LawTalk Issue 805

FOR THE NZ LEGAL PROFESSION

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LAWTALK

28 SEPT 2012 / 805

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INSIDE

THE MAGAZINE

DOUBLE FEATURE: LEGAL AID PROVIDERS / OPPORTUNITIES

“We are looking to learn from the systems in New Zealand, which seem to be very good.” p. 21

“It’s frustrating to see people say that there are no graduate jobs, or nothing out there for graduates, because we don’t really agree.” p. 10

Principal Family Court Judge honoured

Legal Challenge time coming soon

Principal Family Court Judge Peter Boshier will become President of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts...

A major sporting event that traditionally features outstanding performances by lawyers and legal teams...

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17 What to do when partnership changes

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How is your technology awareness?

The American Bar Association has made an interesting change to the commentary to the rule on lawyer competence...

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The Law Society’s Council will be asked to approve a final proposal for introduction of mandatory Continuing Professional Development (CPD)...

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In the highly competitive job market it is not always possible for law graduates to get a position practising law...

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When a partnership changes there are many competing factors to consider...

New CPD initiative moves closer

Opportunities for graduates

By ELLIOT SIM

By damian schade

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10 Graduates need to think long term

By RACHAEL BRECKON

New Zealand legal aid providers - facts and figure at September 2012 The face of legal aid in New Zealand is changing. In this issue of LawTalk, we present facts about the 17.3% of the profession who are legal aid providers...

The generation Y graduates, although referred to as generation me, are learning the hard way they cannot have it all...

Moving towards CPD The Law Society is working on establishing an initiative to require all New Zealand lawyers to complete a required level of professional development each year.

This is likely to take effect from 1 April 2014...

REGULARS

20 Branch News

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12

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26 29

Section News

People in the law

Law Reform Report

Letters to the Editor

Bookshelf

Law Foundation

CLE

Lawyers complaints Service

nzls lawyers website • keep up-to-date with local and regional news and events • have your say on law reform • find information and resources for practising law http://my.lawsociety.org.nz www.facebook.com/mylawsociety https://twitter.com/mylawsociety

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

1

FROM THE LAW SOCIET Y B RONW YN JON ES

T

he legal aid system has faced constant change and pressure since 2009. The level and speed of the changes has been exhausting for all who have been involved.

This issue of LawTalk contains a snapshot of lawyers delivering legal aid. As the changes to legal aid continue, it is important to assess their impact on the legal profession.

Legal aid reforms have been prevalent around the world.

England, Wales, Scotland and Canada have all instigated reforms to reduce legal aid expenditure as governments struggle to control expenditure. Cuts to legal aid fees to lawyers and a lack of increase in fees is a common theme internationally. This has been extraordinarily hard on those dedicated lawyers who have continued to provide this public service in the face of diminishing remuneration.

In her report Transforming the Legal Aid System, Dame Margaret Bazley considered procurement of legal aid services. A number of the recommendations in relation to procurement were not adopted, but at the time of the delivery of the report the government indicated it would look seriously at how it procured legal aid services and how it could save costs. So far this has included:

2

•

expanding the Public Defence Service to take on up to 50% of criminal legal aid cases in Auckland, Hamilton and Wellington (from 33%) over time, and expanding to Tauranga, Hastings, Dunedin and Christchurch (when circumstances allow);

•

introducing fixed fees for most criminal, family and ACC cases; and

•

establishing high-cost case management for

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

the most expensive cases which would involve agreeing on a price for services in advance.

Dame Margaret recommended that the government look at funding options which included contracting with groups of lawyers (with senior lawyers at the top akin to the Crown Warrant model) and she encouraged further investigation of procurement models. She discussed some potential benefits for providers which might stem from changes to procurement: “Lawyers … would not need to enter into unwieldy administration on each individual legal aid application; the funding arrangements would enable streamlined administration. I envisage that this will be attractive to many, and law firms in particular.”

Since 2009 we have known that eventually the government would look at changes to how it purchased legal aid services. On 21 August representatives from the Law Society and other representative groups met the Ministry of Justice to briefly discuss potential new models for purchasing criminal legal aid services from private providers.

The ministry indicated that it wanted to have early and open discussions with experienced lawyers. It was acknowledged that it was unlikely that a “one size fits all” approach would be possible for all areas of New Zealand. The ministry is planning further discussions with providers to assist in developing the new model. It has indicated it will organise a number of meetings, including focus groups, with private legal aid providers between October and December. These will not replace a full consultation with the profession, which will occur early in 2013.

We will continue to keep you informed of developments in this area and we encourage criminal lawyers to actively participate in these discussions and contribute to the Law Society’s submissions.

Bronwyn Jones New Zealand Law Society Deputy General Manager Law Reform

LAWTALK More than 12,000 copies of LawTalk are distributed each issue. The magazine of the New Zealand Law Society, LawTalk is sent to every lawyer in New Zealand who holds a current practising certificate. Although the number of lawyers with practising certificates varies, it is typically around 11,500.

Others who receive LawTalk include members of the judiciary, Law Society associate members, legal executives, Members of Parliament, media, academics and others involved in the legal services industry.

STREET ADDRESS: 26 Waring Taylor Street, Wellington Postal address: DX SP20202 or PO Box 5041, Lambton Quay, Wellington 6145, New Zealand EDITOR: Frank Neill Ph +64 4 463 2982 editor@lawsociety.org.nz

Coming up …

Dealing with emotion in disputes The Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand (AMINZ) is running a one-day seminar in Auckland on 9 October and in Whangarei on 11 October.

The seminar is titled A Practical Workshop for Mediators and Negotiators: Effectively Deal with Emotion in Employment, Family and Other Relationship Disputes.

Professor Phillip Green FAMINZ and Nicola Hartfield AAMINZ will present the seminar. See www.aminz.org.nz.

Pro Bono conference The 1st Southeast Asia Pro Bono Conference will be held in Vientiane, Laos from 27-29 September.

Elliot Sim Ph +64 4 463 2902 elliot.sim@lawsociety.org.nz

LAWASIA President Malathi Das is a keynote speaker. Ms Das was awarded the Pro Bono Ambassador Award for 2011 by the Law Society of Singapore.

She is a litigator who writes and speaks extensively on legal ethics, pro bono, gender, children and elder issues as well as intellectual property law, and has been instrumental in developing the pro bono culture among the legal profession in Singapore.

Advertising: Christine Wilson Ph +64 4 463 2905 christine.wilson@lawsociety.org.nz

See www.babseacle.org/ articles/1st-southeast-asia-probono-conferenceworkshop-28-29sept-2012/#more-1601.

WRITERS: Rachael Breckon Ph +64 4 463 2910 rachael.breckon@lawsociety.org.nz

Inquiries about subscriptions to: subscriptions@lawsociety.org.nz

LAWASIA’s 25th conference

DESIGN: Jesse Cogswell Ph +64 4 463 2981 jesse.cogswell@lawsociety.org.nz

The 25th LAWASIA Conference will be held in Bali, Indonesia, from 18-21 November.

Printing: Lithoprint, Wellington ISSN 0114-989X

“The simplicity of our conference theme, Moving Forward, belies deeper significance as an indication of the current state of progress in Asia, in particular, as an emergent region of

CLIENTS WITH The views expressed in LawTalk are not necessarily those of the New Zealand Law Society. Articles may be reproduced provided acknowledgment is given to LawTalk.

ACC DISPUTES? JOHN MILLER LAW

Level 1, 13 Leeds St I PO Box 6314, Wellington +64 (04) 801 5621 I info@jmlaw.co.nz www.jmlaw.co.nz

importance in the global economic and geopolitical context,” says LAWASIA President Malathi Das. See http://lawasia.asn.au/lawasiaconferences.htm.

Coroners Society conference The Asia Pacific Coroners Society Conference will be held in Sydney from 20-23 November.

New Zealand’s Chief Coroner, Judge Neil McLean, is among the speakers.

He will present a review of the first five years of coronial reform in this country.

See www.dcconferences.com.au/ apcsc/.

Contract law An international conference on contract law will be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from November 29-30.

Organised by the Colombo Law Society, the Colombo Forum on Contract Law will address modern developments and approaches in various fields of contract law.

See www.colombolawsociety.com.

Litigation conference The Law Society of Singapore is organising a litigation conference which will be held on 31 January and 1 February 2013.

This two-day conference aims to bring together the judiciary, senior practitioners and industry experts across various jurisdictions to provide fresh insight on the latest developments in this area of practice. A wide range of contemporary topics will be discussed, including access to justice, due process, cross-border litigation and the future of litigation as compared to the future of arbitration.

For more information contact cpd@ lawsoc.org.sg.

• Wish to refer them to a specialist ACC law firm?

• With nationwide coverage?

• We deal with ACC matters only and will not represent your clients in other areas.

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

3

NEW ZEALAND LEGAL AID PROVIDERS FActS AnD FIGURES

At SEPtEMbER 2012

The face of legal aid in New Zealand is changing. In this issue of Lawtalk, we present facts about the 17.3% of the profession who are legal aid providers. The information shows the make up of legal aid providers, compared with non legal aid providers, at September 2012.

Who is practising as a legal aid provider in New Zealand?

LEGAL AID PROVIDERS by LAw SOcIEty bRAnch branch

LAP

non-LAP

Auckland

343

436

canterbury

65

Gisborne

b&S

total b&S

LAP

non-LAP

779

428

3,849

51

116

144

2

0

2

hawke’s bay

17

6

Manawatu

8

Marlborough

total lawyers

% LAP

% non LAP

LAP

non-LAP total

4,277

771

4,285

5,056

15.2%

84.8%

884

1,028

209

935

1,144

18.3%

81.7%

26

29

55

28

29

57

49.1%

50.9%

23

52

145

197

69

151

220

31.4%

68.6%

2

10

36

93

129

44

95

139

31.7%

68.3%

3

1

4

11

40

51

14

41

55

25.5%

74.5%

nelson

7

2

9

39

102

141

46

104

150

30.7%

69.3%

Otago

25

19

44

76

291

367

101

309

410

24.6%

75.4%

Southland

2

2

4

44

87

131

46

89

135

34.1%

65.9%

taranaki

7

2

10

49

92

141

56

95

151

37.1%

62.9%

waikato bay of Plenty

97

51

148

227

643

870

324

694

1,018

30.1%

69.9%

wellington

63

160

223

206

2,162

2,368

269

2,322

2,591

10.4%

89.6%

whanganui

2

1

3

25

31

56

27

32

59

45.8%

54.2%

total new Zealand

641

734

1,375

1,363

8,448

9,811

2,004

9,182

11,186

17.9%

82.1%

Overseas

0

31

31

0

368

368

0

399

399

0%

100%

total

641

765

1,406

1,363

8,816

10,179

2,004

9,581

11,585

17.3%

82.7%

“b&S” = barrister and Solicitor “LAP” = Legal aid provider 4

total barrister

barrister

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

What proportion of lawyers are legal aid providers?

PERcEntAGE OF barristers PRActISInG In nEw ZEALAnD whO ARE LEGAL AID PROVIDERS

PERcEntAGE OF barristers & soLicitors PRActISInG In nEw ZEALAnD whO ARE LEGAL AID PROVIDERS

13.9%

PERcEntAGE OF Lawyers PRActISInG In nEw ZEALAnD whO ARE LEGAL AID PROVIDERS

17.3%

46.6%

PERcEntAGE OF Lawyers outside the four Larger branch areas (AucklAnd, Wellington, cAnterbury And otAgo) Who Are LEGAL AID PROVIDERS

PERcEntAGE OF Lawyers in the four Larger branch areas (AucklAnd, Wellington, cAnterbury And otAgo) Who Are LEGAL AID PROVIDERS

PERcEntAGE OF soLe Practitioners PRActISInG In nEw ZEALAnD whO ARE LEGAL AID PROVIDERS

14.7% 27.8%

33.0%

PERcEntAGE OF Partners PRActISInG In nEw ZEALAnD whO ARE LEGAL AID PROVIDERS 12.2%

PERcEntAGE OF directors PRActISInG In nEw ZEALAnD whO ARE LEGAL AID PROVIDERS

22.4%

PERcEntAGE OF eMPLoyed Lawyers PRActISInG In nEw ZEALAnD whO ARE LEGAL AID PROVIDERS

16.8%

Public Defence Service lawyers by area.

(The numbers include employed duty solicitor supervisors, both part- and full-time). office

number

Auckland

22

Manukau

34

north Shore

9

waitakere

14

hamilton

10

tauranga

8

hawke’s bay

5

wellington

16

Dunedin

5

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

5

How many years have our private legal aid providers been in practice? yEARS SIncE ADMISSIOn OF LEGAL AID PROVIDERS by tyPE OF PRActIcE 0-6 years

6-10 years

11-20 years

21-30 years

31+ years

barristers

7.2%

16.8%

31.7%

26.7%

17.6%

Employed barristers and solicitors

52.2%

25.5%

15.2%

4.7%

2.4%

Partners and directors

2.5%

13.3%

30.8%

29.4%

24%

Sole practitioners

0.7%

7.3%

28.1%

34.4%

29.5%

cOMPARISOn OF LEGAL AID AnD nOn LEGAL AID PROVIDERS by ADMISSIOn yEAR 0-6 years

6-10 years

11-20 years

21-30 years

31+ years

All legal aid providers

19.2%

17.3%

25.8%

21.6%

16.1%

All non legal aid providers

24.2%

16.2%

25.2%

16.0%

18.4%

All lawyers

23.4%

16.3%

25.3%

17.0%

18.0%

Specialist areas of practice thE AREAS OF PRActIcE whERE PRIVAtE LEGAL AID LAwyERS SPEnD hALF OR MORE OF thEIR tIME. These figures are as indicated by the legal aid lawyers themselves. (Providing this information is voluntary). acc

11

Administrative/Public

13

Bank/Finance Company/Commercial

20

Civil Litigation

108

Criminal

339

Employment

35

Family

438

Health

5

Immigration

22

Insurance

2

Intellectual Property

5

Mediation

13

Property

52

Resource Management

10

Trusts and Estates

13

Treaty/MÄ ori

40

Tax

6

2

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

4

Legal aid providers by location thIS ShOwS hOw MAny PEOPLE thERE ARE FOR EAch LEGAL AID PROVIDER In A SELEctIOn OF tOwnS AnD cItIES

kAitAiA - 1 PER 1,040 WhAngArei - 1 PER 1,180

tAurAngA - 1 PER 1,968

AucklAnd - 1 PER 3,580 hAmilton - 1 PER 1,589

WhAkAtAne - 1 PER 892

rotoruA - 1 Per 1,016 tAuPo - 1 PER 1,125

giSborne - 1 Per 1,221

neW Plymouth - 1 PER 1,134

tAihAPe - 1 Per 2,000

hAWerA - 1 Per 2,763

nAPier - 1 PER 1,953

WhAngAnui - 1 PER 2,089

hAStingS - 1 PER 2,527

PAlmerSton north - 1 PER 2,415 leVin - 1 PER 2,444

mASterton - 1 PER 2,871

PArAPArAumu - 1 PER 25,500 hutt VAlley - 1 PER 878

Wellington - 1 PER 1,471

nelSon - 1 PER 1,424

blenheim - 1 Per 2,013

WeStPort - 1 Per 1,200

kAiAPoi - 1 PER 3,400 chriStchurch - 1 Per 2,327 timAru - 1 PER 1,624 queenStoWn - 1 PER 6,025

dunedin - 1 Per 1,702 inVercArgill - 1 PER 1,218

thERE IS OnE LEGAL AID PROVIDER FOR EVERy 1,992 PEOPLE In nEw ZEALAnD

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

7

OPPORTUNITIES

Opportunities for graduates

BY ELLIOT SIM In the highly competitive job market it is not always possible for law graduates to get a position practising law.

complete profs (professional legal studies) and then start looking for a job.

