Dalziel Lianne: Lawyers and Conveyancers Bill — First Reading 
Dalziel Lianne: Lawyers and Conveyancers Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:610;Page:7379] 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL (Associate Minister of Justice) 
 on behalf of the 
 Minister of Justice 
: I move  
That the Lawyers and Conveyancers Bill be now read a first time.  
It is my intention to move that the bill be referred to the Justice and Electoral Committee for consideration and that the committee have the authority to meet at any time while the House is sitting except during oral questions during any evening on a day on which there has been a sitting of a House and on a Friday in a week in which there has been a sitting of the House despite Standing Orders 193 and 196(1)(b) and (c).  
The bill reforms the structure of the legal profession and creates a new occupation of licensed conveyancers. As a result of the passage of this bill the Law Practitioners Act will be repealed. The structure of the legal profession is supported by the New Zealand Law Society which favours a more responsive regulatory structure better suited to the changed nature of the legal services market. There is also a more general need for an improved structure that meets consumers’ needs for an accountable legal profession. 
The impetus for the introduction of the occupation of conveyancers has its origins in the Hon Phil Goff’s 1997 Conveyancers Bill. More generally the bill will provide consumers with greater choice among legal services providers. This choice is not however at the expense of their protection. The bill combines appropriately elements of professional self-regulation with governmental control. 
This is a large bill comprising 11 parts. Part 1 sets out the fundamental obligations of lawyers and licensed conveyancers. Lawyers and conveyancers must be independent in providing services to their clients and they must act in accordance with all fiduciary duties and duties of care owed by them to their clients. Subject to other requirements and particularly in the case of lawyers in their overriding duties to the court—and I make the point to the House that they are indeed officers of the court—they must protect the interests of their clients and in the case of lawyers they must uphold the rule of law and facilitate the administration of justice in New Zealand. Firms will be able to incorporate. The bill will allow lawyers to practice in incorporated firms in which all the directors and shareholders are lawyers actively involved in the practice and it will allow conveyancers to practice in a similar structure. There will be requirements under professional rules for practitioners and incorporated firms to have indemnity insurance. 
Part 2 contains title protection provisions. For example it will be an offence to use the term “lawyer” or “law practitioner” if not entitled to do so. The part also defines the areas of work that are restricted to lawyers and licensed conveyancers. The select committee will need to consider which legal services should be restricted exclusively to lawyers. There are benefits obviously in a more open market such as innovation and lower fees but there are also possible risks for consumers when obtaining services from unregulated providers. As Minister of Immigration I can certainly assure the House that that is so knowing full well the implications of lack of regulation for immigration consultants who are often giving quite technical legal advice. I look forward to the select committee having a close look at what areas of work should be protected exclusively for lawyers but specifically for the benefit of the clients. 
Work reserved for lawyers includes representation before any court or tribunal subject to existing statutory exceptions giving legal advice for reward to a person in relation to the conduct of court or tribunal proceedings and the giving of advice required by statute to be undertaken by a lawyer. Persons other than lawyers will be able to provide general legal advice in the drafting of legal documents. Generally only lawyers will be able to draft court documents for reward appear in courts or tribunals give advice on the conduct of proceedings or perform statutory functions such as certifying matrimonial property agreements. 
Part 3 provides the criteria for admission as a barrister and solicitor. Parts 4 and 5 make provision for the New Zealand Law Society and the New Zealand Society of Conveyancers respectively. Both societies will have a range of broadly similar regulatory responsibilities including overseeing enforcement of the legislation admission and enrolment of practitioners and implementation and enforcement of complaints in disciplinary processes. 
Part 4 separates the current regulatory and representative functions of the New Zealand Law Society. Although all lawyers will be regulated by the society they will no longer be required to be members for the purposes of representative functions. 
Simon Power 
: Trying to do away with unionism. 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: District law societies will no longer be statutory bodies but may continue to exist and offer representative membership services. I hear the member interjecting across the House. I am a voluntary associate member of the Canterbury District Law Society already. Practitioners will determine the ongoing viability of district law society services such as the provision of district law library services and local seminars. Until the New Zealand Society of Conveyancers is established and Part 5 comes into force the New Zealand Law Society will regulate conveyances. 
Part 6 deals with practice rules on matters such as professional conduct trust account rules and indemnity insurance by the respective societies. These rules must be the subject of consultation with the relevant professions and they require approval from the Minister. The part also contains provisions relating to trust accounts which must be kept by those practitioners receiving money for or on behalf of others. Part 6 also provides that regulations may be made relating to the office of Senior Counsel which will replace the title of Queen’s Counsel. Eligibility for appointment by the Attorney-General will be expanded to include all litigators whether at the separate bar or in firms so as to make it possible to select from the full range of leading advocates in New Zealand. There will be greater transparency in the appointment process. Existing Queen’s Counsel will have the option of retaining or changing their title. 
Part 7 creates a new three-tier complaints and discipline system with greater elements of independence and focus on timely resolution of complaints. Professional standards committees run by each society are intended to resolve consumer complaints quickly and effectively. A new legal complaints review officer will provide independent oversight of standards committee decisions. The legal complaints review officer may refer overturn or substitute decisions of a standards committee. In effect the legal complaints review officer will replace the role of district lay observers and ensure more effective scrutiny of complaints. 
The bill also creates a New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal which will hear and determine any charges against practitioners and any application for restoration of a practising certificate. Part 8 continues the Council of Legal Education. The council regulates the education of candidates for admission and the recognition of foreign legal qualifications. 
Part 9 establishes the Lawyers and Conveyancers Special Fund. This fund is drawn from the interest paid by banks on trust accounts. The part requires any money standing to the credit of the fund to be paid to the Legal Services Agency for the purposes of funding community law centres. Part 10 requires both societies each to maintain a fidelity fund to compensate clients for particular pecuniary losses. This is an important consumer protection. 
Finally Part 11 contains the miscellaneous provisions. Two reforms are particularly significant in this part. Firstly lawyers will be able to enter into conditional fee arrangements. A lawyer and client can agree that either the entire fee or an agreed proportion of the fee will only be payable upon the success of the client’s claim. This provision provides greater flexibility to clients in the way they choose to fund their legal services. However Family Court criminal and immigration cases are excluded from conditional fee arrangements. The second element of this part is that a lawyer or a conveyance practitioner or a person acting under his or her supervision may undertake the work of a real estate agent—something I know that my colleague the Hon Phil Goff commenced with the bill he introduced into this House as a member’s bill back in 1997. 
I commend the bill to the House.