New Zealand Law Society - LawTalk issue 905

LawTalk issue 905

LawTalk issue 905

LawTalk April 2017 provides a wide range of articles on the practice of law in New Zealand. These include analysis of complaints against lawyers over estate administration, specialist courts, phase 2 of the AML/CFT, common sense IT security, law firm web design, practice in Palmerston North, and developments at AUT Law School.

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Mind over matter: The characteristics of a great negotiator

Great negotiators are fearless – they never hesitate to engage with their opponents if their engagement may help advance matters. But what turns good into great? The characteristics of a great negotiator include the following: Preparation and planning skills (as General Dwight Eisenhower said: “Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.”). Subject…
Work out what's being asked of you

Work out what's being asked of you

Many of you will be only a few weeks or months into your first law job, and here’s hoping your organisation has a scheduled chocolate biscuit day. If not I hope you have made peace with your friends whose workplaces do have chocolate biscuit days. But work, like life, is not…

New Zealand Judicial Review Handbook, 2nd edition

The second edition of Matthew Smith’s book on judicial review will be useful to practitioners struggling to use the extensive case law on judicial review. The book is 1300 pages long, itself an indication of how extensive a field administrative law has become. It is highly practical. Smith has developed an extensive…
Future Proofing your Law Practice

Future Proofing your Law Practice

Buckle your seatbelt. I suspect 2017 will be a fast-paced, bumpy ride into an uncertain and challenging future. What has worked well for your law practice to date may not be sufficient to get it to where it needs to be, or even maintain the status quo. Wikipedia defines “future proofing”…

AUT Law School looking ahead

Auckland-based AUT began offering a law degree in 2009 when it became the sixth tertiary institution with a law school. It is now into its eighth year and has seen a number of interesting recent developments in its curriculum and academic staffing. LawTalk asked AUT Law School Dean, Professor Charles Rickett,…

The Law Society is going to continue to take action on the leadership gender imbalance

Sometime in a few months, New Zealand’s legal profession will have more women than men. In mid-March, there were just 205 more men in our 12,800-member profession. We will duly mark what is really an interesting milestone. It has been coming since 1993 when the number of women being admitted to…

Focus on law practice in Palmerston North

The clocktower in the centre of 'The Square', the urban focalpoint of Palmerston North. Photo: Naoki Sato CC-By-SAPalmerston North has welcomed a lot of new lawyers in recent years, but a fresh approach is needed to consistently attract new talent to the town, according to Crown Solicitor Ben Vanderkolk. Mr Vanderkolk,…

Pathways in the Law: BlackmanSpargo, Rural and Commercial Law specialists

Many might consider starting in a law firm as an accounts executive or legal executive to eventually become a law firm partner in the same practice as a story of fiction. But that’s exactly what happened for two of the women partners at rural law specialists, BlackmanSpargo, based in Rotorua. In 2003,…

People in the law

Lawyers have crucial role against domestic violence

A Bay of Plenty barrister says lawyers have a crucial role to play in the campaign against domestic violence, and understanding the causes and effects can prove vital. Megan Leaf is one of the faces of a video project coordinated by It’s not OK, a national campaign run by the Ministry…

Building an international career

Expat New Zealander Miriam Cullen has just completed a PhD on the relationship between the United Nations and international criminal justice at the University of Copenhagen. That’s not bad going for someone who didn’t finish high school. Although she was always interested in human rights, it took her a while to…

Update

Phase 2 of the AML/CFT Act: Practical implementation considerations for lawyers

On 13 March 2017 the Ministry of Justice introduced the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill to Parliament This is the next step in the introduction of the Phase 2 anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) reforms, which will extend the ambit of the AML/CFT…
A Right to Data Portability: Privacy and Competition Law Concerns

A Right to Data Portability: Privacy and Competition Law Concerns

In his 3 February report to the Minister of Justice, the Privacy Commissioner made a number of recommendations for reform to the Privacy Act 1993. Among them was the introduction of a right to data portability. Data portability refers to an individual’s ability to easily move their personal information from one…

Lacoste shakes up New Zealand trade mark law

Most businesses know the importance of registering trade marks. But registration is only the first step. It’s just as important to keep track of intellectual property as a business evolves, or else trade marks may become vulnerable to revocation. The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Crocodile International Pte Ltd v Lacoste…

Better process needed for new genetic testing methods

New non-invasive tests for genetic abnormalities in pregnancy offer many advantages over traditional tests, but a new Law Foundation-backed study has found there should be a standardised process around their use. The tests, which analyse a mother’s blood sample, have advantages over traditional screening tests: they are more accurate, available commercially,…

