NZLS | LawTalk issue 915

The issue of diversity is both a huge challenge and a great opportunity. Cultural diversity in particular is essential to our growth, our ability to solve problems and to innovate. But so often when faced with diversity our unconscious judgement of others who appear different to us makes it all but…

After publishing statistics and information on the New Zealand legal profession in LawTalk throughout 2017, we have decided to revert to bringing them all together into an annual snapshot. Our snapshots – from 2011 to 2016, and now for 2018 – bring together information obtained from a number of sources,…

First published in 1997 to replace the New Zealand edition of the English Cheshire and Fifoot, the longstanding author team of Burrows, Finn and Todd has now become Finn, Todd and Barber – but retaining its University of Canterbury focus. The fifth edition of this definitive New Zealand work appeared…

A new Law Foundation-backed study will assess whether special court processes used in pilot sexual violence courts are making it less traumatising for complainants to give evidence. Elisabeth McDonald of the University of Canterbury, assisted by Paulette Benton-Greig of the University of Waikato, will compare procedures used in adult acquaintance rape…

One of the best ways to maintain mental health in your work is to have friends who are not lawyers and to see them a lot. That is because many of the skills it takes to be a good lawyer are not necessarily the skills it takes to be a…

Following our popular features on rugby, netball and football playing lawyers in editions of LawTalk during 2017, we now present a team of legal professionals who excelled in cricket. Now, if anyone knows of lawyers who have done well at golf, croquet or elephant polo … Martin SneddenMartin Snedden was a…

Many lawyers, after 30 years of practice, are probably thinking more about changing down a gear rather than accelerating their career. But that’s far from the case for former Napier lawyer Stu Webster who three years ago moved to the United States to become an ‘Attorney at Law’. It would be fair…

After graduating in 2015, Waiata Bell is now a solicitor in Simpson Grierson’s Local Government and Environment team in their Auckland office. Between completing her LLB and her admission as a barrister and solicitor in November 2017, she became a mother. Rotorua-born, Ms Bell had a passion for hockey while growing…

It is well reported that New Zealanders are keen establishers of trusts. Thanks to trusts, property owners are able to create comfort that, if they ever fail, they will be able to retain the benefit of their property. A trust is not a separate legal entity: as such the trustees are…

On 13 December 1967 the Royal Commission on “Compensation for Personal Injury in New Zealand” chaired by Sir Owen Woodhouse, reported its findings to the Governor-General Sir Arthur Porritt. The report, which became known as the Woodhouse Report, attracted worldwide attention because it exposed the shortcomings of the common law fault…

The Law Commission and the Ministry of Justice have published a joint report on the operation of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012. The report finds that the Act has largely been working well and does not need a major overhaul. The 67 recommendations in the report aim to provide…

Over the next couple of columns I’m going to look at the incredible impact that artificial intelligence (the ‘rise of the machines’) is going to have on the legal industry and on our day-to-day lives. In this article we look at a subject that is very close to my heart –…

“There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries.” (Julius Caesar, Act 4, Scene 3). Brutus is talking about war; urging Cassius to act to head off the…

Xero recently listed solely on the Australian stock exchange, with the company now worth over NZ$5 billion. In only 12 years, Xero has fundamentally changed the face of accounting in New Zealand and abroad. This kind of disruption to the accounting profession will have made many established accountants go grey…

Next month (April) the New Zealand Law Society will release the Gender Equality Charter to the legal profession. It’s the Law Society’s response to concern about a lack of progression of women lawyers into senior positions such as partnership and Queen's Counsel. The Law Society will also provide guidance on how…

On 5 December 2017, the Gender Equitable Engagement and Instruction Policy (Policy), promoted and managed by the New Zealand Bar Association and the New Zealand Law Society, was launched. Its key objective is that Policy adopters “will use reasonable endeavours to have women lawyers with relevant expertise take a lead…

The term ‘social network’ may seem like a modern concept – but it has been around since the 19th century. The English-American temperance reformer and lecturer John B Gough used the term in his autobiography, released in 1845/46, to describe a downward spiral in his youth following the death of his…

A city in its own right, Porirua is, however, often considered to be an extension of Wellington. The profession is composed mainly of sole practitioners and small practices, most of whom are based in the side streets of the small CBD, centred around the popular North City Shopping Centre. Tania Davis…

