New Zealand Law Society - LawTalk issue 914

LawTalk issue 914

LawTalk issue 914

This issue looks at New Zealand’s courts, with updates from the Chief District Court Judge, the Secretary of Justice and a look at the state of our courthouses. Also included are updates on developments in the law, more AML/CFT information, details of appointments and promotions, advice for new lawyers and topics on legal practice.

Download LawTalk issue 914 (PDF file, 10.24 MB) View as a flip-book ISSUU.COM

Digital signing for WebForms

The days of lawyers working predominantly in their own patch are mostly a thing of the past, with large amounts of work now being done online. One of the big challenges though is getting a legitimate signature which cannot be fraudulently replicated. Could the hand and pen become redundant?ADLS Inc has possibly…

ACC denial focus highlights need for fundamental change

In 2005 Dunedin lawyer Warren Forster took on the ACC on behalf of his mother, who was declined compensation despite suffering a serious back injury. The experience was career-changing – he became a leading advocate for claimants turned down by ACC, and a key influencer of current reforms to the ACC…

Changing the way we argue: Part 4 – Connected mediation in action

The argument-as-war metaphor and the one-day mediation are problematic methods for resolving disputes – but what do we replace them with? One of the pillars of better communication is getting connected. When connection is considered an important part of resolving disputes, we can more easily identify the alternative approaches available to…

Preparing for AML/CFT: Training staff

With 'Phase Two' of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT Act) set to bring lawyers into the regime, sole practitioners, partners and practice managers in firms throughout the country are considering how they can best comply with the AML/CFT Act, from 1 July 2018. The AML/CFT…

Lawyers for good: How pro bono work contributes to society

Heard that joke about how 99% of lawyers make the rest look bad? Or Winston Churchill’s assessment that “Lawyers occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.” Is there any other profession that has a whole comedy genre…

Delivering a bicultural legal education in Hamilton

Te Piringa – Faculty of Law at the University of Waikato is still young at heart in many ways. It was established in 1991 and, at the time, was viewed as providing a different and important kind of legal education that embraced biculturalism. One of Waikato’s core principles when formulating how…

Wine and law

A New Zealander is in line to lead the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) – an institution which is sometimes referred to as the “UN of wine”. Auckland lawyer Dr John Barker, who has been nominated to become the Director General of the Paris-based organisation, has decades of experience…

Lawyer releases second Americana album

In the beginning, playing the music known as Americana was what poor people did to cheer themselves up in the face of a life laden with struggle and poverty. Some even called Americana mountain music because of its bluegrass and folk routes but these days perhaps the origin of the sound…

Update

Animal cruelty and family violence

Animal cruelty and family violence

In a recent animal welfare prosecution, New Zealand Police v Hanuere Paul Witehira [2017] NZDC 16476, the court sentenced an offender to two years’ and five months’ imprisonment for bashing a puppy eight times on the head with a hammer, resulting in its death. The offending occurred in a family…
Code to increase availability of quality financial advice

Code to increase availability of quality financial advice

A new code of conduct is at the heart of changes proposed to the regulation of financial advice in New Zealand. The new code will affect anyone who recommends a financial advice product (such as a mortgage, insurance policy or KiwiSaver scheme). Financial advice is valuable as it helps individuals…

New Commerce Commission Competitor Collaboration Guidelines

On 9 January 2018 the Commerce Commission released its Competitor Collaboration Guidelines. These Guidelines explain the new cartel prohibition introduced by the Commerce (Cartels and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2017 (passed in August 2017). Secondly, they explain the exceptions to the cartel prohibition. Finally, they explain the proposed regime for clearance…
Compensating what?

Compensating what?

Employment law is emotional. Whether we work with employees, unions or employers, we cannot escape the demanding nature of dealing with feelings about an employment relationship problem – the phrase “personal grievance” seems especially apt. So too does the wording of the section used to compensate for feelings of “humiliation,…

Estate claims — Executors' obligations

An executor's primary obligation is to carry out the terms of the will. Executors owe duties to the beneficiaries of the will. However, executors also have obligations – in some situations – to potential claimants against an estate. A duty of even handedness will exist in some circumstances. The exact…

What remedies are available to franchisees when the franchisor does not perform?

