New Zealand Law Society - LawTalk issue 935

LawTalk issue 935

LawTalk issue 935

The last LawTalk of 2019 includes coverage by author Mai Chen of an important report on the court experiences of members of the Chinese community. We also profile people in the legal profession, developments in our law, ADR, legal history, access to justice, legal information and other matters relevant to anyone working in the law.

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Are legal disrupters steering people off the road?

Are legal disrupters steering people off the road?

The choices faced by a person stripped of their driver’s licence and wanting to apply for a limited licence illustrate the dangers as well as the benefits of disruption in the legal market, and how more attention to the regulatory pitfalls and opportunities could improve access to justice in New…
Complicated sport’s appeal to lawyers

Complicated sport’s appeal to lawyers

Cricket World Cup makes debut in New ZealandBy Craig Stephen In-house lawyer Matt Pemberton loves cricket for a number of reasons, one of which is that the rules are “quite complicated” and therefore the sport appeals to lawyers. Pemberton will be part of the New Zealand team preparing for the forthcoming Lawyers…

Culture change focus shows in CPD audit

By Helen Comrie-Thomson As the Law Society’s Continuing Professional Development Manager, I carry out audits of compliance with the annual CPD requirements. While CPD audits serve to verify that practitioners are complying with the CPD Rules, they also provide an opportunity for lawyers to receive individualised feedback on their plan and…
Fever pitch

Fever pitch

The World Cup for lawyers is celebrating its 20th edition in mid-2020, with organisers hoping that more countries, such as New Zealand, can get teams together to compete in a tournament that prides itself on mixing football with fun.

From the Law Society

It’s been more than a decade since the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 (the Act) came into force and during that time many issues have arisen in relation to how the legislation works in practice and the need to keep pace with modern society. By the time this issue of LawTalk…

Lake Charles, Louisiana

Take a beautiful national park complete with nature trails, wildlife, including alligators and pink cranes, add a beach, some casinos, plenty of local history, some great local food and a rum distillery and you have Lake Charles in southwest Louisiana.

Lawyers need to do more to ensure CALD clients get equal access to justice in courts

By Mai Chen The Superdiversity Institute for Law, Policy and Business launched its latest report, Culturally, Ethnically and Linguistically Diverse Parties in the Courts: A Chinese Case Study, on 18 and 20 November 2019, at CPD sessions in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The ultimate goal of the research was to identify…

Complaints decision summaries

John Campion suspended from practice for two yearsFormer Hamilton lawyer John Campion has been suspended by the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal from practising for two years from 17 October 2019. Mr Campion was found guilty of unsatisfactory conduct by the Tribunal on 19 July 2019 ([2019] NZLCDT 20).…

Letters to the Editor

Mentoring of younger lawyersI was most interested to read the article on Trevor Booth (“Retiring from practising law at 90”, LawTalk 934, November 2019, pages 20-21). I had a few dealings with him when I was in private practice in Whakatane and always found him unfailingly professional and pleasant to deal…

New name, new place

The former Whitireia Community Law Centre says its recent move from Hagley Street in Porirua will improve access to legal services for its clients.

Recent legal books

By Geoff Adlam Criminal Procedure in New Zealand, 3rd editionBy Jeremy Finn and Don Mathias While their focus is the Criminal Procedure Act 2011, the authors give “criminal procedure” a wider meaning than in the Act. Collectively they bring over 80 years of experience in teaching and practising criminal law and this…

Ten countries where lawyers are under attack

EgyptThe Law Society of England and Wales has submitted information to the UN Human Rights Council that an increasingly authoritarian government in Egypt is systematically undermining the rule of law, attacking legal process, lawyers and human rights defenders. It says lawyers are routinely subjected to harassment, arrest and prosecution. IndonesiaJakarta-based human…

The (then) Supreme Court judges

Sir Ian Barker continues his personal observations on some of the key players in the law when he was a new lawyer. Supreme Court judges of the 1950s and early 60s were few in number and rather remote figures. Certainly, when compared to today’s echelon of about 25 High Court…

People in the Law

Oprah-inspired, Egyptian-born lawyer striving to make a contribution

Oprah-inspired, Egyptian-born lawyer striving to make a contribution

By Jamie Dobson Diana Youssif was born and grew up in Cairo, Egypt until her family made Christchurch home when she was 17. She has one younger brother. Diana studied at the University of Canterbury towards a LLB(Hons) and a BA (majoring in Politics and minoring in French) and “did the…
The long road from Black Stick gold medal-winner to lawyer

The long road from Black Stick gold medal-winner to lawyer

Pippa Hayward was studying law while juggling a professional sports career as a member of the Black Sticks hockey team. It took almost 10 years to get her degree because of her commitment to the sport, but determination won in the end. Pippa was a member of the New Zealand hockey squad…

The Innovators: Tila Hoffman, Special Counsel and Business Transformation Manager at MinterEllisonRuddWatts

LawFest organiser Andrew King continues a series of interviews with key legal professionals with their innovation and technology stories. What does legal innovation mean to you? To me, legal innovation is changing legal practice so lawyers can deliver even better value to their clients. It is that simple. If it does not…

Practising Well

Rapua te ara tika mōu ake - seek the pathway that is right for you

By Alice Anderson I contacted Sarah Taylor because I am an avid reader of the Talking about mental health series. I am a relatively fresh wahine Māori rōia, in my third year of practising. I have, however, seen quite a lot in my time. I have seen the devastation that the…
Are you approaching eDiscovery in the most effective way?

Are you approaching eDiscovery in the most effective way?

