however, have “the good fortune to be raised in a political family. My father and grandmother were advocates for…

Meaningful work a key to recruiting and retaining talent

Making work meaningful is one of the key factors to focus on to attract and retain the best team. This is important, because if you and your team can’t see the impact that your work has for you, your firm, your clients and wider society, you’re missing a heap of motivation,…

Big AML changes ahead

The Government has announced that lawyers and certain other non-financial businesses and professions that deal with large amounts of cash will be brought into the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime by mid-2017. A short transitional period may follow, after which these entities must be fully compliant…

Superannuitants, beware the ides of ACC law

I was talking to a barrister in a regional area who has recently reached the age which qualified him to receive national superannuation. He was very happy with the system which allows him to continue receiving his not inconsiderable income as well as national super and wondered how long this…

Prosecuting recidivist animal welfare offenders

An 8-year prohibition against a recidivist animal welfare offender from owning or exercising authority over animals has been upheld by the High Court and leave to appeal conviction and sentence was dismissed by the Court of Appeal in Power v Auckland SPCA [2016] NZCA 406 [26 August 2016]. Anne Power was…

Unfair contract law not working

The unfair contract terms law “is clearly not working,” says Associate Professor Alexandra Sims, head of commercial law at Auckland University Business School. Associate Professor Sims was study lead of a research project that put under the spotlight the 2015 amendment to the Fair Trading Act, which was meant to make…

Why NZ lawyers are comfortable with mediation

New Zealand lawyers have always spent much more time in the “without prejudice world” than in the “court world”, according to Wairarapa-based mediator Grant Allan. This means, he says, lawyers in this country have a strong and longstanding practice of liaising with their colleagues via “without prejudice” discussions in order to…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Censure and fine of ‘manifestly conflicted’ lawyer upheld

A lawyer failed to realise the extent to which she was “manifestly conflicted”, justifying a lawyers standards committee finding of unsatisfactory conduct, the LCRO has found. After making the finding of unsatisfactory conduct, the standards committee censured the lawyer, C, and fined her $10,000. A Ms A complained to the New Zealand…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Failed to place client funds on interest- bearing deposit

A lawyer, D, who failed to place client funds on interest-bearing deposit has been fined $7,000 by a lawyers standards committee. The issue arose when the New Zealand Law Society Inspectorate completed a trust account review of the firm D was a director of. “The Inspectorate report indicated that there are five…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Lawyer fined for failing to pay IRD KiwiSaver and PAYE

A lawyer, C, who deducted KiwiSaver and PAYE contributions from employees but failed to send the money to Inland Revenue has been censured and fined $3,000 by a lawyers standards committee. Two former employees of C complained that he had deducted KiwiSaver contributions and PAYE from their pay but did not…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Professional responsibilities must be honoured

When monies are stolen from a law firm’s trust account, the lawyers have an “unconditional professional responsibility” to reimburse the money to the person it is held in trust for, the National Standards Committee said. It was “improper” for a law firm to require a signed confirmation of acceptance in full…