Email fraud attempts continue to target the legal profession. The criminals behind many of the frauds have become more sophisticated and often use internal email they have hacked in their attempts to steal money. A spate of reported attempted frauds at the start of 2018 prompted the Law Society to repeat…

A barrister who sought a sentence indication without instructions on behalf of a client who wished to defend an assault charge has been censured by a lawyers standards committee. The client did not instruct the barrister, Caithness, to obtain a sentence indication, the committee found. As well as the censure, the committee…

A lawyer who failed to ensure that he was doing what his clients had in mind has been censured by a lawyers standards committee. The Legal Complaints Review Officer (LCRO), in LCRO 234/2014, said he agreed with the committee’s finding of unsatisfactory conduct by the lawyer, Glansdale, and that the finding…

A partner of a law firm, Boult, has been fined $500 for failing to ensure that the duties to a client were adhered to. A client instructed Boult’s firm to act for him because he did not accept orders made by the Māori Land Court about interpretation of a will. The client…

The High Court has upheld a censure imposed on lawyer Jeremy James McGuire. The Court, however, remitted an aspect of the decision relating to the penalty imposed back to the Lawyers Standards Committee for further consideration. In doing so, the Court commented on the statutory purpose of the Lawyers Complaints Service. A…

A lawyer who charged and deducted fees for work she did after her retainer was terminated engaged in unsatisfactory conduct, the Legal Complaints Review Officer (LCRO) has found. In May 2015 the clients instructed the lawyer, Bertram, to act for them in the sale and purchase of properties. By December 2015 the…

A lawyers standards committee has decided to take no further action on a complaint that a lawyer failed her clients regarding EQC and private insurance claims. However, the committee said that in conveyancing involving EQC claims “template letters … can assist in expanding the ambit of relevant information, and provide…

A lawyer has been censured and fined $15,000 for unsatisfactory conduct that arose while acting for a client in relation to a company liquidation. The lawyer, Snodgrass, acted for Mr A and companies of which he was a director. BackgroundWhen Mr A became aware the companies were facing some fairly serious problems,…

In a perfect world, a client charged with a criminal offence should be judged by evidence and that alone. However, it is widely accepted that “first impressions” can play a role in the courtroom when it comes to how clients are perceived. In January, a judge in Otago sent seven defendants…

McCaw Lewis' active community involvement

A Hamilton firm is reaching out to the growing Pacific communities and Māori entrepreneurs in the Waikato region. McCaw Lewis is a long-standing firm in the city with 51 staff. Recently, it established the Pasifika Law Initiative to further develop its relationship with the Pacific community in Waikato. Aidan Warren, the firm’s Managing…

People without legal representation in bankruptcy disputes in the Auckland High Court will now be able to access free legal assistance through the new Litigants in Person Service. The pilot service will extend to lay litigants in the Employment Court (in Auckland) from April 2018. The service is part of an…

New Zealand Law Society - LawTalk issue 915

LawTalk issue 915

Embracing Diversity

Snapshot of the profession 2018

New legal books

Study to assess sexual violence court pilot

Watch out for lawyer creep

A lawyers' cricketing XIII

People in the law

Stu Webster 'Attorney at Law' in California

A young lawyer balancing the law and parenthood

Update

Liquidation of corporate trustees

Fifty years since the Woodhouse Report

Search and Surveillance review aims for greater clarity and transparency in statute

Future of law

Rise of the Machines: Driverless Vehicles

Client-centric innovation strategy — five steps for planning for the future

Turning your big idea into a legal reality

Practice

Law Society releases Gender Equality Charter to legal profession

Gender and Equality: an alternative view of the new policy on equitable engagement

Social media and networking in the workplace

Focus on ... Porirua

Verify emailed instructions. And watch those property purchase inquiries

Lawyers Complaints Service

Barrister acted without instructions

Censured for failing to confirm instructions

Failure to properly administer practice

Judicial review of standards committee decision

Lawyer billed clients for work done after termination

No disciplinary response needed for EQC claim, but faults noted

No independent advice and excessive fees — $15,000 fine

Pro Bono

The Good Lawyer Project

McCaw Lewis' active community involvement

Unlocking potential through the Litigants in Person Service