Fairbrother Russell: Lawyers and Conveyancers Bill — Second Reading 
Fairbrother Russell: Lawyers and Conveyancers Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:624;Page:19022] 
RUSSELL FAIRBROTHER (Labour—Napier) 
: 
 This is a lengthy bill that has been long in development. It has been long in development because it is the work of the Minister of Justice in his aim to make the law applicable to people who cannot afford high-priced services but who need good quality delivery of legal work. [ 
Interruption 
] That is reflected in the conveyancers’ provisions that Mr Franks has not read. The bill enables the development of a profession of conveyancers who concentrate on the straightforward transactions in land sales. 
The important thing about the bill is that it is the child of the Minister of Justice and the Law Society itself. That takes us to how we should approach this lengthy bill. Members will not find in the bill the essence of what is a lawyer and they should not. Lawyers probably along with politicians and doctors are the last true professionals in our society. They are professionals because they put the public interest ahead of their own personal gain. It is that paradoxical position where one earns one’s income because one advocates against one’s own personal interest. Most lawyers—in fact all lawyers—are bound by their obligation to the court to accept instructions even though they personally may not approve of or like what is happening. As long as what they do is advancing their client’s interests and is not deliberately misleading another party or the court then they stand aside their personal feelings and recognise their obligation steeped in a long period of study and experience to advance the cause of those who do not have those advantages. 
As I look at clause 4(a) I find some reference to the essence of what being a lawyer is all about. It refers to upholding the rule of law and the administration of justice. These terms are very easy to write and very easy to read but are very rarely understood. We hear on many occasions in this House members of this Parliament who seem to fail to understand what the role of a lawyer is in this society. Too often they align the position a lawyer takes as being a lawyer’s personal position as opposed to the position taken by a doctor on behalf of a patient. 
To uphold the rule of law a lawyer must put aside his or her feelings and make sure that the law develops in an organic fashion. Whether it be a conveyancing practice or a commercial practice or whether a lawyer’s work is in arbitration or at the cutting edge of the court he or she must advocate to advance his or her client’s interest. In the hurly-burly of legal practice the truth emerges from debate and the adversarial system. In this bill we see that by the introduction of the concept of conveyancers. There may be only eight people today who want to be conveyancers. There may not be a great demand for them but we will not know until it operates. If conveyancers lower the cost to the average person who is buying and selling houses and still deliver a good product then much will have been achieved in this bill. 
This bill should stand as a salutary reminder to the firms that now seem to require themselves to populate high-rise towers in the middle of our city streets and to have men who wear uniforms which are dark suits—they all look alike; they could be street cleaners with shiny shoes—who charge exorbitant fees and go to the top of the market for their work. The top of the market does not trickle down. It is the people at the bottom on low wages who have to find the community law centres and find law firms that will now do legal aid. A law firm that does legal aid is now a rarity. One is more likely to find a firm that says it does not do legal aid. To be a true lawyer in this society one must be prepared to do pro bono work and to act for those who cannot afford the top-flight services. Paying a lawyer a lot does not mean that one gets good services. Delivering a good job for one’s client in the public interest means that one is a good lawyer as long as he or she abides by his or her obligations to the court and puts his or her client’s interests ahead of his or her personal interests. 
Members will not find in this bill the essence of what is a lawyer. It is not a prescriptive bill. It is a bill that sets up a regime for the Law Society to govern itself because the essence of a true provision is a society that governs itself in the interests of the public. So I urge this bill upon the House. It has been a long time coming. It is long overdue. It demonstrates to the profession at large particularly those insular members of the profession who spend their time in high-rise buildings that many members of the public require a range of services that cannot be reached by a fast-moving lift.