Hughes Darren: Lawyers and Conveyancers Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Reading 
Hughes Darren: Lawyers and Conveyancers Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Reading 
[Volume:648;Page:17633] 
Hon DARREN HUGHES (Deputy Leader of the House) 
 on behalf of the  
Minister of Justice 
: I move  
That the Lawyers and Conveyancers Amendment Bill (No 2) be now read a third time 
. Ensuring that all parties involved in the labour market understand and can meet their obligations is vital to the market’s proper functioning and is critical to the future productivity of New Zealand. Unions and employer organisations provide a timely practical and cost-effective relevant service that educates and supports people in meeting these obligations. This bill will amend the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 to enable lawyers who are employed by employer or union organisations to continue the longstanding practice of providing vital legal services to their members. This practice has enabled integrated prevention and advice services which includes legal services. It has contributed to New Zealand’s growth and to people’s access to justice—particularly working people. 
The Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 will come into force tomorrow being 1 August. The Act represents a major reform of the way in which legal services are provided in New Zealand and it will provide more effective regulation of legal professionals and much greater consumer focus and protection. However as enacted the Act will prevent unions and employer organisations from continuing their practice of using in-house lawyers to provide legal services to their members. This is because the Act makes the provision of legal services to the public by in-house lawyers—in other words lawyers employed by non-lawyers—an act of professional misconduct. It is essential that we correct this unintended consequence before the Act comes into force tomorrow. 
This bill amends the Act to ensure that employer organisations and unions continue to be able to provide this invaluable service to their members. This practice will ensure that members continue to have access to practical cost-effective and timely legal services that they might otherwise be unable to afford. Supplementary Order Paper 216 in the name of the Hon Annette King maintains this objective in the bill by clarifying that lawyers will continue to be guilty of misconduct if they provide legal advice to members on matters that are not relevant to the employer organisation or union. 
New clause 10 is a further amendment to the bill. It was adopted from an amendment put forward by the New Zealand First member Dail Jones and is a positive addition to the bill. Clause 10 amends section 107(1) of the Act to make the practice rules of the New Zealand Law Society binding on current and former incorporated law firms. 
This bill is important legislation that will ensure members of employer organisations and unions will continue to benefit by being able to access longstanding integrated prevention and employment advice services including legal services through their organisations and unions. It has been great to see the amount of support there is for this bill as people recognise the critical role that unions and employer organisations play in the effective functioning of the labour market. 
On behalf of the Minister the Hon Annette King I thank the Justice and Electoral Committee and the House for expediting this bill and particularly Mr Finlayson Mr Jones and Mr Chauvel for the work they have put into it. I also thank the chairperson of the committee and member for Waitakere Lynne Pillay who did a sterling job as always and the Committee of the whole House for its careful consideration of this bill. I commend the bill to the House for its third reading.