New move to promote equitable briefing

The New Zealand Bar Association is developing a new initiative to promote equitable briefing practices. The association is in the process of establishing a new committee with a sole focus on looking at gender equity. Promoting the equitable briefing policy, which the association established in 2009, will be among the aims of…

From the Law Society

The future of legal practice Many of you will have had the opportunity to look through the “Snapshot of the Profession” in the last LawTalk. The statistics show a tremendous change on the horizon for the demographics of the profession: today the average lawyer composite is aged 41.4 years and is…

Our Profession, Our People

Auckland lawyer Denis McNamara becomes President-Elect of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA) at this year’s IPBA Conference, which will be held in Kuala Lumpur from 13 to 16 April. A consultant with Lowndes Law, Mr McNamara has been an IPBA member since the organisation was founded in 1991. He became…

Advancing issues of injustice

Wellington barrister Martha Coleman has always been interested in advancing issues of injustice, or what she perceives as injustice, and issues that are important to people who don’t have a strong voice. Back when she was first studying at university, however, she did not really understand how law could be used…

Syrian lawyer ‘honoured and privileged’

Why is it so quiet? When will the shelling start? These were two questions the daughter of a Syrian lawyer asked on arriving in New Zealand. Mouhannad Taha had decided to leave behind the horrors he faced in his home country, where one friend and colleague he knew was kidnapped…

Why LinkedIn matters for lawyers

I was in a board meeting recently when a choice of lawyers was being discussed. I suggested the name of someone I thought was a great QC. When I went to the internet to send their details around I found their LinkedIn page was a bit scant. In fact the most…

How can we help our colleagues

Lawyers experience alcohol-use disorders, depression and anxiety at a far greater rate than other professions, a United Stated study published last month shows. Yet that was not the big news in the study. The big news was that lawyers in the first 10 years of practice were now experiencing the highest rates…

Just an hour of your time?

“Unbundling” legal assistance has been promoted in other jurisdictions as a key tool in providing access to justice. In New Zealand, the term “unbundling” is closely associated with the restructure of the telecommunications industry, rather than a means of offering legal services. What it means is providing limited assistance to a…

Law Reform Report

New criminal legal aid fees a welcome first step New fees schedules for criminal legal aid announced on 19 February are a welcome step in the right direction, New Zealand Law Society Legal Services Committee convenor Liz Bulger says. “However, the changes have been a long time coming and lawyers providing criminal…

Living a life vicarious — On the move and yet to stop

Two recent United Kingdom Supreme Court judgments1 illustrate vicarious liability may be developing to offer plaintiffs significant opportunities in defendant shopping, to increase insurers’ exposure to claims for such liability, and to give businesses added caution in dealing with customers and clients. Vicarious liability in principle One person’s vicarious liability for another’s…

Changed approach to New Zealand superannuation

Few social welfare matters reach the Supreme Court. In a recent judgment the Supreme Court has departed from a long line of established authority and provided a new approach to the meaning of “ordinarily resident in New Zealand” for social welfare purposes. The phrase “ordinarily resident in New Zealand” governs the…

Battle of the Batts: Episode 2

The recent Court of Appeal decision, Tasman Insulation New Zealand Limited v Knauf Insulation Ltd [2015] NZCA 602, now represents the leading New Zealand authority on the application of s 66(1)(c) Trade Mark Act 2002 which deals with trade mark revocation for genericsm. The facts Tasman has manufactured and sold insulation in…

Update on funded alcohol interlock licence pilot

A Department of Corrections pilot to fund alcohol interlock devices on offenders’ vehicles is progressing well, says Project Manager Caitlin Chester. Since last October, eligible offenders on community sentences have had the cost of fitting an alcohol interlock to their vehicles paid for by Corrections, as part of a pilot to…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Censure and fine for conflict of interest

A lawyers standards committee has censured and fined a lawyer $1,500 for both acting where there was a conflict of interest and inadequate record keeping. The committee conducted an own-motion investigation after a District Court Judge wrote to the Law Society and forwarded a copy of his judgment for its consideration. The…

Lawyers Complaints Service: Failure to disclose liquidations

Wellington lawyer Quentin Duff has been censured for failing to disclose to the Law Society circumstances that might make him not a fit and proper person to hold a practising certificate. The New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal, in [2015] NZLCDT 45, also ordered Mr Duff to pay the Law…