I realised that the best way to do this was through word of mouth, talking to people and meeting other lawyers. I also took the time to research different firms and figure out what options were available out there for me.”

Dean of Law at Otago University, Professor Mark Henaghan, says finding a job in the law profession “is very tough” and that graduates must adapt.

Jordy Bowman, working in an Australian Government department

“There are a lot wider opportunities than people think. You’ve got to be much more adaptable in the modern world.

Miss Bowman, 23, graduated from Otago University in 2011 with LLB (Hons, First Class) and a BA in European studies.

“I still think people don’t look enough out in the provinces. I just had a conference with some graduates working out in the provinces and they’re really enjoying it and there’s some good work out there.”

Professor Henaghan says some of his recent graduates are now applying their acquired skills in recruitment, sports law, marketing, law practice in both city and rural centres, as well as becoming in-house lawyers and journalists.

“The problem is most graduates want to work in the big cities and that’s where you have a high concentration of lawyers anyway. I think it’s a matter of people looking wider than just a practice in a big firm in a big city, which tends to dominate people’s minds.

There’s plenty of stuff out there,” he says.

Jo is a new graduate looking for her first job Jo is a 24-year-old, who graduated from Auckland University in 2011 with a BA LLB, and is now searching for any job in law after taking time out to travel.

During law school she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do and “took a bit of everything” to keep her options open.

“I spent some time travelling, so I’ve only been looking for just under a year and at the moment I’m working in promotions and advertising.

“I’ve been applying for a lot of things that come up on seek.co.nz. I’d like to end up in a boutique practice or something similar.”

Jo says the job market is highly competitive and she hasn’t secured an interview yet.

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LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

Professor Mark Henaghan

“I know of a few people, and quite a few that are my peers, who are also unable to find work and [are] probably all applying for the same jobs that I am.”

Recent graduate, Emma Haycock, lawyer for Minter Ellison Rudd Watts Ms Haycock, 24, is seven months into her first job as a lawyer in the real estate division of the property team at Minter Ellison Rudd Watts in Auckland.

She graduated from Auckland University in May 2011 with a BA LLB and was admitted in September 2011 in the Auckland High Court.

After graduation, Ms Haycock says she wasn’t entirely sure which area of law she wanted to specialise in.

“I studied a broad range of subjects at law school so I kept my options quite open. I also felt that it was difficult to know exactly what area I would be most suited to or what I was truly interested in without actually practising.”

Ms Haycock anticipated finding a job would be hard as she says there were many law graduates looking, but believes talking to as many people as possible in the industry helped her to find her current position.

“Having not summer clerked or interned at a law firm, I decided to

Miss Bowman is now in a graduate programme at the Australian Government’s Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.

The programme runs for 10 months, and once Miss Bowman completes the second rotation in the indigenous land reform area, she will continue to work as a permanent member.

“We are responsible for implementing and developing land tenure arrangements to protect government investment on indigenous land, enable delivery of services and establish a platform for future economic development, private investment and home ownership.

“My law degree has been very helpful working in this area as while our work is policy implementation and development, having an understanding of land tenure and property law generally assists in understanding the work we do,” says Miss Bowman.

Bart Campbell, chief operating officer of Chime Communications sports division and member of the Chime executive board, England.

Mr Campbell, 41, graduated from Otago University in 1993 with a BA LLB, then completed an M Com Law at Auckland University in 1999.

Since 2009, Mr Campbell has been the Group COO of the Chime Communications sports division, called CSM Sport and Entertainment, which has 670-plus staff in 15 offices across 13 countries.

OPPORTUNITIES It is the fourth largest sports marketing agency in the world.

Mr Campbell says he was able to use his degree in sports marketing and athlete management in sourcing and negotiating sponsorship contracts for sports governing bodies as well as employment and endorsement contracts for professional athletes.

“I knew I wanted to go into the sports business and after a few years practising law, I started out as a sports agent representing rugby players in 1997.

“I began looking for a job after the end of the New Zealand recession in the early 1990s when things were starting to pick up, so I was lucky enough to time my entry into the labour force when the economy was more buoyant than it had been for some time.”

Richard Reeve, West Coast lawyer for Stevens Orchard Lawyers Limited, based in the Westport and Stoke offices Mr Reeve, 36, graduated from Otago University with an LLB in 2011.

He is now a solicitor at Stevens Orchard Lawyers Limited and has been involved with a wide range of legal work including family law, relationship property, civil matters, adoption, company, wills and trusts and general practice law.

“I expected work in an administrative, conservational and resource management context, which is where I thought my strengths were, but instead I’m working predominantly in family and civil contexts.”

Mr Reeve says initially looking for a job was “demoralising”, but he had a successful interview after he finished his profs, and this gave him the opportunity he hoped for.

“Graduates should be aware that they still have to get through profs and be admitted to the bar after university.

Until that time, some firms are not so interested in taking new graduates on, just insofar as they see all cost and no benefit.”

When trying to find a foot in the door of your chosen profession, Mr Reeve says persistence and an open mind will ensure success.

“Just keep on applying. Don’t be put off by the rejections, get through profs and don’t write off the provinces, which have an active legal life with

Rowing New Zealand's Southern Regional Performance Manager Rose Sewell.

“

There are a lot wider opportunities than people think. You’ve got to be much more adaptable in the modern world.

”

Mark Henaghan experienced senior practitioners, just like the cities.”

Rose Sewell, Southern Regional Performance Manager, Rowing New Zealand Miss Sewell, 27, graduated from Otago University with a BA LLB in 2008.

Miss Sewell says she considers herself lucky in finding a job due to the experience she gained in a summer job in a Christchurch law firm during her penultimate year at law school.

“I pretty much just hounded them until they decided to give me a job. Although it was a tight job market then and I guess it’s worse now, but just having that foot in the door was quite helpful.

Some of my other friends did find it harder to get jobs.”

She worked at Cavell Leitch Law for about three years then went to Anderson Lloyd after the Canterbury earthquakes doing commercial and property work.

Having rowed at high school and university, Miss Sewell went into coaching, but says it became hard to travel to training after the Canterbury quakes and she subsequently took on club management work.

“Rowing New Zealand approached me in April this year and said they had an opportunity coming up for a role in their high performance programme, working with athletes in the South Island.”

Managing Rowing NZ’s high performance programme for athletes in Southland, Otago and Canterbury, Miss Sewell says her law degree has helped her to create sponsorship agreements, negotiate, read and write complicated documents as well as writing contracts for athletes.

“My law degree is not going to go away.

I’ve still got a degree and I can still decide to practise law at any stage.

That’s not going to change.

“It’s pretty awesome to be able to work in something you are really passionate about every day. It doesn’t really feel like work.” LT

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

9

OPPORTUNITIES

Graduates need to think long term BY rachael breckon The generation y graduates, although referred to as generation me, are learning the hard way they cannot have it all.

Current legal graduates need top marks or else they may have to take a longterm lateral approach to becoming a practising lawyer.

This could include a side-step into policy, research or banking, or move into a provincial area.

Graduates hoping to find a role in the capital city could be especially disappointed.

The continued trend for company head offices to move to Auckland, along with public sector cuts and reviews of government legal services, means there aren’t many positions available, Momentum Principal Consultant Carla Wellington says.

But, if graduates are prepared to look on a lateral national scale there are positions available.

Co-founder of graduate recruitment site gradconnection.co.nz Tim Watts says: “It’s frustrating to see people say that there are no graduate jobs, or nothing out there for graduates, because we don’t really agree.”

Mr Watts says employers are becoming more open to employing a graduate.

While he admits there is still the concept graduates are “difficult”, want to “be a manager straight away” and “don’t want to do the hard yards” or will “leave us in two years”, more employers have begun to see graduates come with distinct advantages (and that’s not just the cheap salary).

“You have the benefits of [a] young, keen, very passionate [employee]. Then you’ve got the areas of what someone younger, in terms of changing of thinking, can add to an organisation,” Mr Watts says.

“Think of how IT and the internet have changed things in the last [approximately] five years. [A graduate] can really change the dynamic of the work place.

“I would love to see government have a strategy around bringing youth into the

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LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

public sector – because, compared to Australia, we have a really poor recent track record,” he says.

“It is very difficult in Australia to find a government-related organisation that doesn’t have a youth strategy and that doesn’t bring on graduates and have a programme. It is very difficult in New Zealand to find one that does.”

Mr Watts also draws on his first-hand knowledge of what it is like to be a young law graduate.

“

It’s frustrating to see people say that there are no graduate jobs, or nothing out there for graduates, because we don’t really agree.

”

TIM WATTS A Victoria university alumnus with an LLB BCA (he’s a chartered accountant), Mr Watts went to work for PricewaterhouseCoopers postgraduation.

While he admits it was a “fantastic opportunity”, part of his motivation to set up the gradconnection website in New Zealand was to show graduates the variety of opportunities that are available for someone with a law or accounting qualification.

He says it is quite easy for graduates (like himself) to just get “tunnel vision into a big firm” without having the full

ambit of options available to them.

The importance of grades Grades are often a concern to law graduates, because good grades throughout a law degree are crucial in order to fit the recruitment criteria of the big firms.

For example, to get a (non-guaranteed) space on the summer or winter clerk programme at one big law firm, students need to have a B+ grade average or grade point average of six across law papers (Otago graduates only need a B average or a grade point average of five).

Not only that, but a job applicant’s grades will be considered for any future role in a major law firm at any position below senior partner. So graduates looking for a position in a top-tier firm need to understand the importance of grades.

However, not everyone wants to work for a major firm. University of Auckland Careers Consultant Shaun Pulman says what he has found generally when talking to employers is that the bigger firms are often interested in grades. But the smaller firms “aren’t as interested in grades as much as team fit.

“It is much more important that you demonstrate passion,” he says.

“The other thing we say is: ‘just good grades aren’t enough’. Employers are really really interested in what you’re like.”

Mr Pulman advises students to have extra-curricular activities to show a graduate is more than a “work and study robot”.

Tips for getting work •

Move out of major centres.

•

Look at policy or research work.

•

Cold call places that interest you.

•

Volunteer.

•

Look broadly (not just on Seek or trademe). LT

SECTION NEWS FAMILY LAW SECTION

PROPERTY LAW SECTION

NEW ZEALAND LAW SOCIETY

NEW ZEALAND LAW SOCIETY

NZLS EST 1869

The NZLS CLE webinar, in partnership with PLS and LINZ, on the new property transactions and e-dealing practice guidelines was broadcast on 31 July. The 445 registrants viewed presentations by Robbie Muir, Registrar-General of Land, and Duncan Terris, Principal of Mobile Conveyancing Services and a member of the PLS Executive Committee.

PLS Executive Committee members Peter Fanning and David Roughan represented the section at the Massey University and Lincoln University Farm Succession Summit on 13 and 14 July, held in Palmerston North.

The PLS has drafted a submission to the second round of the Real Estate Agents Authority Review of the Code of Professional Conduct and Client Care, commenting in particular on the consequences of the LB and OB v the Real Estate Agents Authority and Li decision by the Real Estate Agents Disciplinary Tribunal ([2011] NZREADT 39). The section continues to liaise with REINZ to give guidance to property lawyers and agents on vendor information packs.

An executive meeting was held in Dunedin on 13 September, followed by a regional meeting for local practitioners (both members and non-members). The next PLS-LINZ “Lunch and Learn” mini-seminar will be on 10 October at Kingsgate Hotel, 10 Smith Street, Dunedin. Registration enquiries should be sent to property@ lawsociety.org.nz.

The Property Transactions Committee is continuing to work with Payments NZ, the organisation that governs the banking payments system in New Zealand, on the review of the same-day cleared payments system.

The committee is also co-ordinating communication with insurers on matters arising from transactions in Canterbury.

NZLS EST 1869

Professor Bill Atkin and Deputy Family Law Section (FLS) Chair Catriona Doyle presented the Law Society’s submission on the Child Support Amendment Bill to the Social Services Select Committee on 1 August. The bill proposes the most significant changes to the child support scheme since its inception 20 years ago.

The FLS has ongoing engagements with the Ministry of Justice to seek a solution to the significant problems family lawyers are experiencing in Auckland due to the centralisation of court services and the implementation of the Auckland Services Delivery Programme.

Auckland FLS Executive members Allan Cooke and Sharyn Otene represent the FLS on a governance board, established by the Ministry of Justice. The board meets weekly and receives and reviews reports against the action plan developed by the ministry to resolve the issues in Auckland. The board will provide a governance and advisory function over the ministry’s work.

The FLS held a special meeting to discuss the Government’s announcements on the review of the Family Court. The proposed reforms include the removal of lawyers from some Family Court processes and a fee of $897 for parties to access a new Family Disputes Resolution Service which is a mandatory step before applying to the Family Court for a parenting order.

These proposals were not raised in the Government’s discussion document, or discussed with the ministry’s advisory group. The FLS will be meeting with ministry officials working on the detail for the proposals to highlight its concerns.

The FLS is working with the Law Society’s communications team to clearly communicate the section’s concerns about some of the proposed changes. Articles and opinion pieces have been prepared and printed in daily newspapers, and information fact sheets have been created to be

distributed to FLS members.

Regional meetings are being held with FLS members to discuss the section’s position and a website is being created for FLS members and the community to contribute their views on the proposals.

CLANZ IN-HOUSE LAWYERS NZLS EST 1869

CLANZ’s valued partner Kensington Swan launched its new education programme in employment law and dispute resolution with well attended seminars in Auckland and Wellington in September on Dealing with Difficult Employees. Regular e-bulletins on new developments are being sent to members, and seminars on effective negotiation are planned for mid-October.

CLANZ has met with Annette Black to discuss the section’s submission on Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and to look at further research into other jurisdictions’ CPD requirements for in-house practitioners.

The In-house Counsel Worldwide (ICW) constitution and governance structure has been finalised with the help of partners in Australia, Canada, England, Wales, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and South Africa.

If any member is managing matters in these jurisdictions and would like access to the resources of the local in-house counsel association, please contact CLANZ through its website.

Simon Power spoke on influencing regulatory change at the General Counsel Forums hosted by CLANZ valued partner Bell Gully at its offices in Auckland and Wellington in August.

CLANZ will soon be launching the final report on Leading Practices and Benchmarking. An executive summary will be made available free to participants, with the report available on a paid basis to members and nonmembers.

CLANZ launched its LinkedIn CLANZ Community to drive discussion and gather member feedback. 100 members have joined since July this year. LT

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

11

PEOPLE IN THE LAW ON THE MOVE Aimee Credin has joined Auckland boutique employment law firm Swarbrick Beck MacKinnon as associate. Before joining SBM, Aimee worked as a junior barrister for a Queen’s Counsel where her work encompassed all aspects of civil litigation, primarily in medicolegal litigation. Aimee also worked on instruction from a substantial international indemnity organisation where she gained experience in employment, human rights, privacy, Accident Compensation, defamation and commercial law.

Auckland firm Glaister Ennor has four new associates. Stephanie Lau and Anthea Coombes have experience in a wide range of property matters including residential and commercial property transactions, leases, subdivisions and building and development work. They have become associates in Glaister Ennor’s land development and property team.

Fiona McGeorge and Vonja Young specialise in family law, advising

12

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

Law firms and practitioners are invited to send in announcements of appointments, promotions, retirements or other information for this column. You may also send photos (preferably colour) in hard copy, on disk or by email in JPG format scanned at 300dpi. Items should be sent to LawTalk, DX SP20202 or PO Box 5041, Lambton Quay, Wellington 6145, ph (04) 463 2982, fax (04) 463 2985, email editorial.lawtalk@lawsociety.org.nz. The usual editorial discretion applies.

clients on relationship property law issues, parenting and custody matters and court proceedings. Fiona and Vonja become associates in the litigation team.