Litigation

Specialist Courts: Their time and place in the District Court

Judges of the New Zealand District Court are proud of our efforts leading innovation in the delivery of justice. Perhaps the most high-profile examples of judicially led initiatives are specialist courts. They attract news media interest and enjoy the support of many professionals and support agencies working in the fields from…
Compensation for Loss of Dignity: the illusive search for a principled approach

Compensation for Loss of Dignity: the illusive search for a principled approach

Quantifying damages for loss of dignity has been problematic for employment institutions for the last 30 years. The jurisprudence remains unclear and awards have remained unrealistically low. The problems with quantification have been exacerbated by recent developments in privacy law where there is an increased focus on fully compensating plaintiffs.…

Court on the Chathams

The District Court in Waitangi, the largest town in the Chatham Islands. The building also houses the local Police station.When does a day amount to a week? It’s not a trick question, and the answer lies in court sessions on the Chatham Islands, the remote archipelago 650km from mainland New…

Complaints

Complaints against lawyers over estate administration

Complaints against lawyers over estate administration

Complaints arising from disagreements over the administration of an estate are common. Last year the Lawyers Complaints Service (LCS) received 134 complaints in this area, making up just over 9% of the 1,459 complaints received. The vast majority of estate complaints (90%) did not, ultimately, result in any adverse findings against…

Barrister acting as attorney for old friend censured

A former lawyer has been censured and fined $5,000 by the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal for negligence or incompetence of such a degree as to reflect on his fitness to practise, or as to bring the profession into disrepute. The charges arose while M was acting for a…

Lawyer failed to file legal aid application

A lawyer who failed to file a client’s application for legal aid, despite repeated assurances he was going to, has been found guilty of unsatisfactory conduct by a lawyer’s standards committee. “The committee was of the view that this was conduct that fell short of the competence and diligence that a…

A & I certification not just a ‘rubber stamp’

A lawyer has been found guilty of unsatisfactory conduct by a lawyer’s standards committee of falsely signing documents as a witness. Mrs E signed five documents, including an Authority and Instruction form, and all five contained statements that they were signed in the presence of the lawyer, D. The committee said D…

Suspension follows mishandling client monies

Auckland lawyer Richard Zhao was censured and suspended for four months from 1 December 2016 by the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal. In [2016] NZLCDT 22, the Tribunal found Mr Zhao guilty of misconduct. The misconduct involved four different categories of default: failure to pay client money into a trust…

Practice

Do you feel like a fraud? Dealing with impostor syndrome

Do you feel like a fraud? Dealing with impostor syndrome

Do you ever get the feeling you’re not as talented or as smart as people think you are? That you’ve fluked your way into a good job and one day people are going to figure out you’re a fraud? If so, you’re not alone. That feeling has a name –…
The hidden agenda inside the questions fired off by a journalist

The hidden agenda inside the questions fired off by a journalist

As a lawyer it’s quite likely you may need to talk to the media at some time in your career. Some practitioners do it all the time and are experts in dealing with tricky questions. Others might find it a worrying experience. Here are some tips “from the other side”. I…

Technology

Common sense IT security

In the March column I looked at how hard it is to get good tech security advice, which is why many firms bury their heads in the sand, either entrusting their IT security to someone else, or simply doing nothing and hoping for the best. Don’t despair. With a bit of…

Online dispute resolution: Filling some of the access to justice void?

Technology and the law: in the beginning they probably seemed like very unlikely bedfellows at any time in the future. But with ongoing pressure for ‘access to justice’, online lawyering is filling some of that void in the public system. Complete Online Dispute Resolution (CODR) is one of several web-based services that…
Five handy apps for New Zealand lawyers

Five handy apps for New Zealand lawyers

Smartphones have advanced to the point now where they are essentially small computers with the added bonus of being a phone. Many lawyers use smartphones and, as the technology evolution continues to advance at a rapid pace, many additions have been developed to help make the most of the hardware. There are…

The importance of web design

There are three main things to consider when looking to redesign your existing website or start from scratch – how it looks, how it functions and what exactly you want the site to achieve. Deciding if you like a designer’s work based on looks is probably the easiest part of the…

Legal professionals’ attitudes to innovation and technology are shifting

Services in nearly all sectors have evolved to meet consumer demand except one – legal services. The legal sector is one of the few that hasn’t adopted a new agile service delivery and payment approach. Think Uber, Xero and AirBnB in taxis, accounting and accommodation respectively. Services that we traditionally…

E-discovery at a glance

“I think one of the issues these days is the volume of information that is out there,” says Andrew King, an independent consultant at E-Discovery Consulting. “It’s gotten to the stage that people are needing to use software to make the laborious task of discovery more efficient. That’s where the e-discovery…
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