It is a characteristic of franchise agreements that they are top heavy on franchisee obligation and light on franchisor obligation. Having the ability to draft the franchise agreement enables franchisors to cast franchisor obligations in largely discretionary terms and, conversely, the franchisee’s role as a set of non-negotiable cast iron…

Intellectual Property highlights for 2017

What happened in the land of intellectual property in 2017? LegislationThere were some legislative developments, which can be unusual in intellectual property in an election year. Geographical Indications (Wine and Spirits) Registration Act 2006The Geographical Indications (Wine and Spirits) Registration Act 2006 came into force on 27 July 2017. The Act allows wine…

Overseas Investment Act Changes

Shortly after the coalition government was announced, it declared that one of its priorities was to restrict the purchase of houses by overseas buyers. There was some general surprise when it was announced that this would be by amending the definition of sensitive land in the Overseas Investment Act 2005,…

The Supreme Court's approach to economic disparity claims

The Supreme Court recently considered the application of economic disparity under section 15 of the Property (Relationships) Act in Scott v Williams [2017] NZSC 185. The issue to be determined in respect of s 15 was whether the amount awarded to Ms Scott was correct. Section 15 provides the court with…

Courts

Testing resolve in testing times

Testing resolve in testing times

The New Year is often a time for making and, shortly thereafter, breaking resolutions. Although resolutions may be easy to make and hard to keep, it requires more than glib good intentions to run a court as large and busy as the District Court. District Court judges are realists, and for…
Information technology in the New Zealand Court system

Information technology in the New Zealand Court system

At the beginning of 2017 LawTalk (issue 903, February) had an article by Nikki Pender reviewing the British Government’s ambitious $1.4 billion investment in modernising courts to bring them into the digital age. Nikki rightly concluded her article by asking “how soon before we see similar developments down under?” I am…

How do our courthouses measure up?

Courthouses are very much in the news as 2018 gets underway. On 26 January Dunedin’s legal profession paraded through the city to the formal first sitting of the historic and now restored Stuart Street Court. A few days later, on 31 January, a ceremonial sitting to mark the opening of…
Demolition by neglect? The saga of Hamilton's old court on the hill

Demolition by neglect? The saga of Hamilton's old court on the hill

What value does New Zealand’s legal profession place on its historic courthouses? Internationally, at least, developments in online courts and in the use of audio-visual and other technologies in courts have been challenging long-held ideas about the importance of physical justice spaces. Some of these technologies are already being trialled…

New Lawyers

Some advice for new lawyers

Starting your legal career is likely to be an exciting, yet slightly terrifying, time. It’s important to remember that everyone has to start somewhere, and chances are the partner you’re reporting to also felt out of their depth when they first joined the profession. LawTalk asked some senior lawyers to…

You do not have to be a lawyer

You do not have to be a lawyer. You may think you do. It may feel like you absolutely do, but you do not. Remembering this helps, especially when things are hard. Most worthwhile undertakings are hard. Becoming a lawyer takes a long time and a lot of work. Becoming a…

Practice

Policy will result in more women taking the lead

Policy will result in more women taking the lead

A policy that could change how law firms and clients think when assigning lawyers to major cases and investigations was launched in December 2017. The Gender Equitable Engagement and Instruction Policy (Eqitable Instructions) is aimed at developing and retaining the skills of women lawyers. While over 60% of law school graduates are…
Law Office Retreats: From good intentions to great outcomes

Law Office Retreats: From good intentions to great outcomes

“[The road to] Hell is paved with good intentions,” – attributed to St Bernard Clairvaux (c. 1150)When I plan a law office retreat, I ask participants “What optimal outcomes would you like to achieve in this retreat?” They often say: “I want the group to make some decisions and then…

Just the fax, ma'am

It seems remarkable that we’re still talking about fax machines in 2017, but I have received a surprising number of questions from readers about making facsimile communication more reliable. This conversation is usually the same each time. It basically involves me recommending that the only way to make fax communication reliable…

Legal Information

This Realm of New Zealand – The Sovereign, The Governor-General, The Crown

By Alison Quentin-Baxter and Janet McLean (Auckland University Press, December 2017) Reviewed by Sir Geoffrey Palmer QC This book exhibits detailed and deep scholarship. Supported by a Law Foundation grant, it has been ten years in the making. Few New Zealand lawyers enjoy a deep understanding of the law relating to the monarchy in…

Advocacy: The tools of the trade – The UK Bar Manual on Advocacy

Reviewed by Garry Williams One of the first things I did when I arrived in London in late 1997 was to search out the antiquarian legal bookshop Wildy & Sons. Given the rich pickings of things to see and do in London this might seem an odd thing for someone in their…
Lawyer Listing for Bots