Holland Beckett Lawyers has appointed Bridget Bailey to the resource management team.

Kate Logan has joined Dunedin and Wanaka firm Gallaway Cook Allan as a solicitor in the litigation team.

Kate specialises in civil litigation and employment law.

Lisa Roberts has been made a partner of Corban Revell Lawyers in Auckland.

Lisa joined the firm in 1998 as a member of the family team and quickly moved into commercial law as a solicitor. In 2004 she was made an associate and the Corban Revell property team, which she leads, was created.

Tim Smith has been appointed a partner at Luke Cunningham & Clere. Tim joined the firm from Crown Law where he was a Crown Counsel in, and deputy team leader of, the tax and commercial team. Previously, Tim was a senior solicitor at Russell McVeagh and a barrister at a leading set of commercial chambers in London. Tim specialises in civil and commercial litigation and public law and primarily acts on behalf of public sector clients.

Brookfields Lawyers recently made three senior appointments.

Stephen Corlett has been promoted to partner. Working out of the firm’s Auckland office, Stephen specialises in litigation, dispute resolution, insurance and employment law. Andrew Fawcett has joined the firm as special counsel. Andrew is a commercial law specialist with a strong focus on the telecommunications and technology sector. He also has competition law experience, advising participants in regulated industries.

Andrew is based at Brookfields’ Auckland office.

Daniel Beker has joined Brookfields’ Wellington office as a senior associate. He provides commercial and property law advice to corporates, public bodies, community groups and private clients.

Daniel is on the board of the Porirua Chamber of Commerce.

After 17 years with James & Wells Intellectual Property, Simon Rowell will retire from the partnership with effect from 1 October. He leaves with the best wishes of the partners to set up a specialist IP commercialisation consultancy.

PEOPLE IN THE L AW

PEOPLE Jason Lamont has been appointed a New Zealand Law Society inspector, based in Auckland. Jason joins the Law Society from Housing New Zealand, where he spent just over a year as a fraud investigator. Before that, he was with the New Zealand Police for 13 years, rising to the rank of Detective Sergeant. During his time with the Police, Jason held various uniform and CIB positions in Central Auckland and Eastern Suburbs, including assisting investigations of high profile homicide cases. Jason has played representative indoor cricket for Auckland and is, when he can find the time, involved in yacht racing. His yacht racing career includes competing in national series races. He very much enjoys watching rugby league and last year became a New Zealand Warriors Club member. Jason joins the team of three Auckland-based inspectors following the death of inspector Steve Lewis in July.

Dunedin barrister Dr Royden Somerville QC has been appointed to the council of Otago University. Dr Somerville, who took silk in 1998, has specialised in local government and environmental law and has served on boards of inquiry on environmental issues. He is a trustee of the University of Otago Foundation Trust, a Fellow of Knox College, Dunedin, and chairman of the Knox College and Salmond Hall Council.

Wellington barrister Kristy McDonald QC is one of three new members appointed to the ACC Board. At the same time as announcing the new board members, ACC Minister Judith Collins announced that the board’s interim chair Paula Rebstock has been appointed chair. The new board members have three-year terms. Ms McDonald joins new appointees Trevor Janes (deputy chair) and Professor Des Gorman, and existing board members Jill Spooner, John Meehan and Jane Huria.

Christchurch lawyer Mel Orange is one of two new members appointed to the Electrical Workers Registration Board. Mr Orange has held a number of senior management positions with Meridian Energy as well as two industry-related board roles. A self-employed barrister and solicitor who works in the energy, electrical and construction industries, he is the former presiding member for the Electrical Workers Complaints Assessment Committee.

Simon Laurent, principal at Auckland specialist immigration law firm Laurent Law, has stepped down as chair of the New Zealand Association of Migration and Investment (NZAMI) after serving two years in that position. Mr Laurent remains on the NZAMI Board and will chair the association’s Governance Committee. Mike McMellon, partner in the Nelson firm Pitt & Moore, has been appointed to the NZAMI Board and will chair the association’s Policy Committee. LT

Principal Family Court Judge honoured Principal Family Court Judge Peter Boshier will become President of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) at the New Orleans Conference in 2015.

Jenny Binns.

Judge Boshier’s AFCC appointments, leading up to his presidency in 2015, are “a huge honour, not just for him but also for New Zealand,” says Family Court Judge

“In the history of the AFCC only one other person outside the United States and Canada has been president,” she says. That was the former Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia, Alistair Nicholson QC. Judge Boshier was elected to the 19-person AFCC executive board four years ago, becoming the first New Zealander to serve on the board. This year Judge Boshier was elected secretary. He has also been vice-president and became president elect at this year’s 49th annual AFCC conference in Chicago.

The three-day conference attracted 1300 registrants. A number of psychologists, lawyers and judges from New Zealand attended. The theme was Attachment Brain Science and Children of Divorce: the ABCD’s of Child Development for Family Law. Judge Boshier presented at the conference. He joined retired judge Judith Kreager from Miami and George Czutrin from Toronto in discussing the role of the state in family law.

The Los Angeles AFCC conference runs next year between 29 May and 1 June. It is called Riding the Wave of the Future: Global Voices, Expanding Choices. AFCC has released a call for proposals.

It will be the 50th year for AFCC and themes being developed will ensure that best practice across a range of disciplines, based on the most recent research and academic writing, are explored.

AFCC presently has approximately 4,500 members and New Zealand is in the process of setting up a chapter. LT

Independent Resource Management Specialist Advice, strategy, advocacy, dispute resolution for your clients Waterfront Chambers Wellington

Philip Milne Barrister

021 803 327 or PA 04 499 6653 philip.milne@waterfront.org.nz milnelaw.co.nz

Mike McMellon

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

13

New CPD initiative moves closer The Law Society’s Council will be asked to approve a final proposal for introduction of mandatory Continuing Professional Development (CPD) at its meeting in Wellington on 12 October.

This follows consideration by the Law Society’s Board of some changes made to the original proposal after consultation with lawyers earlier this year. The consultation resulted in feedback and comments from over 30 individual lawyers, firms and organisations.

New rules will be required to implement the initiative. These are being drafted and will also be considered by the Council.

If the Council gives the go-ahead, the final proposal will be made available to the legal profession for consideration and comment. Because there has already been extensive consultation, the timeframe will be relatively short.

The final proposal is that the new CPD

14

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

requirements will come into force on 1 April 2014. That would mean that from then on, in the CPD year between 1 April and 31 March, all lawyers will be required to produce and update a CPD plan and complete a minimum of 10 hours of CPD activities each year.

These may be pro-ratable in some circumstances.

As well as the 10 hours of CPD activities, all lawyers will be encouraged to complete a minimum of 50 hours of self-study activities each year.

Among the changes made to the original proposal is one which would allow up to five CPD hours to be carried forward into the following CPD year. If the initiative is approved, lawyers will be able to collect up to five CPD hours from 1 October 2013 and carry them forward in the first full year.

Compliance with the CPD requirements will be a condition of eligibility for renewing practising certificates. All lawyers will be required to make an annual declaration that they have met the requirements.

It is proposed to review and evaluate the CPD initiative after it has been in operation for two years.

If the CPD initiative is approved, the Law Society will ensure all details and requirements are communicated

to the legal profession in the time up to commencement. An extensive education programme will be undertaken. In this issue of LawTalk the Law Society has commenced a regular column which will provide a quick summary of the most important elements of CPD. LT

New email address for filing in Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal has advised that it now has a generic email address (CourtofAppeal@ justice.govt.nz) which should be used for all documents which are filed electronically.

Court of Appeal Manager Clare O’Brien says some lawyers file documents by email to individual case officers, but the generic email should now be used.

“This will allow the flow of work into the Court of Appeal office to be better managed, as a manager will be monitoring this email address,” she says.

Ms O’Brien says using the generic address will also help prevent problems which arise when case officers are away from the office or have left permanently. LT

The Law Society is working on establishing an initiative to require all New Zealand lawyers to complete a required level of professional development each year. This is likely to take effect from 1 April 2014, with lawyers able to participate from 1 October 2013. While many New Zealand lawyers already participate in ongoing learning activities, the introduction of mandatory CPD will affect all lawyers. LawTalk begins a regular series to help with understanding the initiative and its requirements.

Investment Governance

PD C rs 7 ou h

Moving towards CPD

– Best Practice Standards of Care (One day workshop + 1 hour follow up webinar)

What does CPD mean?

“CPD” stands for Continuing Professional Development. This is a systematic programme of relevant education, training and professional activities undertaken by a lawyer to develop and maintain an appropriate level of practice. It is planned that all New Zealand lawyers will be required to participate in a professional development programme.

Why is mandatory CPD being introduced?

If your clients have investments, or you are a Trustee with legal responsibilities, you need the tools to do your job. Tools that prevent you from straying into the world of investment advice which can lead to professional risk. Tools that improve the investment experiences of your clients or beneficiaries.

The key objective of the Law Society’s CPD initiative is to maintain and increase competency within the New Zealand legal profession through lawyers identifying their individual learning needs, developing and expanding their professional knowledge and skills, and their understanding of the law and of the practice of law – including the relevant rules of conduct and client care.

We invite you to join us for this one day course. This workshop is designed for those who act as trustees legally responsible for the investment of other people’s money. Also for lawyers and accountants who refer their clients for investment advice.

Does anyone else have mandatory CPD?

Course highlights • Understand the principles of investment governance that really matter • Learn to use the checklists and materials developed by 360 • Find out what questions to ask of advisors, brokers and fund managers • Filter and understand what information really matters • Unbundle hidden fees and costs • Receive a comprehensive course book containing all course materials.

Post course support • Become eligible to join the 360 Fiduciary Academy, with: – Access to ongoing education & resources from 360 – Quarterly webinars from 360 – Annual international conference, access to conference materials • Join a community of like-minded people focusing on practical implementation of the 7 duties of care

Mandatory CPD is increasingly common among legal and other professions around the world. In New Zealand other regulators which require CPD include the Medical Council of New Zealand, the Dental Council, New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants, New Zealand Institute of Architects, the Veterinary Council of New Zealand and the Real Estate Agents Authority.

Most Australian state regulators now require practising lawyers to complete an annual CPD requirement, and this also occurs in most Canadian provinces, England and Wales, Scotland and most states in the United States.

What are the key elements of the proposed CPD initiative?

It is learner centred rather than prescriptive. That means lawyers will be encouraged to take responsibility for identifying and fulfillng their own CPD requirements in accordance with recognised adult education principles. New Zealand CPD is intended to be cost-effective and affordable for all. It will be outcomes focused, meaning lawyers will be required to prepare and maintain an ongoing CPD plan and to reflect on and evaluate what they have achieved through their CPD activities. LT

Changing your LawTalk delivery address If you want to change the address that your copy of LawTalk is sent to, you need to contact the New Zealand Law Society Registry.

The LawTalk address labels are generated from the Registry database.

If you change your address with Registry, it automatically changes your LawTalk delivery address.

You will be introduced to the principles to operate by and the checklists to use to implement investment governance practices of the highest standard.

Courses available at a choice of locations 29 October to 8 November 2012 Pricing (price includes a one hour follow up webinar, where participants can have issues claried) Early Bird (book and pay before 10th October) $817 incl GST Standard Price $950 incl GST Register online at www.ph.co.nz/investment For further information, please see our website www.ph.co.nz or contact Alisha Ross T 03 477 9923 E training@ph.co.nz

There is a form on the Law Society website to do this. It is at www. lawsociety.org.nz/home/for_lawyers/forms/forms/registry_lawyer_ change_of_details. You can contact Registry at registry@lawsociety. org.nz.

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

15

Legal Challenge time coming soon A major sporting event that traditionally features outstanding performances by lawyers and legal teams, the 2012 Fidelity Life Corporate Challenge is rapidly approaching.

Part of this annual five-kilometre road race, which will take place in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in November, is the New Zealand Law Society Legal Challenge.

The time has come for legal teams and individual lawyers to enter this event.

With the Law Society’s Waikato Bay of Plenty branch planning to put together a team for this year’s Auckland leg of the race, 2012 looks set to continue the recent trend. Each year the number of lawyers participating in the event has increased.

For a number of years now, lawyers have comprised the biggest industry group taking part in the Corporate Challenge, now in its 19th year. The percentage of lawyers has grown steadily over the years and by last year lawyers made up nearly half the entries.

This level of participation fits well with the ethos of the event, where the main emphasis is not on results. It is on mass participation, health and fitness, and team building. Most enter more for the fun than the competition and lawyers, law firm teams and Law Society staff are no exception.

Along with the great participation by the profession, there were also some great performances in last year’s corporate challenge.

Both the Auckland and Wellington events were won by law firm team members, with Rupert Giles of Kensington Swan crossing the line first in Auckland and Matthew Harrop of Buddle Findlay winning the Wellington event. Barrister Jane Anderson was the first woman to cross the line in Auckland and Genevieve Stark of Buddle Findlay was victorious in Wellington.

Legal CEOs won five of the six events across the three centres. In Christchurch, Matthew Jones was the first male CEO and Annabel Sheppard was the first female CEO. Both are from Wynn Williams & Co. Nigel Stirling from Gibson Sheat led Jaesen Sumner from Ford Sumner and Andrew Stewart of Morrison Kent in the Wellington men’s CEO event, while Margaret Powell of Cuba Family Law won the

16

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

women’s event. Melissa Clark from Martelli McKegg won the Auckland women’s CEO race.

Victories also came the way of three legal teams. Kensington Swan won the female team event and Buddle Findlay won the mixed team event in the capital.

Wynn Williams & Co won the female team race in Christchurch.

The trophy for most creative t-shirt also went the way of a legal team when the New Zealand Law Society won this challenge in both Wellington and Auckland.

One attraction of this event is that you can list all your entrants and do not need to nominate the entries to be considered as part of the competitive side until after the race. This means the fastest finishers can then be nominated and categorised as a men’s team (four required), women’s team (four) or mixed team (two men and two women).

An entrant cannot be included in more than one category. To take part, an organisation must field enough entrants to make up at least one such team and team members must work for that organisation.

Winner of the 2011 Wellington women’s event, Genevieve Stark of Buddle Findlay with her trophy.

The aggregate times of teams are used to determine their place in the overall competition and for the Law Society Legal Challenge placings.

The Corporate Challenge entry form is scheduled to be distributed to Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury readers with this issue of LawTalk. When completing the form, teams from the legal environment need to tick the NZLS Legal Challenge box to become eligible for both parts of the competition.

Copies of the form are also available from the organisers or you can enter online at www.corporatechallenge. co.nz.

Prizes are awarded for first, second and third placings in the three categories (men, women and mixed) in the Corporate Challenge and the Law Society offers trophies for the same placings in its Legal Challenge. There are also prizes for a CEO category in the Corporate Challenge and plenty of spot prizes. There is also a t-shirt competition. If people can email an electronic file of their t-shirt design (to corp.challenge@xtra.co.nz) before race day, this would assist organisers.

For the Law Society Legal Challenge, teams may come from law firms, legal departments in corporates and

Matthew Harrop, of Buddle Findlay, who won in Wellington last year.

government environments, law schools, law societies, legal publishers, law libraries, courts, etc.

The race is run on a Wednesday evening with a start time of 6:30pm in all cases.

