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LawTalk issue 911

LawTalk issue 911

LawTalk issue 911

06 October 2017

The October issue of LawTalk looks at bequests, gender diversity, AML/CFT in practice, courts, technology, updates to the law, the SPCA on recidivist offenders, lawyering in Wanaka and legal brains who play football. There are also regular items the new lawyer, practising well, book reviews, mediation and technology.

Download LawTalk issue 911 (PDF file, 10.61 MB) View as a flip-book ISSUU.COM

Giving youth a chance

As part of the Community Law Centre (CLC) network, Auckland-based YouthLaw has been providing free legal advice and specialist representation to New Zealanders under the age of 25 since the organisation’s inception in 1986. The idea developed during a lunch between lawyer Robert Ludbrook and Auckland City Youth Advisor Ted Jones…

Thank you to Claudia King for being “real” and sharing her experiences as a lawyer. Anything to dispel the myth that being a lawyer involves simply rolling in cash, playing golf, and dealing with clients who are reasonable men and women, just off the Clapham Omnibus, is helpful. Legal education…

LawFest organiser Andrew King begins a series of interviews with key legal professionals with their innovation and technology stories.

While there has been a lot of discussion about how the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT) is to apply to lawyers from 1 July 2018, lawyers may wonder what they need to do to comply day-to-day, once it is in place. One of the most important…

CPD is an investment. This investment should not be considered solely from a monetary perspective, but in what the training means for you or your organisation. Most importantly, your CPD investment should be appraised on what it will return in regards to better client outcomes, through improved knowledge, skills, and professional…

I like to point out whenever I can that lawyers are also humans. Being human is the best reason I have found for encouraging people to really care for themselves in a less than ideal professional culture. It is also the best reason to care about the other humans and…

Two of the biggest “hot button” issues for law firms in New Zealand today are gender diversity and succession planning. What is the connection between the two? Gender diversity is an issue because, although about 70% of law graduates are now women, many leave the practice early, so women are often…

A lot has changed since Chris Steven decided to hang out a shingle for Wanaka Law in 1986. Although other lawyers made regular trips to Wanaka at the time, Mr Steven says he was the first to set up a full-time law office there. He said he made the permanent move…

Bruce AdamsonIt was the lure of “whisky, kilts and castles” that enticed Bruce Adamson to Scotland, but it’s ensuring vulnerable children are safe and healthy that’s keeping the New Zealand lawyer in Edinburgh. Mr Adamson, who is originally from Palmerston North and studied and worked in Wellington, was appointed Scotland’s third…

Update

As discussed in LawTalk 909 (August 2017), 'ACC and Appeals to the Supreme Court', the New Zealand Law Society has written to the Ministers for Justice and ACC, seeking reform of the law to allow an appeal pathway to the Supreme Court for ACC cases. The ministers have responded that there…

In a recent Auckland SPCA prosecution, (SPCA Auckland v Pamela Mary De Vere [2017 NZDC 2729]), the court issued a three-year prohibition against an animal welfare offender from owning or exercising authority over animals. This article reviews the District Court decision in De Vere and highlights the particular challenges animal welfare…

This article was supposed to be about a legal development. I therefore begin with a meek apology, because I write on an area arguably lacking recent development: prior inconsistent statements offered by the party calling the witness. Use of previous inconsistent statements, by the party calling the witness, seemingly allows a…

The Commerce (Cartels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill has finally passed. After six years before Parliament, the bill received Royal Assent on 14 August 2017. It came into force immediately, although there is a nine-month transitional period for existing contracts (and two-year transitional period for shipping arrangements). The bill significantly amends…

Over the last 10 years, there has been a quiet revolution in the arbitration world. Internationally, there’s been much talk of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) and sovereignty, but the reality of commercial arbitration, both international and domestic, has been far more prosaic; we’ve all just got…

On 1 July 2017, the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act 2017 created a single national fire organisation, Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ). The Act also outlines new funding arrangements that will come into force on 1 January 2019. There are two controversial features of the Act; one being that…

The Leggs burnt green waste from their landscaping business and lifestyle block on their Canterbury property. While the fire initially reduced to ash, sufficient combustible material remained that it reignited some weeks later in a strong wind. The root cause was embers within the heap staying hot enough to ignite…

Many social groups experience particular difficulties in gaining access to justice. Over several years the Law Foundation has supported projects that help people in such groups understand and exercise their legal rights. Our projects have assisted children, youth, people with intellectual disabilities, ACC claimants, victims of abuse, Māori and Pasifika comunities,…

Section 21J of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 provides the court with a discretion to void a relationship property agreement if giving effect to the agreement would cause a serious injustice. The recent High Court case of White v Kay [2017] NZHC 1643, [2016] NZFC 4942 emphasises the circumstances in…

Mediation

“Yet he hath ever but slenderly known himself,” says Regan to Goneril of their father Lear, before they set about robbing him blind. She’s right, Lear does not know his own weaknesses; vanity, hubris, neediness. That ignorance feeds his biases, and ultimately drives his doom. But you do not have…

