King Annette: Lawyers and Conveyancers Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
King Annette: Lawyers and Conveyancers Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
[Volume:648;Page:16956] 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Minister of Justice) 
: 
 I move  
That the Lawyers and Conveyancers Amendment Bill (No 2) be now read a first time. 
 This bill amends the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 to allow unions and employers organisations to continue their longstanding practice of using in-house lawyers to provide legal services to their members. I intend to move that the bill be considered by the Justice and Electoral Committee and that the committee be directed to report finally to the House on or before 10 July 2008. I ask for the committee’s urgent attention to be focused on this bill so that it is enacted as swiftly as possible in order to ensure that the valuable contribution of unions and employers organisations can continue. 
Ensuring that all employees and employers participating in the labour market understand and can meet their obligations is vital to the market’s proper functioning and critical to the future of New Zealand’s productivity. To educate and support people in meeting their obligations unions and employers organisations provide a timely practical cost-effective and relevant service which integrates prevention advice and legal and other services. 
As enacted the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 will prevent unions and employers organisations from continuing their practice of providing legal services to their members. The proposed amendment will ensure that this longstanding practice can continue. The Lawyers and Conveyancers Act will make the provision of legal services to the public by in-house lawyers—that is lawyers employed by non-lawyers—an act of professional misconduct. That provision effectively prevents in-house lawyers from providing legal services to the public. 
Section 9 of the Act contains a list of exemptions to this general rule. This bill adds to those exemptions by including legal services that unions and employers organisations provide to their members. An employers organisation is defined as an organisation whose members are employers and that promotes the interest of its members as employers. A union is a union registered under Part 4 of the Employment Relations Act 2000. The remainder of the bill contains consequential exemptions that result from the amendment to section 9 such as the exemptions from the obligation to contribute to the Law Society’s fidelity funds. 
As I said I introduce this bill with a sense of urgency because the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 will come into force on 1 August 2008. Until this amendment is passed unions and employers organisations will have to either develop some temporary alternative arrangements for using their lawyers or stop providing legal services to their members through in-house lawyers. The alternative arrangements are viewed as cumbersome and unsatisfactory by both unions and employer organisations. Accordingly I do not want the situation to last very long. Four to 5 weeks may not seem long for us in terms of the passing of this amendment but for the family of someone who has been suddenly dismissed without cause this time period without access to sound or affordable legal advice will have severe detrimental effects. 
I intend to move that the Lawyers and Conveyancers Amendment Bill (No 2) be referred to the Justice and Electoral Committee and that the committee be directed to report finally to the House on or before 10 July 2008. I commend this bill to the House.