This year’s races are being held in Christchurch (North Hagley Park) on 7 November; Wellington (Civic Square/waterfront) on 14 November; and Auckland (Domain) on 21 November. Only if the weather were bad enough to endanger the safety of participants would a race be cancelled.

For those wanting to prepare, training schedules are available for both beginners and more advanced competitors on the corporate challenge website, www.corporatechallenge. co.nz. LT

PROFESSIONAL INDEMNITY What to do when partnership changes

By Damian Schade* When a partnership changes there are many competing factors to consider.

Often how to treat your professional indemnity run-off insurance is near the bottom of the list.

If it comes time to restructure your practice, merge with another firm, retire or simply wind everything up, careful attention must be given Damian Schade to run-off insurance and how best to structure your insurance programme to continue to meet the needs of all parties.

There are generally two schools of thought to consider if your partnership is winding up and you are moving on.

The first is to ring fence the old firm’s historical liability within a run-off policy in which claims for work undertaken by the partners and employees of the old firm are picked up under the run-off policy. This would generally involve an agreement between partners to pay towards the run-off insurance cost and an agreement on who will contribute to the excess in the event of a claim.

This option is nice and clean and draws a clear line in the sand from a liability perspective. Any claims that arise against the firm as a result of work undertaken for the firm will be picked up by the firm’s own run-off policy. As the partners move forward they do so with a clean bill of health, safe in the knowledge that any liability against them from their previous firm is safely ring fenced and will not impact on their new venture.

The alternative option is for partners to take their own historical risk with them into their new firms.

This option can be more cost effective as it removes the requirement for a separate run-off policy to be maintained but it creates a number of other issues in itself. For example, claims made against the partner’s previous firm will sit against the new firm they have joined and can affect the premium and conditions of coverage available for the new firm going forward. This can cause friction when a new firm is paying for the actions of a partner at a previous firm. Like anything, if the partnership split is amicable and there are no future claims then there would be no issue with this option.

However, history tells us that partnership splits tend to be uncomfortable and claims activity after the fact can stretch relations even further, especially when money and reputation are involved. It is important to remember that this option will exclude coverage for any previous partners or employees of the old firm and will only protect the individual partner who has moved on.

When considering the best option for your firm, you need to look at everything and not just the premium cost. In the short term it might make sense to merge everything together but if there is a claim then the water can get decidedly murky.

A well structured and ring fenced run-off policy is the best insurance solution when your partnership faces change.

Because there are so many variations, we recommend discussing all of your options thoroughly with a trusted advisor to ensure you make the right decision. *Damian Schade is Principal, Assistant Vice-President & Solicitors Practice Leader at Marsh. Damian advises professional firms on all areas of risk management and liability insurance. damian.schade@marsh.com.

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LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

17

EFFECTIVE PRACTICE How is your technology awareness?

The American Bar Association has made an interesting change to the commentary to the rule on lawyer competence in its Model Rules of Professional Conduct.

The Model Rules are not binding but serve as models for the ethics rules of most American states.

Rule 1.1 Competence reads: “A lawyer shall provide competent representation to a client. Competent representation requires the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation.”

While the rule has not been changed, the comment following the rule has been altered (shown in bold): “Maintaining Competence: To maintain the requisite knowledge and skill, a lawyer should keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology, engage in continuing study and education and comply with all continuing legal education requirements to which a lawyer is subject.”

The ABA’s 20/20 Commission, which reported on the change, surprised a few commentators by stating that the amendment did not impose any new obligations on lawyers, but was intended to serve as a reminder to lawyers that they should remain aware of technology, including the benefits and risks associated with it, as part of a lawyer’s general ethical duty to remain competent.

“No longer will it be possible for a lawyer to claim to be a Luddite and also claim to be considered competent,” said legal journalist Bob Ambrogi in his blog, concluding “A new day has dawned.”

In New Zealand, Rule 3.9 of the Conduct and Client Care Rules requires a New Zealand lawyer to undertake the continuing education and professional development “necessary to ensure an adequate level of knowledge and competence in his or her fields of practice.”

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LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

Real estate tops US malpractice claims Staying with the 400,000-member ABA, it has just released its “Profile of Legal Malpractice Claims: 2008-2011”.

This gathered data on 53,000 legal malpractice claims during the period.

Real estate, personal injury-plaintiff and family law were the top three, with real estate topping personal injuryplaintiff for the first time since the survey began in 1985.

The type of activity most likely to generate claims was “preparation, filing, and transmittal of documents”, ahead of “advice”.

The $2.8 billion industry Provisional figures from Statistics New Zealand’s Annual Enterprise Survey for the year ended 30 June 2011 show that the sale of legal services generated

annual income of $2.767 billion. This was up 0.5% from the previous year.

Overall, the provisional figures show that all enterprises in New Zealand generated income in the 2011 year of $575.4 billion, up 4.7% from the previous year. The legal services industry, therefore, appears to generate around 0.5% of all income – or one dollar in every 200 spent with business enterprises goes on legal services.

Total expenditure by the legal services industry was up 3.4% from 2010, and comprised 0.3% of all expenditure by New Zealand enterprises.

This left the legal services industry with a provisional before-tax surplus in the year to 30 June 2011 of $1.020 billion. The surplus was down 4.2% on the previous year. Ignoring undoubted statistical restrictions and cautions, this means 2.3% of the surplus made by New Zealand enterprises stayed in the pockets of the legal services industry.

Annual Enterprise Survey provisional data, year to 30 June ($ billion) Enterprise

2011

2010

Change

- Total Income

$2.767

$2.752

0.5%

- Total Expenditure

$1.742

$1.686

3.4%

- Surplus before Income Tax

$1.020

$1.065

(4.2%)

- Total Income

$575.386

$549.747

4.7%

- Total Expenditure

$533.318

$498.274

7.0%

- Surplus before Income Tax

$44.396

$50.391

(11.9%)

Legal Services

All Enterprises

Meanwhile, over the Tasman…

For a reality check, research firm IBISWorld estimates that Australia’s legal services industry revenue was A$19.5 billion in the 2010/11 year and will grow by 2% to A$19.9 billion in 2011/12 year. Another source, Australian business magazine BRW, recently published a list of the top 35 law firms in Australia by revenue in the 2011/12 year. Topped by Freehills (A$565 million revenue), the list showed that the top 35 firms had estimated revenue of A$5.775 billion. Seventeen firms were estimated to have revenue of over A$100 million.

The only attempt to estimate top firm revenue in New Zealand, in Thomson Reuters’ The Business of Law publication in 2009, had four firms earning over NZ$100 million, and the top 10 earning an estimated NZ$740 million.

Property addressing guidelines Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) is responsible for setting standards on property addressing throughout New Zealand and for recording the addresses assigned by territorial authorities.

LINZ advises that it is working on a number of initiatives which are aimed at improving the quality of addressing. This includes making high currency address data available through the LINZ Data Service. To assist organisations which need to meet addressing standards, LINZ has set up a new section on its website at www.linz. govt.nz/property-addressing/address-road-places-data. LT

LAW REFORM REPORT Tax proposals raise concerns The Law Society has made a submission on an IRD proposal to introduce taxation on lease inducement payments, questioning the justification for the change and criticising the suggestion that the proposed legislation will have retrospective effect.

The Law Society says the proposal is an expansion of the tax base, rather than a base-protection measure as claimed in an Officials’ Issues Paper, The Taxation of Lease Inducement Payments.

The Law Society describes as “extraordinary” the suggestion by IRD officials that the proposal would apply to commercial arrangements entered into on or after 25 July 2012, the date the paper was released.

As matters currently stand, “taxpayers have no notion of whether or not the

Recent submissions: The Law Society has recently filed submissions on: • Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 – Regulations – Consultation Document; • Taxation of Lease Inducement Payments (IRD Issues Paper); • Taxation of Foreign Superannuation (IRD Issues Paper); • Register of Pecuniary Interests of Judges Bill; • Administration of Community Services & Orders Bill (interim select committee report), supplementary submission; • A Revised Regulatory Standards Bill: A Treasury discussion document with indicative legislation; and • Companies & Limited Partnerships Amendment Bill.

The submissions are available at http://www.lawsociety. org.nz/publications_and_ submissions/submissions.

proposals will proceed, or in what form”.

“Changes to the legislation should only have effect when Parliament passes an amendment. Until that time, taxpayers are entitled to rely on the law as it is written in legislation, not as proposed by officials.”

The Law Society believes it is “altogether wrong for officials and the Minister to say that taxpayers who are entering into contracts now, which they may have been negotiating for many months, should be required to treat any lease inducements as income, either in their tax returns, in calculating their provisional tax, or in determining the commercial benefits of a proposal they have yet to sign.”

The Law Society also questions whether there is sufficient justification for making the change in the absence of a general capital gains tax, and believes that the inconsistency that arises from this proposal is arbitrary and results in unfairness.

The Law Society is concerned that the paper does not attempt a thorough analysis of the issues involved, and does not propose a thorough legislative treatment of lease inducement payments.

“In summary, the Law Society does not believe that the current treatment of lease inducement payments poses a significant risk to the income tax base.

It is difficult to justify this arbitrary measure when we do not generally tax capital gains. Why, in other words, should a person who makes one sort of capital gain be taxed, when a person who makes another sort of capital gain is not?”

Place of smartphone apps in money laundering regulations queried The Law Society, commenting on a Ministry of Justice consultation document on proposed anti-money laundering regulations, says mobile smartphones and the applications available on them should be considered more closely. It says placing smartphones and applications under “stored value instrument” in the proposed regulations could be problematic.

“There are now applications to transfer funds between account holders which would be caught by the definition of “stored value instrument”. The Law Society believes there is scope to exclude this as they involve financial institutions that would already be covered by the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009.

“However, as new technologies and applications are introduced – such as ‘mobile wallet’ which would enable money monetary value to be loaded onto monetary devices – it may well still be appropriate for the stored value instrument to apply.”

The Law Society says specific feedback could be sought from telecommunications companies and industry players so regulations could be applied to these types of scenarios.

The Law Society also supports the removal of terms in the proposed legislation to help clarify a reporting entity, the definition of “consumer” and “loyalty scheme”.

It recommends that second hand dealers and pawnbrokers should continue to be exempted from the AML/CFT regime and agrees that the exemptions should not include instruments which have international aspects.

However, the Law Society says in cases such as an Australasian retail chain which provides gift cards that can be used in both New Zealand and Australia, such cards could be designed so they cannot be reloaded.

Coming up – current law reform consultation, etc The Law Society is currently preparing submissions on numerous bills and government discussion documents.

Members are welcome to contribute comments to the Law Reform Committee, specialist committees and sections preparing the submissions.

For a full list of upcoming submission deadlines and information about how to participate, visit http:// my.lawsociety.org.nz/law_ reform/work_in_progress.

For more information on NZLS law reform activities, contact vicky. stanbridge@lawsociety.org.nz. LT

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

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BRANCH NEWS

The top table at the recent bar dinner in Christchurch (from left) Justice Pankhurst, Sir William Young, Judge Bisphan, Nicholas Till QC, Justice French, Sir Andrew Tipping, Professor Emerita Mary Jo Nicholson, Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias, Canterbury-Westland branch Past President Allister Davis and Canterbury-Westland branch President Rachel Dunningham.

CANTERBURY WESTLAND

NEW ZEALAND LAW SOCIETY

NZLS EST 1869

Record turnout to honour Sir Andrew A record bar dinner attendance was recorded by the Canterbury-Westland branch at its event to mark the retirement of Supreme Court judge Sir Andrew Tipping.

The MAS-sponsored dinner, held at Westpac Hub on 24 August, was sold out, with 200 attending.

Along with the great turnout from the profession, judges from the Supreme Court, High Court and District Courts also attended and Sir Andrew’s wife, Professor Emerita Mary Jo Nicholson was a special guest.

Sir Andrew had a long association with the Canterbury District Law Society, now the Law Society’s CanterburyWestland branch. An early link was when he won the Canterbury District Law Society gold medal in law as 1966’s top LLB student at Canterbury University. Sir Andrew was Canterbury President in 1984.

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The New Zealand Law Society Canterbury-Westland branch gold medal winners Janet Dick (left) and Amanda Mitchell.

Double gold medal celebration It was a double celebration when not one, but two, annual New Zealand Law Society Canterbury-Westland branch gold medals in law were presented on 14 September.

These gold medals are presented for the top LLB student at Canterbury University each year, with the presentation usually happening in the year following the period where the student topped the academic standing.

The original gold medal die was lost in the February 2011 Canterbury earthquake, so the medal could not be cast until recently. This meant that the 2010 gold medal could not be presented in the usual time frame.

This year’s ceremony was held at Canterbury University Law School and was attended by Canterbury-Westland branch council members, the winners and their families, law faculty members and lawyers.

The 2010 branch President, Allister Davis, presented the 2010 winner, Janet Dick, with her gold medal and the current branch President, Rachel Dunningham, presented the gold medal to 2011 winner Amanda Mitchell.

WELLINGTON NEW ZEALAND LAW SOCIETY NZLS EST 1869

Wellington hosts Welsh visitors The Law Society Wellington branch hosted a visit to New Zealand by the Counsel General for Wales, Theodore Huckle QC and Dylan Hughes, who is Wales’s First Parliamentary Drafter, equivalent to our Chief Parliamentary Counsel.

They also were interested in the systemic changes promoted by Sir Geoffrey Palmer, and New Zealand’s methods of scrutinising legislation.

In Wales “we have got publication issues around legislation and are planning an access to legislation initiative”, so they were interested to look at methods the PCO was using to publish legislation. “We are looking to learn from the systems in New Zealand, which seem to be very good.

“I’m optimistic about that because there is a big appetite amongst the government and amongst the [Welsh] Assembly members themselves to get it right – to be seen to produce a body of law which is robust and credible.”

They came to New Zealand because the post-colonial situation for many states, including New Zealand, was not dissimilar to the current Welsh devolution.

“In New Zealand terms, it has been interesting to see you have a legislation bill going through Parliament, which includes some aspects of what we are interested in doing.”

Gifting seminar More than 80 people attended what Wellington branch manager Catherine Harris describes as a “phenomenally successful” seminar on gifting, presented

by Greg Kelly on 6 September. This lunchtime seminar was hosted by Minter Ellison Rudd Watts.

“I think we have got a lot to learn and have learned a lot,” Mr Huckle says.

Life outside work

Among the many they met and talked with were Sir Geoffrey and people involved with the Parliamentary Counsel Office, Law Commission, Legislation Advisory Committee and Law Society.

Is it possible to have a fulfilling career and a life outside the workplace? was the theme of a panel discussion organised by the Wellington branch Women in Law Committee on 11 September.

District Court update

Issues raised by flexible work arrangements, how to achieve flexible work arrangements and what benefits there are for both workers and employers were discussed in a question and answer format. The speakers were Dr Sarah Proctor-Thomson, Rachael Dewar, Debra Blackett and Tim Richards.

The Wellington branch Criminal Law Committee organised a very successful District Court update on 30 August.

Around 30 people attended the event where Judge Mill spoke on What helps – what hinders? in the District Court.

Auckland, 3 and 1 in the final. Geoffrey won his first Devil’s Own title in 2010.

He and Tim were among the 16 golfers who qualified for the Devil’s Own division, comprising four rounds of match play.

The two were in Wellington from 8-12 September to learn from New Zealand’s experience in a variety of areas to help with their work on Welsh devolution and the development of a Welsh statute book.

“We have to find a way to rationalise the statute book so it is available in one place for members of the public who want to know the law or how the law affects their lives,” Mr Huckle says.

In his presentation he also covered drug and specialist courts, as well as other future developments.

Entries were close to three figures, with 95 people entering the 78th event, New Zealand’s oldest privately run golf tournament.

