Wilkinson Kate: Lawyers and Conveyancers Bill — In Committee 
Wilkinson Kate: Lawyers and Conveyancers Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:629;Page:1524] 
KATE WILKINSON (National) 
: 
 I am rising obviously to speak to this part but I am amazed at the suggestion that it will bring conveyancing back to the public—and that is a suggestion from a former criminal lawyer. I suggest that we need to ensure that this part does not take the public back to the lawyers for negligence claims. There was also a suggestion that conveyancing was becoming increasingly expensive but I suggest that if the anecdotal evidence was read and looked at that would be seen to be incorrect. The fees now are proportionately less and the responsibility is more than they were previously. 
The perception that conveyancing is expensive is typical of the commonplace perception that conveyancing is a rubber-stamping exercise. As I said before when speaking on Part 4 conveyancing is not just a case of ticking the boxes and hoping for the best; it is becoming more and more complicated. Conveyancing is not just concerned with residential housing but also with commercial properties which can have their own complications. One needs to be aware of fire regulations and fully conversant with the Employment Relations Act and all the various amendments that are passed through this Parliament—including the latest suggestion that vulnerable workers will become protected. Members can imagine the situation that if they were doing the conveyancing for a hotel related to the hospitality industry they would have to be totally acquainted with those new employment rules. Then there are intellectual property issues trademark issues zoning requirements and the scrutiny of leases. There is an ample field for negligence and if we have under-qualified conveyancers doing that work without the necessary standards of experience and qualification then it will be quite true that the public will be going back to lawyers for negligence claims. 
 This part of the bill deals with the establishment of a New Zealand Society of Conveyancers. It is a new society that is to be especially set up for the group of so-called licensed conveyancers which probably only a handful of people are eligible to belong to at the moment. One has to wonder whether this new layer of bureaucracy and the extent of it is really justified. Should we be forward-thinking and allow for the possibility of a long line of legal executives and landbrokers queuing up for membership? I do not know whether we should be. 
Not only do new rules and regulations have to be made for the small elite group of licensed conveyancers but also somehow those licensed conveyancers have to set up a realistic fidelity fund. That could be a huge problem for the small group of elite conveyancers. For a start the fidelity fund will have to be sufficient to ensure the confidence of clients is maintained. It will be starting from scratch. The lawyers have had a fidelity fund for many many years. That fund has been used on occasions and its history is well known. Lawyers are not starting from scratch as are the licensed conveyancers. In order to put the matter on a level playing field the fidelity fund of licensed conveyancers has to be sufficiently comparable to the lawyers’ fidelity fund. That will be a huge barrier for the small group of licensed conveyancers. 
Because of the two separate fidelity funds—and I am not suggesting for one moment that the conveyancers should take advantage of the lawyers’ fidelity fund—lawyers run the risk of being tainted by an inferior fidelity protection provided by licensed conveyancers. So it is vital that the two funds are comparable. The integrity of the whole legal profession is at stake as indeed is the integrity of the soon-to-be-formed conveyancing profession. One bad apple is all it will take to damage that integrity. 
I am concerned that there are simply not enough members of the conveyancing profession for them to properly carry out the regulation and representation functions. For example the code of ethics for barristers and solicitors runs to some 135 pages and that is for a membership of thousands not just tens. The rules of both professions must to a certain extent run parallel to each other in order to justify the creation of the conveyancing profession. They must dovetail to ensure and maintain the integrity of and the confidence in both professions.