Access to justice with free and independent dispute resolution services

By Zoe Priestley New Zealand has a number of dispute resolution services available to consumers. All are independent of any particular interests and provide free services, but consumers can sometimes miss out due to a lack of knowledge of their availability. Lawyers can also be unaware of the options the services…

AML/CFT: A view from the trenches

By Ros Morshead I don’t imagine the angst I hear around the law firm traps in my world on AML/CFT (AML) is any different to anywhere else in the country. We seem to be bombarded with it from every corner, and it has been overwhelming for many. The Department of Internal…

An interview with Kristy McDonald QC

Supporters of the #metoo movement in New Zealand argue that gender discrimination and sexual harassment are rife in the legal profession. It’s more complicated than that, Queen’s Counsel Kristy McDonald thinks. In March the University of Melbourne’s student society, Women in Commerce and Politics, featured Kristy McDonald QC as its “Woman…

Car San Diego, Solicitor, Rejthar Stuart Law, Tauranga

By Angharad O’Flynn Born in the Philippines, Car San Diego came to New Zealand to visit but fell in love - and the rest is history. After being admitted to the bar in August 2016, Car worked at a large law firm in Tauranga before joining Rejthar Stuart Law. Working closely with named partners…

What COVID-19 has taught us about flexible working

By Nadine Haines On Wednesday 25 March, New Zealand entered a mandatory Level 4 lockdown period of four weeks (extended to five), intended to stamp out COVID-19. With only two days warning, non-essential businesses scrambled to ensure their staff could work from home, to protect the very survival of their business.…

Continuing your Professional Development journey in a new world of opportunity

By Helen Comrie-Thomson Out of adversity comes opportunity – a quote often attributed to Benjamin Franklin, and one that seems quite apt in our current climate. Over the past couple of months, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities such as face-to-face seminars and conferences, and even online webinars, have been cancelled or postponed…

Copywrong: The artists failed by the law

By Craig Stephen It could be considered the ultimate tribute: three David Bowie heads with the famous lightning strike that adorned his Aladdin Sane album, on a large wall off a car park in Wellington’s famous Cuba Street. This amateur photographer is one of those to have snapped it, but I have…

David Munn retires after 44 years with Gaze Burt

By Sarah Hughes David Munn, formerly a partner of Auckland firm Gaze Burt, has retired after 44 years with the firm. David holds the record for being the longest-standing partner in the firm’s 96 year history – a legacy of service that has inspired many. David started his career working…

Executing and Witnessing Important Documents

By Indiana Shewen and Henry Brandts-Giesen The Government’s announcement on Monday 23 March 2020 of a Level 4 self-isolation regime in response to the COVID-19 pandemic meant that businesses and individuals had to find alternative ways of signing important documents. In this article we discuss some of the problems with and…

How to be a rainmaker post COVID-19 lockdown

By Ben Paul Back in 2016 I wrote an article in LawTalk that outlined the nine habits of a rainmaker (“The top nine habits of a rainmaker”, LawTalk 890, 17 June 2016, pages 38-39). While a lot of those basic business development and relationship building habits are still important, with a…

In the presence of change

By Don Thomas Much has been said about how things will change, how much will have changed, when we come out the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting restrictions. Remote WorkingThe obvious change will be a more widespread acceptance of working remotely. This discussion has been developing for some time. Some…

The Innovators: Josh McBride

By Andrew King LawFest organiser Andrew King continues a series of interviews with key legal professionals with their innovation and technology stories. Tell us about yourself I am a barrister practising in commercial litigation at Richmond Chambers in Auckland. I was admitted to the bar in 1998, worked in Sydney and London from…

Lawyers Complaints Service

Peter Francis Aitken struck offThe New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal has ordered that Peter Francis Aitken be struck off the roll of barristers and solicitors. Mr Aitken admitted one charge of misconduct which related to his misappropriation of client funds and ongoing misuse and dishonest mismanagement of his trust…

Legal practice during levels 3 and 4 in a Whanganui law firm

By James Greenland While lockdown has been a unique experience for Whanganui lawyers, it’s not been entirely without precedent. An upturning of daily life, restrictions on movement and a reduction in workload would all have been experienced by practitioners the last time something like this happened, during the devastating influenza pandemic of 1918. The…

Letter to the Editor: Justice Mahon and the Erebus disaster

This year Jacinda Ardern made a public apology upon behalf of the Government in respect of the crash and loss of life arising from the Air New Zealand flight over Mt Erebus 40 years ago. She said that she was apologising on behalf of Air New Zealand which was then…

Letter to the Editor: The right of religious freedom

The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 affirms the right to freedom of religion and belief, and the Human Rights Act 1993 prohibits discrimination based on religious and ethical belief. The Government announced a 10-person limit at religious services, weddings and funerals tangihanga at Alert Level 2. As context: restaurants,…