The top placegetters in the best dressed contest (from left) Paul Fisher, Edward Norman and Phil Sheat.

MANAWATU NEW ZEALAND LAW SOCIETY NZLS EST 1869

Devil’s Own golf Auckland lawyer Geoff Baxter picked up his second Devil’s Own Championship when he emerged the victor in this golf tournament for lawyers, played in Palmerston North from 14-17 September.

A partner of McVeagh Fleming, Geoff defeated Tim Rainey, also from

A highlight of the tournament was the Saturday qualifying round, where in association with the event’s sponsor WORKING STYLE, a best dressed contest was held. The winner of that was Paul Fisher and the runners up were Edward Norman and Phil Sheat.

Long-serving lawyer farewelled Long-serving lawyer Philip Comber was farewelled from the profession at a function at the Levin Club on 4 September.

The event was well attended by family lawyers, who were also joined by representatives of the Law Society’s Manawatu branch council and two District Court judges.

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

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Well known, particularly in family law circles, Mr Comber also served as the Levin Coroner for many years. He is the Manawatu District Mental Health Inspector and was recently reappointed to that position for a further three years. Mr Comber has retired to Waitarere Beach.

HAWKE’S BAY NEW ZEALAND LAW SOCIETY NZLS EST 1869

Central Hawke’s Bay The Hawke’s Bay branch council travelled to Waipawa on 11 September for its branch meeting, followed by drinks with local practitioners. A good turnout of around 20 lawyers attended.

The event was hosted by McKay Mackie, who also provided the council its newest member when Claire Enticott was seconded onto the council recently.

WAIKATO BAY OF PLENTY NEW ZEALAND LAW SOCIETY

NZLS EST 1869

At the Auckland event to thank volunteers (from left) Howard Keyte QC, Stephen Antunovich, Stewart Germann and Clayton Kimpton.

AUCKLAND NEW ZEALAND LAW SOCIETY NZLS EST 1869

Volunteers acknowledged The Law Society’s Auckland branch hosted a thank you to volunteers event on 4 September. The Law Society is very fortunate to have a volunteer workforce of over 300 based in Auckland alone. They provide expertise, energy, time and generosity to assist the NZLS to promote good practices, inform decision makers, improve public understanding and foster a capable and collegial legal profession.

Lawyers contribute in many ways, including as standard committee members, cost assessors, mediators, prosecution panel, national law reform and advocacy committees, Friends Panel, Ethics Committee, section executives, Young Lawyers Committee, local board and council. The society also relies enormously on the efforts of lay members who sit on the standards committees.

Tauranga bar dinner Almost a record turnout of 140 lawyers attended the Waikato Bay of Plenty branch’s 31 August Tauranga Bar Dinner, held at Trinity Wharf.

The dinner was in honour of Judges Barney Thomas, Alayne Wills and Robert Wolff. Branch President Bruce Hesketh welcomed those attending, Kevin Casey said grace, while Paul Mabey QC gave an address from the bar.

OTAGO NEW ZEALAND LAW SOCIETY NZLS EST 1869

Oamaru lunch and meeting North Otago lawyers attended a meet the Otago branch council lunch on 4 September at the Opera House in Oamaru.

Even though only a small number of members attended, it provided a good way to connect with the council and a chance to meet up with old friends. After the lunch, the council held its monthly meeting.

More than 150 volunteers attended.

TARANAKI

Entrepreneurs need lawyers On 16 August, around 120 lawyers, most of whom were in their first 10 years of practice, gathered at Kensington Swan for a presentation from entrepreneur Josef Roberts.

Josef, current BurgerFuel Worldwide CEO, is best known for bringing the Red Bull brand to New Zealand and Australia.

In his presentation entitled Thinking International – Entrepreneurs Need Lawyers, Josef entertained the audience with accounts of sticky legal situations he found himself in over the years, and how he quickly discovered the power of the law, and the value of a good lawyer.

Feedback from those who attended was that it was encouraging to hear a client talk so positively about the critical role of the lawyer. Kensington Swan co-hosted the event with the Auckland branch.

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NEW ZEALAND LAW SOCIETY NZLS EST 1869

Taranaki quiz night More than 60 people, including practitioners, support staff and spouses, competed in the Taranaki branch quiz night on 14 September. The five-person team from Mooney & Webb Lawyers won the trophy. LT

DISPLAY ADS

CONTACT CHRISTINE WILSON christine.wilson @lawsociety.org.nz

LE T TERS TO THE EDITOR

Developing submissions

warranted – allocation to a lead drafter;

I am most grateful for your pointing out the invitations to contribute to NZLS submissions which are apparently regularly contained in LawPoints. As I am selfemployed, and currently have a rather more leisurely “work life balance” than I would wish, I will be sure to open that document when it pops into my inbox in future. Others who daily face the tyranny of the timesheet may not have the luxury of spending time looking through that document every week, considering whether to make a submission, and then making a contribution – presumably compiled after hours. But that is another issue.

Having studied the latest issue of LawPoints, I note that members are informed that the Society “has made” a submission on various bills, and – unless I have again missed something – comments are sought on two submissions which are obviously in various stages of preparation. For the better education of members, I wonder if you could tell us:

•

impending internal deadlines; and

•

filing dates.

“Please send any comments on current law reform projects by email, before the indicated internal deadline, to vicky. stanbridge@lawsociety.org.nz.”

In answer to your second and third questions, despite the welcome we give members of the profession to make contributions, the actual uptake is quite low.

Some people do comment verbally to members of the Law Society’s Law Reform Committee and specialist committees, and to Law Society section representatives. This makes ascertaining exact numbers and percentages difficult. They are, however, quite small in number.

We hope that this exchange will encourage more members of the profession to send us their views on proposed legislation and discussion papers.

Frank Neill Editor

1) Are contributions sought on all submissions made by the Law Society on new legislation, or only some?

2) How many submissions – perhaps contributions is a better word – were received from members which were generally in agreement with the final submission made by the Society on the proposed changes to the Bail Act? 3) What percentage of the Society’s membership made contributions which were generally in accordance with the submission which the Society eventually made?

I am happy to accept your determination of what is “generally in accordance” with the final submission. In this digital age I am sure such information is routinely compiled, available and readily retrievable. Again, thank you for your most helpful and courteous response to my letter.

David Garrett Barrister, Kaukapakapa

Editor’s response In answer to the first question, contributions are sought on all submissions. Indeed contributions from the profession are welcome.

John Haig QC 1946-2012 John’s family would be grateful if you would pass on to your members our sincere thanks for the messages of sympathy sent and tributes paid to John by letter, in the memorial books and at gatherings since his death. The generosity and thoughtfulness of John’s many friends in the law have been a great source of comfort to us.

Sue Haigh

This is the perfect networking opportunity for law professionals involved, or wishing to be involved, in the dynamic and growing areas of travel, tourism and hospitality law.

As well as regular invitations to contribute in LawTalk and LawPoints, the “Law Reform/work in progress” page on the my.lawsociety website (http://my.lawsociety.org.nz) has a heading which says “Input is welcomed”.

Under that heading is the following explanation.

“Current law reform projects are publicised in LawPoints and, where time limits permit, on the my.lawsociety law reform pages. We encourage and welcome contributions from branch committees and interested members of the profession. The Law Reform Committee will consider all contributions and incorporate them into the Law Society’s submissions where possible.”

Further explanation is given under the heading “Current law reform projects”.

“Information about the status of all current law reform projects is provided weekly to the Law Reform Committee – see current law reform projects [on the my.lawsociety website] for the latest update. This lists bills currently before select committees, recently introduced bills and discussion papers, with information about: •

22 - 24 November 2012 Perth, WA, Australia

Don’t miss your chance to register for the premier event in travel, tourism and hospitality law.

Register online now at www.lawconferences.com.au

which NZLS committees or sections are reviewing the bill / discussion paper, and – where a submission is

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

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THE BOOKSHELF LinkedIn for Lawyers: connect, engage and grow your business Kirsten Hodgson

arsenal and a solid commitment of time and energy is needed to make it work effectively.

LinkedIn for Lawyers: connect, engage and grow your business

Kirsten Hodgson

LINKEDIN FOR LAWYERS: CONNECT, ENGAGE AND GROW YOUR BUSINESS

By Kirsten Hodgson Reviewed by Geoff Adlam* Books which look at the latest international trends or developments from a New Zealand perspective are relatively rare. The appearance of Kirsten Hodgson’s guide to LinkedIn, with a substantial New Zealand flavour, is therefore particularly welcome.

It will more than adequately meet the information needs of any New Zealand lawyer who wonders what LinkedIn is all about, who has set up a profile, who has started using it as a marketing tool, or who is actively involved in LinkedIn groups and discussion forums.

Many smaller New Zealand law firms have seen marketing or business development as involving an annual advert in Yellow Pages, joining a few clubs around town and perhaps inviting clients to pre-Christmas drinks. While sometimes rudimentary, human contact and engagement is key. The emergence of sophisticated online tools may have hidden the fact that it’s still all about networking and communicating your skills at a personal level. As Kirsten Hodgson stresses, LinkedIn should be seen as one part of a marketing

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Hodgson, with a background in law firm marketing, takes a very practical approach to how LinkedIn can be used as a business development tool. If you have joined up to LinkedIn in the hope that you might somehow get a better job, reading LinkedIn for Lawyers will show you that it is far more than a gallery of faces and qualifications.

LinkedIn is a two-way communications channel which can be used by lawyers and others in business to supplement their business acquisition activities.

“LinkedIn will never replace face-toface meetings (and nor should it) BUT it can help you get those face-to-face meetings,” Hodgson says.

The book contains a wealth of information and detail, while being written in a flowing and easy-to-read style. The author draws frequently on her personal experience and the book is more like a friendly chat with an expert adviser: “I find that posting first thing in the morning gets the best response. That could be because a lot of people tend to check LinkedIn in the morning or at lunchtime. However, if you’re targeting business owners you may find you get a good response at the weekend as that’s when many check their groups.”

The author begins by tempting readers with “Six LinkedIn success stories” to show what can be achieved. “Barrister B”, for example, has generated new work by emailing selected people who view his LinkedIn profile, used LinkedIn to gain business intelligence when pitching for work, posted links on relevant LinkedIn groups to boost traffic to his blog, and avoided recruitment consultant fees by using LinkedIn to find qualified staff.

Hodgson then gives a quick overview of social media (LinkedIn is placed in the “social network” subcategory along with Facebook, MySpace and Ning) and discusses content marketing, or bringing relevant information to the attention of people with whom you want to engage.

The rest of LinkedIn for Lawyers takes the reader through every aspect of LinkedIn, from the beginning (“Why LinkedIn?”) to the end (“Taking Relationships Offline”).

Detailed and practical information is provided on how to join and start groups, use the “Events” feature, start polls or set up a LinkedIn Advert (“in five easy steps”).

The book is very easy to follow.

Information is presented in small chunks with clear headings or highlighting. It is extensively illustrated with diagrams. One criticism could be levelled at the quality of reproduction which makes some of the screenshots and examples difficult to see. However, these are often just illustrative of principles and little information is lost. Each chapter ends with a helpful summary of the key points, and anyone who read just these would gain a good working understanding of the possibilities presented by LinkedIn. QR codes are used throughout, allowing readers to scan internet links for further information or resources. There is obviously much more that can be read or researched about LinkedIn and the book provides many starting points for this. However, as a self-contained guide for New Zealand lawyers who want to find out how they can better use LinkedIn to develop their business and improve their connections, this book is highly recommended.

LINKEDIN FOR LAWYERS: CONNECT, ENGAGE AND GROW YOUR BUSINESS by Kirsten Hodgson, LexisNexis NZ Ltd, August 2012, 978-1-927183-41-0, 176 pages, $51.80 (GST incl, p&h excl). Available in paperback and e-book. *Geoff Adlam is the New Zealand Law Society’s Communications Manager. He is a member of the Law Practice Management, New Zealand Lawyers Network, The Law Report Group and the Public Relations and Communications Professionals groups on LinkedIn.

Community projects help minority groups SUPPORTING INDEPENDENT LEGAL THINKING

The Law Foundation has a strong track record of supporting projects that help specific social groups better understand the law and their rights and obligations.

The following are some recent Foundation-backed initiatives that have helped explain legal concepts and process for immigrants, senior high school students, and deaf and hearing-impaired people. Each of those groups, for different reasons, has some difficulty accessing relevant information from mainstream sources.

Know Your Rights

Lynda Hagen

through community law centres and are aimed at a good level for secondary students to identify with.

“The content is really relevant to them. For example, they might have just started in employment, or be looking at doing so in the near future. It’s not telling them everything about their rights and obligations, but it shows them where to go for help and advice.”

Amy says the courses have been a great experience for tutors and students alike, with lots of student interaction, and have established a good base to continue with next year.

A Foundation grant enabled the production and broadcast of a 13-part television series, Know Your Rights, providing basic, practical information and advice on common legal topics.

Legal rights DVD for deaf and hearingimpaired

The series was inspired by a book of the same name by South Auckland lawyer Catriona MacLennan. She was asked to present the programme by Triangle Television, which has a substantial following among immigrant groups.

The Police and deaf or hearing-impaired people face particular challenges when dealing with each other. A Foundation co-funded “Bill of Rights” DVD brings the issues to life through a role-played legal case.

“Immigrants and people with English as a second language find it particularly difficult to access legal information and advice,” Catriona says. “We had two lawyers as guests on each programme who did segments in languages including Samoan, Tongan, Maori and Hindi. I thought it was really important to have people that the audience could identify with.”

National Foundation for the Deaf Chief Executive Louise Carroll says the project involved deaf and hearing-impaired actors playing the roles of legal counsel, Police Prosecutor, Judge and defendant in a case involving domestic violence and drink-driving.

Know Your Rights screened between April and July, attracting 15-20,000 viewers each episode. Triangle is planning to re-broadcast the series, and there are talks under way with the Citizens Advice Bureau on making the programmes available for training and education.

“It’s hard-hitting, it doesn’t pull any punches…it shows an actual scenario that is very credible. It has had good feedback from the deaf and hearing-impaired communities.

“I was really pleased with how it turned out. It was much better than I had hoped for,” Catriona says. “We wouldn’t have been able to do it without the Law Foundation kindly providing the funding.”

Law in schools The Law in Schools Project introduces Year 13 secondary school students to New Zealand’s legal system. Starting in Wellington in 2008, the project has since expanded to schools in Auckland and Christchurch and, this year, to Hamilton. The Foundation provides pilot funding for each move to a new region.

Hamilton District Court judge’s clerk Amy Williams manages the project in that city. She says fourth-year Waikato University law students have been recruited to run the courses at three high schools.

“People I have spoken to at the schools say it has been really well received,” she says. “The modules are developed

She says the actors played their actual professional roles, giving the DVD “an air of credibility and honesty.”

“As the case unfolds, all the rights as they apply are highlighted in captioning and New Zealand sign language,” she says.

The DVD was launched on 7 September. Copies are being distributed throughout the Police and to organisations working in the deaf and hearing-impaired sectors, as well as government agencies and Citizens Advice Bureaux.

“It’s a fantastic initiative,” Louise says. “We are really grateful to the Law Foundation for their support, not just in funding but by asking the right questions and providing good advice.”

The Foundation supported an earlier VHS version of the video made in 1996.

More information on these and other community focused grants can be found on the Law Foundation website www. lawfoundation.org.nz Lynda Hagen is the Executive Director of the New Zealand Law Foundation.

