Lewis StephSTEPH LEWIS (Labour—Whanganui): Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise tonight to take a call on the Lawyers and Conveyancers (Employed Lawyers Providing Free Legal Services) Amendment Bill. As has been mentioned we are supporting this bill through to the select committee stage. In principle I support anything that ensures greater access by our communities—particularly those most vulnerable and in need—to legal advice. I also want to encourage anyone watching today any lawyers any organisations who might be affected by this bill to make submissions in the select committee stage. I am particularly keen although I am not on the Justice Committee to follow that discussion through.The premise of this bill before us tonight is that it is going to amend section 9 of the existing Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006. Under section 9 as it currently reads employed lawyers are barred essentially from providing pro bono work or free legal services to anyone outside their employer or to the public on behalf of their employer; if they were to do so then they would be found guilty of misconduct which creates a whole raft of issues and questions about whether they are a fit and proper person to practise law.But currently many lawyers face the dilemma where they often get asked by people in their community through community groups through friends and family to help out to Just have a quick look at this tenancy issue for me" or tenancy agreement or "Would you mind having a look at the sports constitution for our football club?" and the like. If an employed lawyer were to do so at this point in time then as mentioned they'd be guilty of misconduct.It is worth noting at this point I think to those unfamiliar with the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act that in its current form the purposes section of the Act states that the Act is "to maintain public confidence in the provision of legal services and conveyancing services: … [that it is] to protect the consumers of legal services and conveying services: … [and] to recognise the status of the legal profession".Now I would like to note that earlier this evening someone across the House mentioned that anyone who's been to law school and managed to obtain a law degree should be able to go out and provide free legal services to those who ask. I'm not sure that I wholeheartedly agree with that. You see having gone through law school it is a little bit like a sampler box: you spend five or so years trying a little bit of a whole lot. By no means do you leave law school as an expert in much of anything. You've got to go out and you've got to spend that time doing the hard yards under supervision and with that support and guidance of somebody who's already gone before you to do those hard yards and is then entitled to practise on their own account and provide the supervision.So I think something that should be canvassed by the select committee is: what oversights could be put in place to ensure it is only those who can provide sound legal advice and uphold the public confidence in the legal profession and protect consumers against bad legal advice. So I'm really interested to see what the select committee comes up with in that respect.Like my colleague Arena I was also somebody who's worked as an employed lawyer; in-house lawyer. And yes it would have been nice having been the first in my family amongst my peer group to have obtained a law degree to be able to have said yes to some of those requests that came in as soon as I received my law degree for some help or support or "Can you just have a look at this for me?"But likewise one of my very first jobs was actually at a community law centre Community Legal Advice Whanganui—and I would like to shout-out to them and acknowledge the incredible work that they do to support our communities. So I have seen the work that they do to try and meet that unmet legal need in our communities and a lot of them run on the smell of an oily rag. So I'm also really keen to hear from the community law sector about what impact this bill would have on that sector and whether there are any unforeseen consequences. So for those reasons I commend this bill to the House and to select committee."