Limitation of liability and indemnity of trustees under the Trusts Act 2019

By Rhonda Powell As a general rule, trustees are personally liable for the consequences of their own breach of trust. One way of protecting trustees is by limiting their duties under the trust deed to reduce the likelihood of a breach of trust. Another is to include clauses limiting the liability…

My D.O. experience

By Jessica Collett I first came to learn of the Devil's Own (‘D.O.’) through hearing stories from the other lawyers at my firm. The tales of camaraderie, rivalry, shenanigans and glory. It certainly piqued my interest, but that was soon stifled by the realisation that I was 24 years old, a…

Serious concerns raised about constitutional law changes in Sāmoa

New Zealand Law Society | Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa President Tiana Epati released the following statement on 4 May: Senior judges and lawyers in Sāmoa are concerned that significant constitutional reforms are being progressed rapidly during the current COVID-19 pandemic and without the necessary consultation. The New Zealand Law Society…

Practice management technology needs illuminated by lockdown

By Emma-Jane Gray Just before the lockdown began, Karen (name changed) drove to her office at a small firm in Auckland, filled her Suzuki Swift with stacks of client files and took them home. Those paper files were integral to the continuation of her business; without them Karen and her colleagues…

Scooter-riding hunter’s Swan-song after 47 years in law

By Jock Anderson John Swan recently retired as principal of Wellington’s Swan Legal. A Wanganui Collegiate old boy, John graduated LLB from Victoria University and was admitted in 1975. Working all his legal career in Wellington, he comes from an old-school legal tree. His father George was the Swan of Kensington Swan,…

Should Multisensorial Virtual Reality Environments Attract Copyright?

By Vladimir Samoylov Immersive art is in simple terms a created environment that one can immerse oneself in and experience from within. It is unlikely to come as a surprise that exceptional immersive works of renowned artists such as Yayoi Kusama attract copyright protection. According to the High Court in Dreamtech…

Snapshot of the profession 2020

At 1 May 2020, New Zealand’s legal profession – like the rest of the country – had spent three days in Level 3 lockdown after nearly five weeks at Level 4. Just under 15,000 lawyers held practising certificates, of whom 14,039 worked in New Zealand. Lockdown had frozen many things,…

Talking about mental health: Why it’s time to stop dealing with mental illness and start building mental strength

By Daina Worrall Picture this. You’re at your desk, it’s already 10am and you’re on your third coffee, just trying to make a dent in the 127 emails in your inbox. I can do this…I can do this. Just focus. A phone call interrupts you again, but this time you’re needed in the partner’s…

The AML/CFT external audit and internal review

By Marty Robinson If you’re covered by the AML/CFT Act you need to have your AML/CFT independent auditor visit before 1 July 2020 (unless you can show COVID-19 prevented it). Audits can be a headache and feel like dead time and expense, but a quality audit with detailed recommendations can save you…

The Capital Letter goes digital

By Geoff Adlam It’s been a fixture in New Zealand’s legal world for over forty years. Unlike most institutions that old it hasn’t really changed in the way it looks; and amazingly it’s survived in the legal information world without being delivered digitally. That’s all changed now. A new owner, a…

The dark side of empathy and compassion

By Paul Sills The current state of the world and the problems we are facing, from both a health and economic perspective, are causing us all a great deal of stress. Some, however, are suffering more traumatic stress than others. Many of those suffering from traumatic stress are our front-line workers in…

The Mystery of the 12 Apostles

By John Bishop What’s in a name? In the case of the 12 Apostles – eight 50-metre columns of limestone off the southern coast of Victoria, Australia and the state’s single biggest tourist attraction – quite a bit of a mystery. How did these majestic and much visited blocks of limestone near…

The New ADLS-REINZ Agreement: Part 4

By Thomas Gibbons IntroductionThis article continues a series on the new ADLS-REINZ agreement for sale and purchase of real estate (10th edition), beginning with the significant changes around claims for compensation. Pages 11 and 12Claims for CompensationThe provisions as to claims for compensation have seen a massive overhaul. While claims for compensation…

The old Land Transfer Office

By Sir Ian Barker QC One huge change in the practice of law has been the digitalisation of land titles. The shift to online conveyancing meant the old paper-based system was totally swept away. With it went a significant part of the work many new lawyers carried out as they served…

Three New Zealand-born lawyers who shone abroad

Percy Valentine Storkey VC (1893-1969) Born in Napier, Storkey attended Napier Boys’ High School where he excelled academically and in rifle shooting, cricket and swimming. He was Dux in 1910 and won the Navy League essay prize with “Why Britain must command the Sea”, but moved to Sydney in January 1912…

Why mentoring matters and how we can all benefit

By Lucy Hempseed Mentoring is a powerful tool which allows people to connect for a mutual purpose; on the one hand to be a guide and provider of wise counsel and on the other to listen and be guided forward by the wisdom offered. It is relationship that when it works…