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

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UPCOMING PROGRAMMES Programme

Presenters

Content

Where

When

Introduction to High Court Civil Litigation Skills

Sandra Grant John Hardie Judge Rod Joyce QC Nikki Pender Paul Radich Tom Weston QC

Junior practitioners should not miss this opportunity to develop practical litigation skills in Wellington an intensive, small-group workshop which will take you through a summary judgement Auckland claim in the High Court to demonstrate how to handle a file from beginning to end, how Christchurch to draft pleadings, evidence and submissions, how to present an argument – and much more. Skills taught in this two-day workshop are transferrable to the District Court and other High Court cases.

Evidence Act for Civil Litigators

Andrew Beck

This seminar will take a close look at a number of thorny issues raised in recent cases, including the ongoing concern in respect of the relationship between the common law and the Evidence Act - in particular, whether the common law continues in relation to events that occurred before the Act; the extent of without prejudice privilege; the scope of other privileges and their exceptions; the role of experts, and the limits of expert evidence; and the admissibility of briefs and what to do with inadmissible evidence.

CIVIL 29-30 Oct 12-13 Nov (full) 19-20 Nov

Dunedin Christchurch Wellington Hamilton Auckland

5 Nov 6 Nov 7 Nov 12 Nov 13 Nov

Dunedin Christchurch Wellington Hamilton Auckland

12 Nov 13 Nov 14 Nov 19 Nov 20 Nov

COMMERICAL/COMPANY Practical Enforcement Bob Hollyman of Judgments

Working through several common scenarios, this practical seminar will consider stepby-step the various enforcement mechanisms available to creditors once they have a judgment in hand, including: identifying the assets, the nature of the different options, assessing their merits and when to apply, pitfalls and problems, difficulties that arise, and how the court officers and bailiffs work.

Webinar for smaller centres

14 Nov

Webinar

CRIMINAL Duty Solicitor Training Programme Duty solicitors are critical to the smooth running of a District Court list. Here is a way to Manukau gain more of the knowledge and skills you need to join this important group. You will: Whangarei • complete pre-course reading on the key tasks of a duty solicitor • learn about penalties, tariffs and sentencing options • observe experienced duty solicitors (5 x ½ days) • develop your advising skills by working through a series of realistic scenarios • sit an open book examination • practise and improve your advocacy skills • make critiqued appearances as a duty solicitor at a practice court • be observed and assessed while appearing as a duty solicitor (a full day)

Intro

Asssessment

Practice Court

21 Sep 21 Sep

26 Oct 26 Oct (in Man)

27 Oct 27 Oct (in Man)

EMPLOYMENT Employment Law Conference – Good Faith

Chair: Peter Chemis

This “must-go” conference, noted as much for its enthusiastic collegiality as for the high Auckland quality of the business sessions, will once again provide practitioners at all levels of experience an unmissable opportunity for two days of stimulating engagement on topics of essential importance and interest in the employment law field.

8-9 Nov

FAMILY Legal Aid Disbursement Policy

Michele McCreadie Patricia McNeill Sarcha Keith

A new disbursements policy will come into force on 5 November. The policy applies to Your computer 16 Oct applications for legal aid received on or after 5 November 2012. This one hour webinar Webinar explains the changes to existing policy, how the new policy will be applied, the new web based policy format, and improvements to application, amendment and invoicing forms. There is no cost for this webinar as it is funded by Legal Aid Services. However you must register.

Care and Protection Orders and CYFS

Dr Nicola Atwool Tracey Gunn

Care and protection cases can be problematical and lawyers need a good understanding of how the statute works and how it interlinks with the moving goalposts of CYFS’ policy.

Lawyers need to understand the reality of issues for children in care and what happens when CYFS intervenes and why they intervene. This seminar will provide you with practical hands-on advice for dealing with care and protection cases.

Webinar for smaller centres

Dunedin Christchurch Wellington Auckland Webinar

17 Oct 18 Oct 25 Oct 26 Oct 25 Oct

Youth Justice Practice Judge Becroft Issues - an update Aaron Lloydd Fergus More

A continual striving for improvement, in order better to serve young people, their Your computer 17 Oct families and the general public, is a hallmark of the Youth Justice sector in New Zealand. “Fresh Start”, the shorthand for the changes introduced by amending Webinar legislation on 1 October 2010, was one such quest for improvement. Now is the time to find out whether the availability of longer orders, new orders and extending the Youth Court jurisdiction to 12 and 13 year olds has truly been a fresh start.

Understanding Mediation – mediation for lawyers Part A

See listing in General section on the next page.

Brochures for CLE programmes are distributed with LawTalk. If you have not received a brochure for any of the programmes listed, please see www.lawyerseducation.co.nz or email cle@lawyerseducation.co.nz or contact CLE information, tel 0800 333 111.

Online registration and payment can be made at www.lawyerseducation.co.nz

Programme

Presenters

Content

Where

When

Dunedin Christchurch Wellington Hamilton Auckland

19 Nov 20 Nov 21 Nov 26 Nov 27 Nov 21 Nov

PROPERTY Trusts for Property Lawyers

Andrew Watkins Simon Weil

A practical seminar focussing on what property lawyers need to know about trusts and the use of trusts. To include; why a trust? – their various uses – their set up, drafting, and legislative requirements, trust busting – inherent weaknesses – what to look for – how to make trusts stronger – the bundle of rights as it affects property lawyers.

Webinar for smaller centres

Webinar

GENERAL Statutory Interpretation – a 2012 guide

Ross Carter Jason McHerron

Last covered in 2008, this seminar will take a fresh look at this topic, which is central to all law practice. Presenters Ross Carter and Jason McHerron will use recent case law to illustrate and analyse key principles and developments in statutory interpretation using text, purpose, context, and values.

Webinar for smaller centres

Webinar

Dunedin Christchurch Wellington Auckland Webinar

1 Oct 2 Oct 8 Oct 9 Oct 8 Oct

Logic for Lawyers

Prof Douglas Lind

Most lawyers’ logical intuitions are strong enough to permit smooth navigation most of Wellington the time through webs of complex legal arguments without error. Still, unfamiliarity with Auckland logic and argument form limits a lawyer’s analytical oversight. This makes him or her vulnerable to committing or overlooking mistakes of reasoning that can affect the outcome of cases. Attend this workshop to learn a practical framework and gain specific analytical tools for working with legal arguments.

Risk Management for Boards

John Waller Michael Webb

All business is risk – it’s how much and how it is managed that is the issue. Based Your computer 24 Oct on the Risk Management session from the successful Corporate Governance Webinar Intensive, this webinar will focus on the risk issues facing the boards for smaller and unlisted companies as well as large corporates and financial institutions.

AML/CFT (Anti Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism)

Lloyd Kavanagh

The AML/CFT Act comes fully into force on 30 June 2013. It could affect your Your computer 31 Oct clients, your practice or the institution you work for. This webinar will look at how Webinar and what measures you need to take to guard against money laundering and terrorism financing.

Stepping Up foundation for practising on own account

Director: John Mackintosh

All lawyers wishing to practise on their own account whether alone, in partnership, in an Wellington incorporated practice or as a barrister, will be required to complete this course. (Note: From 1 October 2012 all lawyers applying to be barristers sole will be required to complete Stepping Up). Developed with the support of the New Zealand Law Foundation.

8-10 Nov

Trust Account Supervisor Training Programme

Mark Anderson, John Hicks or David Littlefair, and David Chapman, Bob Eades or Lindsay Lloyd

To qualify as a trust account supervisor, you must complete 40-55 hours’ preparation, Auckland attend the assessment day and pass all assessments. Make sure you register in Christchurch time to do the preparatory work before the assessment day as listed on the right.

14 Nov 21 Nov

Writing Persuasive Opinions

Judge John Adams Simon Cunliffe Margot Schwass

Successful opinions are persuasive. Persuasive opinions are clear, succinct, jargon- Wellington free, cogently structured, legally acute and tailored to the needs of your reader/client. Auckland Webinar Comprising a mix of presentations and small-group work, this workshop will demystify Auckland 2 the practice of writing complex legal opinions. It will provide the chance to practise and receive feedback on your writing from experienced tutors in a supportive, creative and enjoyable setting.

26 Sep (full) 28 Sep (full) 12 Dec

Lawyer as Negotiator

Jane Chart

Building on participants’ own experience, this one and a half day workshop provides Wellington hands-on practice and feedback, as well as a conceptual framework for preparing for and Auckland undertaking negotiations. It uses cutting edge research to examine different strategies and tactics, and offers tools for dealing with difficult negotiators, breaking impasses, for addressing specific issues which participants might wish to raise and for generally enhancing skill and confidence in this vitally important aspect of practice.

30-31 Oct (full) 7-8 Nov

Understanding Mediation – mediation for lawyers Part A

Virginia Goldblatt Geoff Sharp

Mediation knowledge and skills are an increasingly important adjunct to legal practice. Wellington Many more clients are taking disputes to mediation (because it works) and the more that their legal advisers know about how it works the better. In addition practice as a mediator extends the service that lawyers can offer the public.

16-18 Nov

Reading Accounts and Balance Sheets

Lloyd Austin

While it is not necessary for you to have the financial insight that might be expected of an accountant, you should know how financial statements are put together and know how to ask the right questions and identify warning signs, discuss financial statements intelligently with a client, and know when to call in specialist assistance. This workshop will enable you to unlock the mysteries of financial documents.

Practical Enforcement of Judgments

Auckland Hamilton Wellington Christchurch

23 Oct 25 Oct

13-14 Nov 19-20 Nov 26-27 Nov 28-29 Nov

See listing in Commerical/Company section on the previous page.

Programme brochures, online registration and booklet purchases (with cheque, direct credit and credit card payment options) available at www.lawyerseducation.co.nz

OVERSEAS Family justice reforms condemned British MPs, judges and expert practitioners have condemned the government’s planned legal aid cuts and family justice reforms, warning that the fiscal imperative driving them will harm children, reports The Gazette, magazine of the Law Society of England and Wales.

Plaid Cymru MP and barrister Elfyn Llwyd said the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act, which removes public funding for most private family cases from April, will “change the whole landscape of family law”.

Mr Llwyd told a 7 September seminar on the future of family justice: “The changes are likely to be detrimental to families, detrimental to access to justice and probably contrary to article 6 rights and others which come into play when a fair trial of issues is not afforded.” He told the event, organised by the Westminster Legal Policy Forum, that the changes will not achieve the costs savings claimed by the government.

“This was a bad bill, it remains a bad bill and, unless some sensible government appraisal is urgently undertaken, the consequences for society at large and vulnerable families in particular are going to be little short of catastrophic.”

The removal of legal aid, he said, will leave courts “inundated” with litigants in person and “curtail or undermine” the principle of paramountcy of the welfare of the child as parents struggle to put across their points across in court. The result, he said would be a “huge surge” in demand for court time with extra cost and delay.

Hungary’s constitution needs review A review of Hungary’s new constitution and repeal of new legislation that has forced the immediate retirement of more than 270 judges is called for in an International Bar Association Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) report released on 10 September.

Courting Controversy: the Impact of the Recent Reforms on the Independence of the Judiciary and the Rule of Law in Hungary calls on Hungary’s Government to respect the decision of the country’s Constitutional Court and to repeal the new legislative provisions that lowered the mandatory age of retirement for judges to 62 years.

The 57-page report resulted from a visit by an IBAHRI factfinding delegation to Hungary to examine the impact of a series of controversial legislative reforms, including a new constitution, which came into force at the beginning of 2012.

Subsequent to the delegation’s visit, the Hungarian Parliament passed legislation addressing some of the main concerns regarding the independence of the judiciary.

While, generally, the legislative amendments introduced are considered improvements to some of the worst aspects of the reforms, the IBAHRI stresses that significant areas of concern remain, including: the curbing of the Constitutional Court’s role in reviewing legislation and the ability of citizens to have

28

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

their constitutional rights adjudicated by it, as well as the executive’s attitude toward other branches of state in relation to recent legal reforms – particularly the tendency not to respect the decisions of the Constitutional Court or to engage in proper legislative consultation.

Law firms cut out of LPO market Law firms are being cut out of the legal process outsourcing (LPO) market, a survey published in the first week of September states.

The 2012 Global LPO Market Study, published by New Yorkbased consultancy The LPO Program, says LPO employs some 9,000 people. If put under one roof, this workforce would form one of the world’s largest law firms.

The study predicts that the market will continue to grow at an annual rate of more than 30% over the next three years.

The study also notes a trend for organisations’ general counsel to buy services directly from outsourcing firms, cutting law firms out of the market. “This trend is set to continue, loosening law firms’ historical monopoly on transactional elements of the legal process,” said Edward Brooks, the report’s editor.

The study predicts that larger law firms will themselves look to strategic outsourcing in the future. “The strategic adoption of LPO will be the next big trend, as US law firms start to emulate UK firms and decide to adopt radically different delivery models, moving out of transactional activities,” Mr Brooks said.

More litigation for London wanted A leading city lawyer says he would welcome more foreign litigation coming to London after the conclusion of a high-profile case involving two Russian oligarchs, reports The Gazette, magazine of the Law Society of England and Wales.

The High Court in late August found that exiled Russian Boris Berezovsky had no claim to the business interests of Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea Football Club, and dismissed his appeal for damages worth £3.15 billion. Legal costs are reported to have exceeded £100 million in what is the most expensive case in British legal history.

City of London Law Society chairman Alasdair Douglas said the priority must now be to attract more high-profile cases from around the world, even if they appear to have little to do with the UK. “Every country would like to take these cases but in some places people are worried about the quality of judges and the lack of certainty,” he said. “The rule of law is one of England’s greatest exports and this case was an important confirmation of what we can offer to people wanting to bring their dispute here.” LT

LAWYERS COMPLAINTS SERVICE Fine and fees reduction for lawyer who failed to act competently A Lawyers Standards Committee fined a staff lawyer, B, $2,000, saying B did not adequately understand some fundamental family law processes despite claiming to be an experienced family lawyer. The committee also ordered B’s fee of more than $25,000 to be reduced by a third.

Complaint and response The client had complained that she had been grossly overcharged. She said B had appeared to be inexperienced in family law, was constantly changing her advice, and had held too many unnecessary meetings with her. The complainant said B had also acted unprofessionally at a mediation, where the judge had told her she should not be taking notes.

B responded that it had been very difficult to get information from the client and so preparing affidavits had been a lengthy process. The information from the client had also changed at times. B also said her firm had not had any precedents for care of children or protection order proceedings, and she had therefore needed to create these herself. She had recorded her actual time, and had assumed the firm would later review and adjust her bill to a reasonable level. She also maintained there was no requirement that a lawyer could not take notes at a mediation.

The client also complained that B had acted inappropriately in suggesting she take anti-depressants. B responded that she had been very concerned about her client’s emotional well-being when the client had wept profusely over the phone to her, and so she had advised the client to see a doctor.

The decision B had agreed to take on the case when she first began working for the firm.

She claimed she had a number of years’ experience as a family lawyer, first as a staff lawyer and then as a barrister. The

standards committee said, however, that in this case she had not displayed the level of competence that would be expected from a lawyer of that experience.

The committee said she had failed to “time manage” the complainant’s file appropriately. She also did not appear to have an adequate understanding of various family law processes, including some that were fundamental for this case. On the firm’s lack of precedents, the committee said any competent and experienced lawyer would simply have referred to the forms in the legislation.

The committee said B’s inexperience had been shown by her conduct at the mediation conference, and also by her comment that she had felt “outnumbered” by the other party’s lawyer and the lawyer for the child.

She had also shown an inability to remain objective and to separate her professional obligations from personal matters. For example, she had actively involved herself in the client’s deadlines with WINZ. The committee found that B had breached the Conduct and Client Care Rules by failing to always act competently and with reasonable care (Rule 3), and by failing to promote and maintain professionalism in her dealings (Rule 10). Her performance had also been unacceptable measured against the standards of competent, ethical and responsible practitioners (B v Medical Council [2005] 3 NZLR 810 (CA) at 811).