Conflict is not intrinsically negative, and may be the precursor to both constructive and positive change. The context in which conflict arises, and the way that we deal with it, will ultimately decide whether conflict is cathartic or destructive. Many believe that war is embedded in our very nature. This conclusion…

Cover story

New Zealanders give around $2.8 billion annually to charitable and community causes. Over half of that is from individuals, according to the Giving New Zealand report published at the end of 2015. We’re among the most generous in the world. The English-based Charities Aid Foundation’s World Giving Index 2016 ranked New…

Over the last 20 years, there has been a significant change of attitude in New Zealand towards the whole concept of charitable giving. The very word “philanthropy” once had negative connotations and conjured up images of rich people giving crumbs to the poor. But this has changed. Many people have…

Courts

The Chief District Court Judge, Judge Jan-Marie Doogue, looks at the growing trend toward remote participation in the courts and explores what may be at stake if it is embraced without question. There is a certain allure about the promise of technology. New technology has undoubted potential to ease workloads in environments…

The Chief District Court Judge, Jan-Marie Doogue, has asked that a reminder be issued to the profession about not approaching Registry staff if they are seeking a judge to recuse themselves. She says: “As you know, judges are obliged to sit on any case allocated to them unless grounds for disqualification exist.…

Presenting evidence with the use of technology in a courtroom has evolved over many years. These days it’s not uncommon for a jury to be presented with a recorded audio visual police interview with an accused person accused during a trial. It provides the jury not just with an audible story clip…

The recent discussion paper One Court, One Judge: An Integrated Court System for New Zealand Families Affected by Violence by Zoë Lawton aims to start a constructive discussion on an important issue – whether New Zealand should implement a One Court, One Judge integrated approach to managing a family’s multiple…

The New Zealand Law Society recently surveyed lawyers to ascertain whether, within the previous six months, they had experienced any: Delays in the processing of documents lodged with the courts for filing, and/or Rejection of documents lodged with the courts for filing. The survey was published in LawPoints and received 127 responses over…

Practising Well

Andrew Cotterrell is the legal director and chief executive of Cornerstone Partners in Wellington. It has been, he admits, a long and tough road, battling personal demons, to get to where he is today. Originally from Dunedin, his family left for the capital when he was nine years old, yet he…

Lawyer’s inspiring battle lit up in graphic novel

A Wellington writer has laid bare his agonising battle against depression in a graphic novel with the help of an illustrator who has previously worked on Robocop and Hellraiser graphic novels. Brent Williams was a family lawyer when he was struck by the condition in 2009 after completing two major projects,…

Practice

A dancer, a baker, a jewellery maker – three former lawyers talk about taking the leap in the world of small business ownership. Although their new careers are worlds away from the law, they all say their legal backgrounds have helped in their new endeavours. Virginia Keast, Never Stop DancingVirginia Keast…

Year on year, the statute books, and the body of case law which accompanies them, grows. This is great news for lawyers whose job it is to interpret those laws and keep businesses safe. Or so you might think. Increasing regulation has forced lawyers towards specialisation in order to keep…

Lawyers Complaints Service

A lawyer who continued acting for a client after a potential conflict arose, and who did not keep the client informed, has been found guilty of unsatisfactory conduct. The lawyers standards committee ordered the lawyer, Mr Rutland, to apologise in writing to the client and to pay $1,000 costs. Mr Rutland was…

A lawyer who debited money for fees from his trust account eight working days before issuing an invoice has been fined $1,500 by a lawyers standards committee. The lawyer, Mr Mountjoy, acted for a couple who bought a section. He deducted his fee of $2,200 plus GST and disbursements from funds…

A legal executive who breached an undertaking has been fined $5,000 by a lawyers standards committee. The legal executive, Catesby, acted for the vendor in a conveyancing transaction. She provided an undertaking to the purchaser’s solicitors including ‘not to disburse any of the settlement funds until the release has been effected…

A barrister who took five years to issue an arbitral award has been censured and fined $500. The barrister, Fabian, was appointed as an arbitrator by two companies to determine a dispute between them. The arbitration agreement provided for the award to be issued within 40 days of the arbitration hearing,…

Technology

What’s wrong with corporate IT?

I was recently asked by a reader: “What’s wrong with corporate IT? Our firm invests heavily in technology and this used to give us a competitive advantage, but now I have faster internet and better devices at home than I do in the office. Things seem the same for our corporate…

The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT NZ) recently released its first report on the New Zealand cyber security threat landscape. The report shows that 364 reports of cyber security incidents have been made to the new cyber security agency in less than three months of operation. “CERT NZ has received reports…

The responses I received to my article How I Survived the Death of My Business Partner in the September edition of LawTalk were so moving. I didn’t expect to receive so many messages and phone calls, let alone have so many brave lawyers share their stories of hardship, strength and…