By Andrew King Mention discovery to most lawyers and the first thing they think of is cost, complication and burden – not a great starting point! This is at the same time as the discovery process continues to be an integral part of any litigation or investigation. The challenges with discovery are not…

Succession planning: a strategic approach

By Emily Morrow If you are a New Zealand lawyer reading this article, you are part of an inter-generational cohort turnover in the New Zealand legal profession. What does this mean? I am referring to the fact that the generation of baby boomer lawyers are generally reducing their level of practice,…

Update

ACC and the Woodhouse Principles: administrative efficiency

By Don Rennie The foundation for the current ACC legislation is found in the recommendations of the 1967 Woodhouse Royal Commission Report “Compensation for Personal Injury in New Zealand” which proposed the abolition of the common law right to sue for damages for personal injury caused by negligence or a breach…

Charities law needs shakeup, Fellowship winner says

By Lynda Hagen A first-principles review of New Zealand’s charities law is essential to ensuring many deserving organisations gain – or simply retain – charity status, a Law Foundation-backed researcher says. Charities expert Sue Barker says more than 10,000 charities have been deregistered since the Charities Act 2005 came into force. She…

Payment of a fine takes priority over payments to shareholders and directors

By Lucy Moffitt A substantial increase in maximum penalties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 has seen companies submitting financial hardship at sentencing and has resulted in many fines, that might otherwise have been imposed, being significantly reduced, or not imposed at all. Where a company legitimately has very…

Temporary work visa changes announced

By Haseeb Ashraf On 17 September 2019 Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway announced a shake-up to the temporary work visa policy which would be gradually implemented until 2021. Mr Lees-Galloway initially proposed a set of reforms to the immigration policy and sought Cabinet’s approvals and public submissions between December 2018 and March 2019.…

The New Zealand Relationship Property Survey 2019

By Jamie Dobson Business advisory firm Grant Thornton and the Law Society’s Family Law Section have released the report on their second survey of the trends and issues impacting on the practice of relationship property law. An initial survey was conducted in 2017. The 2019 survey builds on some observations of that…

The new Trusts Act 2019: Key changes to consider

By Rhonda Powell The first major reform to trust law in the lifetime of most New Zealand lawyers will occur on 30 January 2021 when the Trusts Act 2019 comes into force. All lawyers will need to come up to speed with the new provisions and LawTalk will assist by providing…

The Trusts Act 2019: Moving on from the 1950s

By Henry Stokes The Trusts Act has been passed and we have commenced the 18-month countdown to its coming into effect on 30 January 2021. As is often the case with Acts where we are given time to prepare, there is a lot of information available and plenty of discussion –…

Update on legal aid

By Geoff Adlam Gross legal aid payments to providers were up 13.5% in the year to 30 June 2019 from the previous year. Total gross payments of $179.7 million were well up on the $158.3 million paid in the 2017/18 year and the highest since major changes were made to legal…

Alternate Dispute Resolution

Principles of influence: likeability

By Paul Sills To be a successful mediator, it is important to have some degree of influence and persuasion over the disputing parties. Not in terms of the outcome but in terms of the process and the conversation that the parties need to have with each other. This enables the mediator…
Family feuds — litigate, arbitrate or mediate?

Family feuds — litigate, arbitrate or mediate?

By Keri Morris and Chris LaHatte Now that we have received the report from the Independent Panel’s review of the family justice reforms and also following the release of the Law Commission’s report on suggested changes to the Property (Relationship) Act 1976, we ponder other areas of family law where similar…

Lawyers Complaints Services

John Campion suspended from practice for two years

Former Hamilton lawyer John Campion has been suspended by the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal from practising for two years from 17 October 2019. Mr Campion was found guilty of unsatisfactory conduct by the Tribunal on 19 July 2019 ([2019] NZLCDT 20). There were three sets of charges, under…

Queenstown lawyer fined $15,000 and censured after criminal convictions

A Queenstown lawyer has been fined $15,000 and censured by the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal, after receiving two criminal convictions. Adam McAra Copland was convicted in July 2018 for driving with excess breath alcohol and disqualified from driving for six months as part of his sentence. However, in…

Censure for breaching confidentiality

[All names used in this article are fictitious] A lawyer who breached her obligation of confidentiality has been censured and fined $2,500 by a lawyers standards committee. The lawyer, Somerset, acted for Mr and Mrs Clywd before they both died. When one of their daughters, Ms Surrey, saw Somerset about her parents’ estates,…

Serious breaches of professional obligations

Anthony Morahan has been censured and fined $2,500 for serious breaches of the professional obligations he owed to both the court and his client. A lawyers standards committee commenced an own motion investigation after a District Court Judge referred a copy of his minute to the New Zealand Law Society. The…

“Protect us for our costs” does not create obligation

[All names used in this article are fictitious] The phrase “protect us for our costs” does not create a professional obligation to pay fees, a lawyers standards committee has said. The committee was considering complaints from two lawyers in relation to payment of an invoice. The complaint arose after one lawyer, Staffordshire,…

Failure by instructing lawyer to pay barrister’s invoice

In dismissing an action for judicial review, the High Court has confirmed that Rule 10.7 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 “represents what has always been the commonly understood position in this country. Instructing solicitors cannot simply wash their hands of their obligation…

Threat made for improper purpose

[All names used in this article are fictitious] Advising a lawyer that one’s clients were considering making a complaint to the New Zealand Law Society, and their decision may depend on “how much longer it takes to bring matters to a close”, was unsatisfactory conduct, a lawyers standards committee has determined. The…
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