A costs assessor reported that B’s charges appeared to be excessive.

For example, the time spent drafting affidavits appeared to be unusually long. The committee accepted the assessor’s recommendation that the firm’s fee of $25,565 be reduced to $17,510 (both figures including GST and disbursements). The committee also found that B had breached Rule 9 by not charging a fair and reasonable fee.

The committee found B guilty of unsatisfactory conduct.

The committee did, however, reject some aspects of the complaint. On the claim that B had constantly changed

her advice, the committee accepted that she had acted on the information provided by the client, and it said that changes in a client’s situation may result in changes to the advice given.

The committee also found that B hadn’t breached any professional standards when she suggested that the client see a doctor. It accepted that she had done this out of concern for the client’s emotional well-being. LT

Lawyer released joint funds on only one party’s authority A lawyer, A, who held joint trust funds for a separated couple, was fined $2,000 by a Lawyers Standards Committee after he released some of the money to the husband without the wife’s authority. The decision was upheld by the Legal Complaints Review Officer (LCRO), who said that the fine could well have been higher.

The facts The husband and wife each had their own lawyer, but it was agreed that A, the husband’s lawyer, would act for them both in the sale of the matrimonial home. After the house was sold, A was to hold the proceeds on both parties’ behalf.

On settlement date, the lawyer acting for the wife emailed A the wife’s Authority & Instruction (A&I) for the sale. The email said the A&I was being sent “strictly on the basis that the funds will not be disbursed until the necessary [relationship property] agreement has been signed.” On settlement day, however, with the agreement still yet to be signed, A paid the husband his share of the proceeds.

The wife’s lawyer didn’t learn of this until some time later, when he demanded his client’s share of the sale funds. He complained to the Law Society that A had ignored his instructions as to the basis on which the sale proceeds were to be held, and had also failed to report to the wife about the payment out of the joint funds.

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

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L AW YERS COMPL AINTS SERVICE

Standards committee decision

Registry The following people have applied to the NZLS for certificates or approvals.

Admission under Part 3 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 Canterbury Westland Branch KAM Sharon Suk Jen (previously GIN Sharon Suk Jen) MONTGOMERY-LEE Anne Margaret Hawkes Bay Branch EXETER Jane Frances Nelson Branch THOMAS Amanda Kate Otago Branch WONG Sophia Choon Yiing Waikato Bay of Plenty Branch BARRY Kelsey Ella BIELBY Thomas Edward KAUR Ashvinder LIANG Christine MOLI Elizabeth Tuu MUGGERIDGE John Christopher Wellington Branch ABERNETHY Thomas James ADAMS Dorothy Ruth BIDWELL Lucy Carne BOSHIER Marcus William BOYCE Jonathan Brian Allen BRUCE-SMITH Nikolas James BULLOCK David Anthony Caughey BUNTING Kristina Anne BUTTERWORTH Amanda Kate CALDWELL Julia Rose CHAMBERS Sara Joy CHAN Nicholas James CLYNE Jarrod Phillip COBB Rebecca Ngaio COGHILL Lucy Elizabeth CORLETT Eva Alice Sarah Rose DERBY John David DU PREEZ Retha

ELLIOTT Cameron Stanley Walter FURNER Daniel Markus HALBERT Everard Dean HAMILL Kirsty Jane HAMILTON Leah HARRIS Matthew James HAUMAHA Casey Pare HOPMAN Lucy Julia HUMPHREY Samuel James JOHNSON Charlotte Lucy KAY Harriet Amelia KOEDYK David LAGAN Adam Peter MARTIN Hazel Jean MCKAY Caitlin Claire MCQUEEN Hamish Euan MEREDITH Alison Fay NATHU Roshni NEILL Andrew Fyans NEWMAN Kent Huntly NOBBS Lydia Ellen O'NEIL Magnus OWEN Elizabeth Mary PAYNE April Christine PREBBLE Benedict Charles REWI Grant Ellison Swain RYAN Danielle Zeta Simpson SALMOND Sarah Clare SMALL Richard Carl SMITH Jessica Simone SMITH Matthew James SRETENOVIC Tina TAYLOR Genevieve Mary THOMAS Chris Aaron TIMINGS Paul James WHATMAN Patrick Harvey WONG Meetra Li-Lian YEE Patricia Margaret

Approval to Practise on Own Account under s30 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 Auckland Branch BIRD Emma Elizabeth Anne EDMONDS Frances Anne SIMPSON Mary Joy TELFORD Kate Victoria

Canterbury Westland Branch MUIR Catherine Angela SMYTH Margaret Rose Waikato Bay of Plenty Branch FOSTER Jacinda Nancy

Practising Certificate under s39 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 MAQBOOL Jalalu Din Mohammed Kasim Khan

The Registry is now advertising names of candidates for certificates of character, practising certificates and approvals to practise on own account on the NZLS website at http://www.lawsociety.org.nz/home/ for_lawyers/registry/applications_for_approval/ Comments concerning the suitability of any of the above-named applicants for the certificate or approval being sought should be made in writing to me by 20 September 2012. Any submissions should be given on the understanding that they may be disclosed to the candidate.

Lisa Attrill, Registry Manager Email: lisa.attrill@lawsociety.org.nz, Direct Dial: (+64) (4) 463 2916 Freephone: 0800 22 30 30, Fax: (+64) (4) 463 2989

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The standards committee agreed that A had not complied with the terms on which the wife’s A&I had been sent to him.

He had therefore breached the statutory requirement that a lawyer who receives money for or on behalf of a person must hold it exclusively for them (Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006, s110(1)(b)).

The committee said this provision is unequivocal and must be complied with strictly. It is not sufficient for only one party to give instructions and for it to be assumed they are also doing so on behalf of the other party.

The committee also found that A’s conduct had breached a number of provisions in the trust account regulations and the Conduct and Client Care Rules. As well as fining A, it ordered him to pay $500 costs to the Law Society.

LCRO decision The lawyer applied for a review by the LCRO. The LCRO agreed with the committee that by paying out the joint funds, A had breached s110 and had failed to promote and maintain proper standards of professionalism as required

by Rule 10. The LCRO said it was not relevant that A hadn’t provided any specific undertakings to hold the funds. He had not abided by the terms on which the A&I had been provided and he did not have authority to release the money. The LCRO added that this was also a breach of Reg 12(6), which requires that any payments out of client trust money must have the client’s authority.

The LCRO also upheld the standards committee’s findings that A had breached his duty always to act competently and in a timely manner and with reasonable care (Rule 3) and the duty to act independently (Rule 5). The LCRO thought, however, that those two rules were only marginally relevant in this case. He also found that A had breached Reg 12(7) by failing to report to the wife, both after settlement of the sale and after paying out money to the husband.

Addressing A’s claim that the email sent with the wife’s A&I was ambiguous, the LCRO said “there was no room for him to make unilateral decisions where there was doubt as to the basis on which he held the funds". The LCRO said it was “fundamental” that lawyers should err on the side of caution when there is any uncertainty as to the basis of dealings between them. A professional approach, he said, would have been for A to have informed the wife’s lawyer of his intentions before releasing the funds.

The standards committee had also found that A had credited the joint trust account with unrelated funds belonging to the husband, in breach of Reg 12(1), which requires that each payment of trust money must be recorded in a separate trust account ledger for each client. The LCRO said A had not followed proper procedures here and should have established a separate ledger for the husband.

The LCRO decided not to adjust the $2,000 fine the standards committee imposed, but said the committee “could very well have imposed a greater penalty”.

He emphasised that “it is of extreme importance to all lawyers in many areas of practice that they are able to rely on and trust other practitioners absolutely”. LT

L AW YERS COMPL AINTS SERVICE

Censure and fine for pressuring client to withdraw complaint Queenstown lawyer Russell Mawhinney was censured and fined $5,000 by the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal after he failed to supply files when requested by his former client and then advised her she could have her files if she withdrew a complaint against him.

Mr Mawhinney was charged with misconduct and pleaded guilty.

The charge arose out of Mr Mawhinney’s conduct regarding a former client who had made a complaint about his continuing failure to supply her files to her, despite repeated requests that he do so.

The complaint was made in November 2010. In response to an enquiry by a complaints and standards officer, Mr Mawhinney said he was collecting the files from storage and hoped to get them to his former client by late December 2010.

“This may well have been the end of the matter if the files had been supplied as indicated, but in late January 2011 the client advised that she had not received her files,” the tribunal noted.

The files were not supplied and the formal complaints process began.

Mr Mawhinney said, in correspondence to the Lawyers Standards Committee, that the files had been misplaced during an office move, and that he was now giving the location of her files high priority.

The committee noted that Mr Mawhinney’s former client had first requested files during 2008, and that he had not moved offices until November 2009.

On 1 June 2011, Mr Mawhinney filed

his submissions on the complaint, stating that the reason the files had not been supplied was that they had been misplaced as a result of him moving offices, that they had now been located, and that they would be supplied on the basis that his former client paid $80.50 to cover photocopying and postage and immediately withdrew her complaint.

In a letter of 29 June 2011 to the standards committee, Mr Mawhinney’s former client recorded that she had not paid Mr Mawhinney $80.50 as he had requested because she did not agree to a requirement he had placed on his supply of her files that she immediately withdraw her complaint.

She said that she had suffered considerable frustration regarding the time and difficulty experienced in trying to uplift her files, and for that reason was not prepared to withdraw her complaint. She was happy to pay the $80.50, she said, if she did not have to withdraw her complaint in exchange for her files.

At its hearing, the standards committee determined that for his failure to supply the files as requested by his former client, Mr Mawhinney was guilty of unsatisfactory conduct. He was censured, fined and ordered to pay costs.

In respect of the requirement he had placed on the client, that she pay him $80.50 for photocopying and postage and withdraw her complaint against him for his failure to supply her files as a condition of the client obtaining her files, the committee decided to lay the misconduct charge before the tribunal.

Mr Mawhinney’s conduct “goes to the heart of the disciplinary process,” the tribunal said. It involves “serious issues”.

“Effectively Mr Mawhinney has used his position to endeavour to force a complainant, a former client, to withdraw her complaint after the

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relevant disciplinary proceedings for failure to supply files to her had formally commenced.

“That constituted an attempt to derail the disciplinary process, and it offended not only the purposes of the disciplinary regime, but the complainant’s rights,” the tribunal said.

The misconduct “also breaches the trust members of the public should be able to rely on when dealing with a lawyer.”

As well as censuring and fining him, the tribunal ordered Mr Mawhinney to provide his former client a letter of apology regarding both his failure to provide her files and his subsequent misconduct in imposing inappropriate conditions for the provision of such files.

It also ordered him to pay standards committee costs of $5,219.50 and $6,100 costs to the Law Society. LT

Front up at hearings Lawyers need to attend in person New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal substantive hearings of charges and any subsequent penalty hearing, the tribunal said in the decision where it censured Queenstown lawyer Russell Mawhinney.

“The tribunal would appreciate the [Law] Society drawing this attendance expectation to the attention of practitioners,” the decision said.

Mr Mawhinney did not attend the hearing on 5 July. He was represented by counsel, who indicated there had been some confusion by Mr Mawhinney over the date of hearing. However the tribunal said it could not see how confusion could have arisen.

“Subject to any prior application based on special circumstances being granted, the tribunal expects the personal attendance at the substantive hearing of charges, and at any subsequent penalty hearing, of those persons the subject of charges before it, notwithstanding any representation of such person by counsel.” LT

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

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CLASSIFIED ADS

CONTACT CHRISTINE WILSON christine.wilson@lawsociety.org.nz

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer/ Associate Professor/ Professor in Law Corporate and Commercial Law Auckland City Campus Vacancy Number: 15182 Be part of New Zealand’s leading university!

The University of Auckland is New Zealand’s leading university and one of the world’s major research universities. The Auckland Law School is ranked as one of the best law schools in the world in the QS World University Rankings. It is the largest law school in New Zealand and has an international reputation for academic excellence.

Situated in the heart of the legal precinct, the Law School has strong links to the legal profession and the judiciary. The School aspires to provide a complete legal education, preparing students for legal practice as well as many other careers in an internationalised world. Its thriving undergraduate and postgraduate programmes offer the largest range of courses of any law faculty in New Zealand and attract high calibre students. The School enjoys excellent international links.

The Auckland Law School invites applications for a position at any level from Lecturer to Professor, depending on the qualifications and experience of the successful applicant.

The successful applicant will be committed to undertaking high quality research and research-informed teaching in Corporate and Commercial Law. He or she may also have interests and strengths in one or more of the following areas of private law: the Law of Contract, Equity, Torts, Land Law, Personal Property, Insolvency, Competition Law, Finance and Securities Law, Banking Law, Intellectual Property, Tax and Employment Law. For further information see www.law.auckland.ac.nz or contact the Dean’s Executive Assistant via lawdean@auckland.ac.nz or Faculty of Law, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand.

Applications close 15 October 2012.

For further information go to www.auckland.ac.nz/opportunities The University has an equity policy and welcomes applications from all qualified persons.

The University is committed to meeting its obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi and achieving equity outcomes for staff and students.

WILLS TERRENCE DAVID SHARPLIN

Would any lawyer, particularly in the Auckland area, holding a will for the above-named also known as Terence David Sharplin, formerly of 41 Alverston Road, Waterview, Auckland, but recently of Sunset Rest Home and Hospital, 117-123 Boundary Road, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland, please contact Brendan Green, Property Manager, Public Trust, Private Bag 17906, Auckland 1546, ph 09 985 6812, fax 09 985 6883, email brendan.green@ publictrust.co.nz.

CHEN-HSIANG CHANG

Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, late of Auckland, housewife, born on 19 July 1948, who died on 14 February 2012, aged 68, please contact Royal Reed of Prestige Lawyers, PO Box 305 379, Triton Plaza, North Shore 0757, ph 09 475 6612, fax 09 475 6613, email info@prestigelawyers.co.nz.

SARAH HERA MUI

Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, late of 3 Greerton Road, Greerton, Tauranga, who died on 14 June 2009, please contact Robyn Harris, Gillespie Young Watson, PO Box 30940, Lower Hutt 5040, ph 04 891 2180, fax 04 569 3933, email rnharris@ gywlaw.co.nz.

EILEEN EDWARDS Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, late of Orangi Kaupapa Road, Northland, Wellington who died on 14 July 2012, aged 86, please contact Raewyn Walker, ph 09 432 1232, email raewynawalker@xtra.co.nz.

SINI HOLANI (TONY) FUNGAVAKA

Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, late of Christchurch, labourer, who died between 2 July 2012 and 4 July 2012, aged 65 years, please contact Kylie Dawson of Layburn Hodgins Limited, PO Box 795, Christchurch 8140, ph 03 366 2332, fax 03 366 3143, email kylie@ layburn.co.nz.

PIKIAO CHARLIE SAMUELS

Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, late of Rotorua, born on 27 December 1955, who died at Rotorua on 19 June 2012, please contact Darryl Andrews of Te Nahu Lovell & Co Ltd, PO Box 4104, Western Heights, Rotorua 3047, ph 07 345 6595, fax 07 345 6598, email darryl@tenahulovell.co.nz.

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LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

WILLS

PRACTICE NOTICE LAURENCE DESMOND SHARPLIN

Would any lawyer, particularly in the Auckland area, holding a will for the above-named also known as Laurie Desmond Sharplin, formerly of 41 Alverston Road, Waterview, Auckland, but recently of Sunset Rest Home and Hospital, 117-123 Boundary Road, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland, please contact Brendan Green, Property Manager, Public Trust, Private Bag 17906, Auckland 1546, ph 09 985 6812, fax 09 985 6883, email brendan.green@publictrust.co.nz.

JOSEPH HOERA WANA Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, late of Taneatua, Whakatane, Bay of Plenty, who died on 20 August 2011, aged 48 years, please contact Michelle Cecile, Michelle Cecile Law Limited, PO Box 619, Whakatane 3158, ph 07 308 8089, fax 07 308 8059, email michelle@mcecile.co.nz.

SITUATION VACANT

www.facebook.com/mylawsociety

SENIOR LEGAL COUNSEL Wellington The Commission’s purpose is to achieve the best possible outcomes in competitive and regulated markets for the long-term benefit of New Zealanders.

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The Commerce Commission is seeking a commercial litigator or competition lawyer with strong academic credentials, and excellent advisory skills to join our Competition Legal group. The successful applicant will be involved in a wide variety 21/8/09 09:02 Page 1 importance to the New Zealand economy and its of projects which are of great consumers.

The Competition Legal group initiates, manages and advises on litigation under the legislation enforced by the Commission, particularly under the Commerce, Fair Trading and Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Acts. It also defends appeals and judicial review challenges arising out of the Commission’s work in these areas, contributes to investigations and provides legal advice and strategic input.

To be successful in this position you will have depth of experience in the following areas:

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• Obtaining Grants of Representation for Estates in England and Wales, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and elsewhere and re-sealing Australian and New Zealand Grants of Representation • Administering English Estates • Buying and selling homes and business premises • Recovering compensation for accident victims • Litigation including Debt Recovery and Matrimonial Our offices are within easy reach of the London Airports and Central London Stations

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LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

33

WILLS HAROLD (HARRY) EARL REID

Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, late of Murupara/ Galatea (Rotorua), hunter, born on 11 September 1948, who died on 18 July 2012, please contact Maree Clark, ph 021 02906730, email mcjclark@ vodafone.co.nz.

NORA DAPHNE DAHLBERG

Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, late of Flat 2, 116 Line Road, Glen Innes, Auckland, retired, born on 3 January 1923, who died on 20 May 2011, please contact Marion Bairstow, PO Box 529, Kerikeri 0245, ph 027 696 7549 (text) or 09 407 8117, email storm9@orcon.net.nz.

SITUATION VACANT

Lecturer or Senior Lecturer in Law Auckland City Campus Vacancy Number: 15181 Be part of New Zealand’s leading university!

The University of Auckland is New Zealand’s leading university and one of the world’s major research universities. The Auckland Law School is ranked as one of the best law schools in the world in the QS World University Rankings. It is the largest law school in New Zealand and has an international reputation for academic excellence.

Situated in the heart of the legal precinct, the Law School has strong links to the legal profession and the judiciary. The School aspires to provide a complete legal education, preparing students for legal practice as well as many other careers in an internationalised world. Its thriving undergraduate and postgraduate programmes offer the largest range of courses of any law faculty in New Zealand and attract high calibre students. The School enjoys excellent international links.

The Auckland Law School invites applications for a position as Lecturer or Senior Lecturer in Law, depending on the qualifications and experience of the successful applicant.

ANAMARAEA (HAUTAPU) WINSHIP

Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, late of Irwell Rest Home, Island Bay, Wellington or 5 Tawhiti Street, (Waima) Tokomaru Bay, Gisborne, aged 78, retired, born on 10 August 1934, who died on 28 August 2012, please contact Brett Wilson - son, ph 027 930 2738, email way-wilson@ paradise.net.nz or brett.wilson@mpi. govt.nz.

HOANA PATRICIA KAKUKAU

Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, late of 105B Whitby Avenue, Whangamata, born in Auckland on 8 May 1958, who died in Whangamata on 23 June 2012, please contact Gemma Barden of Clark & Gay, Solicitors, DX HA43502, PO Box 5, Waihi 3641, ph 07 863 7250, fax 07 863 8306, email gemma@clarkandgay. co.nz.

GLORIA HAZEL BEAUMONT

Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, formerly of 269 Ihumatao Road, Mangere, Auckland and late of 10B Arden Street, Tauranga, who died on 14 February 2012, please contact Lesley Monteiro, Harris Tate Lawyers, PO Box 1147, Tauranga 3140, ph 07 578 0059, fax 07 578 2692, email lesley@harristate.co.nz.

SUESUEGA MIKA

The Faculty is seeking applicants with interests and strengths in any areas of the law except Public Law and International Law. It is particularly interested in applicants committed to teaching and research in one or LT more of the following areas: Criminal Procedure, Evidence, Jurisprudence, Land Law, Law and Society, Legal Ethics, Legal Method, Dispute Resolution and Statutory Interpretation.

Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named also known as Uga Mika, late of 248 Hills Road, Christchurch, born 11 January 1968, who died in Christchurch on 10 August 2012, please contact Yvette Hastie at Shirley Law Limited, PO Box 27083, Christchurch 8640, ph 03 385 6591, fax 03 385 6602, email yvette@shirleylaw.co.nz.

For further information see www.law.auckland.ac.nz or contact the Dean’s Executive Assistant via lawdean@auckland.ac.nz or Faculty of Law, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand.

KLAUS WALTER WOLFGANG HORST REKITTKE

Applications close 15 October 2012.

For further information go to www.opportunities.auckland.ac.nz The University has an equity policy and welcomes applications from all qualified persons.

The University is committed to meeting its obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi and achieving equity outcomes for staff and students.

Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, who died on 9 August 2012, aged 77 years, please contact Howard Alloo, of Albert Alloo & Sons, PO Box 292, Dunedin 9054, ph 03 477 3940, fax 03 474 1249, email howard@ all-legal.co.nz.

EDWARD SHANE LYONS

Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, late of 1284 State Highway 16, Waimauku, truck driver/ machine operator, who died on 30 November 2011, please contact John Boyle, Boyle Mathieson, Solicitors, PO Box 21 640 or DX DP92555, Henderson, Auckland 0650, ph 09 837 6004, fax 09 937 6005, email jboyle@bmlaw.co.nz.

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LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

SITUATIONS VACANT

BANKING AND FINANCE LAWYER 3+ YEARS Simpson Grierson’s leading banking and finance practice has an opening for a talented intermediate lawyer.

Acting for banks, financial institutions, corporates, Government departments and local authorities, this role requires you to work across corporate and local authority debt financing, capital markets, property finance, corporate insolvency and restructuring work, PPSA and provide general banking advice.

Working within this highly regarded team you will receive training in the latest legal practices and an opportunity to gain experience across a variety of exciting and challenging transactions.

If you are a driven lawyer with 3+ years banking and finance experience looking to advance your career within a high performance culture that will provide equal opportunity and invest in you long term, look no further!

To apply, please email your CV to wellingtonjobs@momentum.co.nz quoting reference number 31385. For a confidential chat, please contact Jennifer Little on 04 499 6161.

191 Queen Street Auckland P +64 9 306 5500

40 Mercer Street Wellington P +64 4 499 6161

ASSOCIATE – SENIOR VACANCIES Employment Senior Associate – Are you ready to progress your career, take a decision making role and act as a mentor? Do you thrive on developing client relationships? Mix of employment and civil/commercial litigation. Progress to partnership within a short space of time. Lead role in this team. Highly reputable firm in Auckland’s CBD. Ref: 31181 Commercial Litigation Senior Associate – If you’ve hit the ceiling at your current firm and are looking to progress your career in a large national firm, don’t go past this opportunity. Ideal for a litigator in a reputable mid-sized firm wishing to progress to a large firm.

Broad mix of work. Ref: 31247 Corporate/Commercial Associate – Retain the quality of your work within a positive, flexible team culture. Flat structure, great mentors, brilliant social and professional cultures. Range of commercial and corporate matters, including exposure to property and infrastructure as required. This is a firm with a strong and positive internal culture that looks for those people whose ambitions and values see them seeking an alternative to the standard journey. Ref: 29544 To apply, please send your CV to aucklandjobs@momentum.co.nz quoting the relevant reference number. For a confidential chat, please contact Meryn Hemmingsen on 09 306 5500.

M O M E N T U M .C O. NZ LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

35

SITUATIONS VACANT

SENIOR CORPORATE SOLICITORS Award winning NZ employee-owned company

• Two roles • Auckland, CBD Here are two great opportunities to join the in-house legal team of this leading engineering and related consultancy services group. Employing over 2,600 staff in 17 offices around the world, Beca is a vibrant, award winning, employee-owned business involved in some of the most exciting projects shaping the built and natural environment in the Asia Pacific region.

Beca’s in-house legal team advises on a wide range of legal and commercial issues for the Beca global business including matters such as project advice, contract negotiations, formation of joint ventures, corporate governance, insurance and litigation support. These two roles require lawyers with proven experience in all aspects of reviewing, drafting and negotiating commercial contracts. The first role will suit a lawyer with 5 – 10 years PQE from a commercial background however we are open to considering interest from dispute resolution lawyers who are keen to transition skills to a fast paced inhouse commercial environment.

Legal Counsel Up for something a little different?

Based in Hokitika

1/4 page

From a solid platform we’re expanding. This expansion has lead to the creation of this new role. If you want scope, variety, professional stimulus and yes, something just a little different this is a plum role.

Westland Milk Products is a successful independent co-operative dairy manufacturer with sites in Hokitika and Christchurch. Our manufacturing plant and supporting facilities produce a diverse range of high quality dairy products marketed globally. If you are in to big cities, bright lights and hours in traffic jams, Hokitika isn’t the place for you. But don’t be fooled in to thinking it’s a backwater where nothing happens – we’ve any number of staff who will tell you otherwise!

This role will be based in Hokitika, and will report to the General Counsel who is based in Rolleston, providing legal advice to relevant decision makers throughout the organisation. It’s crucial you have post qualification experience of three+ years, a current Practising Certificate and a proven grasp of company and commercial contract law ideally gained within a corporate environment. It’s a role in which you will champion and protect the best interests of the company making hard calls where demanded.

Scratch just a little below the surface and you’ll find there is more than professional satisfaction to be had - a truly great social club, a company that invests in their people, a company that is going places.

For further information or to request an application package please contact Sam Crocker, HR Advisor direct on (03) 756 9805 or email careers@westland.co.nz. Applications close Wednesday October 24 2012.

www.westland.co.nz

LEGAL SERVICES

The second role is a fixed term contract position to cover a senior team member’s parental leave for up to 12 months. We are seeking a senior lawyer with ideally 10 – 12 years PQE, impressive relationship management skills, commercial nous and the ability to work with a high degree of independence.

Both roles will suit candidates who are team players, have the ability to take ownership of issues and have superior interpersonal skills including a high level of confidence in dealing with people at all levels of the business.

This is a great opportunity to position your career for future success within a company awarded the 2010 Deloitte/Management Magazine Company of the Year, the NZ Management Magazine/Hay Group Most Reputable Organisation for 2011, Fairfax Media/PWC Sustainable 60 Awards Most Sustainable Large Business 2011 and within a legal team that was a finalist in the 2011 ALB Awards for NZ in-house team of the year.

For a confidential discussion about either opportunity and to obtain a copy of the position description, please contact Jennifer Williams at Williams Legal Recruitment on 09 446 6050 or email jw@williamslegalrecruitment.co.nz

UK Private Client Services & Estate Administration

Cobbetts is a leading UK law firm based in Birmingham, Leeds, London and Manchester. Our private capital team provides sensitive, timely and thorough advice on a wide range of personal matters, including: • Administration of UK estates • Obtaining Grants of Representation • Contentious trusts and probate • Powers of Attorney • Settlements and Taxation • Wills For further details, please contact: Jennifer Morries on +44 (121) 2229368 or jennifer.morries@cobbetts.com Alexia Loughran on +44 (121) 2229277 or alexia.loughran@cobbetts.com

www.cobbetts.com Cobbetts LLP is a limited liability partnership

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LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

SITUATIONS VACANT

Lawyer Due to our increasing workload we are on the look-out for a talented and solutions focused Lawyer.

This is a great opportunity to join our tightly knit Christchurch firm where you will be exposed to a varied work load to make your working day challenging and interesting. This role has an emphasis on non-legal aid family, employment, insurance and civil disputes.

However, it may also suit an experienced general practitioner who wishes to maintain some commercial practice. The role is flexible for the right person.

In return for your excellent communication and technical skills you will be rewarded with a supportive and collegiate environment and a great work/lifestyle balance. We know that you will enjoy working within our first rate culture!

All enquiries/applications should include a cover letter and CV and be sent by email to: lisa@layburn. co.nz

NELSON SOLICITOR We are a Nelson firm looking for a

Property/Trust/Commercial Solicitor: •

with 5+ years PQE

•

ability to sustain and enlarge a client base of individuals, families and SMEs

•

with leadership skills both inside and outside the firm

•

ability to successfully deliver legal services in a way which will meet the post-GFC 21st century market

•

who recognises they are in a service industry and place a premium on satisfying client needs in a provincial setting

•

who is a skilled communicator and able to relate to most people

•

is keen to make a long term commitment to help clients meet their goals.

The work is varied, satisfying and has much human interest. You would be encouraged to develop any niche practice suited to your talents.

Interested? Please attach your CV and personal details and statement to ross@hunter-ralfe. co.nz or post to PO Box 49, Nelson 7040 (Attention Ross McKechnie).

LAWTALK 805 / 28 SEPTEMBER 2012

37

SITUATIONS VACANT

In-house Corporate Lawyer Auckland BNZ are proud to offer an opportunity for two high performing Corporate Lawyers to join one of New Zealand’s leading in-house legal teams.

• Boost your profile and form lasting working relationships working closely with your internal customers and external stakeholders • Leverage your banking and finance legal experience in a varied in-house role • As a trusted adviser, work collaboratively with the business to deliver key strategic outcomes • Join a passionate, fun and highly motivated team who love what they do • Four to seven years PQE. Are you a high achiever looking for an exciting new challenge? If so, we have a fantastic opportunity available within one of New Zealand’s leading in-house legal teams. BNZ not only offers a challenging and rewarding work environment, but also an unrivalled work/life balance.

This is an exciting opportunity to act as a trusted adviser and partner with the BNZ Partners business. BNZ Partners includes a wide range of business units from Business Banking through to Institutional and Wholesale Banking. This is your opportunity to become a proactive legal adviser in this pivotal and hugely varied role.

Day to day responsibilities include: • Providing legal advice to business units across a range of legal and compliance issues, including the impact of new legislation • Preparing, updating and maintaining product and other contractual documentation • Advising on complex products and transactions with customers • Playing a key role in critical business projects.

Key skills and experience required: • Four to seven years PQE gained within a top tier law firm or a major corporate organisation as an in-house lawyer • Strong corporate and banking/financial services experience.

Your strength will be in providing pragmatic advice quickly and concisely to the “front line” and being able to assess legal risk and give balanced advice to provide the best outcome for the business and our customers.

Your ability to work collaboratively in a large and highly regarded in-house legal team, and to build excellent working relationships with a range of stakeholders, is essential. We are looking for a high level of motivation and passion to gain positive outcomes and help your clients to achieve their goals.

The right opportunity for you...

At BNZ we believe you deserve the best rewards for working for New Zealand’s best bank - our package is market leading, competitive and all about choice.

If your skills and experience match the above criteria above, and this career opportunity aligns with your career aspirations - Apply Now! For a confidential conversation, please contact Susie Merritt on 09 976 5997.

For more information on how you’ll be better off and to submit your confidential application, please visit www.bnzcareers.co.nz and enter the job code 84549LAW.

See how you can build your career at:

bnzcareers.co.nz building Business builds Community builds Family