Council Brief - February 2014

COUNCIL BRIEF
The monthly newspaper of the
Wellington Branch NZ Law Society
FEBRUARY 2014
ISSUE 432
❑ President’s Column
New committee adds to
vibrant Branch programme
By Mark Wilton, President, Wellington Branch, NZLS
GREETINGS and
happy new year.
The start of the
year is upon us and
as we head into
February the memories of turkey and
Christmas pudding
are in the distant past.
I hope that you all had the opportunity to take time over the holiday
period to stop, recharge and spend
time with your families and friends.
We in the Wellington Branch
continue to be served well by our
engaged members who are
constantly looking for professional
development. An example of this
energy and vigour are those
members who recently approached
Council to consider a request to
form a Branch parole law
committee. The decision was very
easy for us and the newly formed
committee had its first meeting before Christmas and will be meeting
again on 7 February. They are keen
to hear from any other members
who wish to join them.
The formation of this committee
brings our number of Branch
committees to 16. Our committees
play a pivotal role in the services
we provide members. Through the
efforts of our members these com-
mittees provide professional development and education to the Wellington profession, contribute to
NZLS submissions on law reform
and of course promote collegiality.
We are so blessed to have such talented members on each committee
who wish to contribute by organising fantastic events and functions.
The fortunate challenge for the
Branch is to coordinate all of these
contributions so that clashes and
fatigue are avoided, while our
members are provided with opportunities to participate in all they
wish particularly now in the world
of Continuing Professional Development.
With that in mind our Council
CPD working party (led by Vice
President Aaron Martin) will be
convening a planning meeting with
all committee convenors in the next
month to map out (as much as we
can) a coordinated approach to the
Branch CPD events that will be offered this year. Our Council is fully
committed to supporting committees organising relevant and cost effective CPD events that will qualify
as “runs on the board” towards your
CPD requirements.
I wish you all well for 2014 and
hope you also had a pleasant
anniversary weekend.
Santa run for charity
and Christmas tree
YES, yes, we know that Christmas is long gone but these
pictures, which came in too late for the December issue
of Council Brief, still deserve an airing.
Some of the staff from John Miller Law are seen
posing before the John Miller Law Christmas tree at the
children’s ward at Wellington Hospital in December.
They later took part in the Santa Run for Charity, along
with Buster the dog.
Cricketing lawyers –
chance to compete for
the Blundell Trophy
DO you hanker after the distant thwack of leather on willow
while you dawdle in the outfield on a somnolent summer
afternoon? Can you bowl a bouncer in the blockhole? Do
you bat with finesse and aplomb or are you of a more
agricultural bent?
Whatever your cricketing proclivities your chance to
join your cricketing colleagues is at hand! A Law Society
team and a squad from Bell Gully will compete for the Sir
Denis Blundell Cricket Trophy on Thursday 13 February at
Kelburn Park starting at 1.30pm, and culminating in a convivial after-match barbecue.
John Porter (porter@sievwrights.co.nz) is organising the
Wellington Branch team and Mike Colson the Bell Gully
team (mike.colson@bellgully.com). If you are interested in
playing, please contact John or Mike by email.
It is hoped that the Blundell Trophy match, last competed for in 2012, will be restored as an annual fixture.
Masterton lawyer’s
long march
READERS will recall that Masterton
lawyer Julie Millar is spending her
summer walking the South Island
section of Te Araroa,
New Zealand’s continuous walking track.
(See Council Brief,
November 2013, page 8)
You can follow her
progress along the
1400km South Island
stretch
of
the
track
at
www.purposefulwalking.co.nz where
she publishes regular updates.
Scenes from the last Law Society – Bell
Gully challenge in 2012.
Will
Notices
Wellington Branch
phone number change
The Wellington Branch telephone
number has changed. It is now:
04 472 7837
see page 7
in this issue
Orui Coastal Walk
RIVERSDALE BEACH WAIRARAPA
The walk begins and ends at Orui Station located at Riversdale
Beach (40 minutes east of Masterton).
Choose from a two or three day option. Get a group of 6-14
together and enjoy a few days of wonderful land, sand and sea
scapes with rustic accommodation and delicious meals prepared
from the best of local ingredients by your gourmet trained host.
We even carry your bags to each night’s destination.
Our coastal walk requires a fair level of fitness.
Day One and Day Two 4-6 hours walk and Day Three 2-3 hours.
Our season runs from October to April.
For available dates and other information go to:
www.oruiwalk.co.nz
Or contact Angie on 06 372 3445
info@oruiwalk.co.nz
Lawyers without borders 3 Admissions 4
Long legal career 5 Jargon Jihad 6
Page 2 – COUNCIL BRIEF, FEBRUARY 2014
Wellington Branch Diary February
Monday 3 February
Independent Practitioners Committee CPD Seminar: Trust Account
Compliance & The Inspectorate – see notice page 4.
Register https://bookwhen.com/wellington-branch
Friday 7 February
Parole Law Committee
Wednesday 12 February
Wellington Branch Council meets
Thursday 13 February
Courts and Tribunals Committee
Family Law Committee
Public Law Committee
Human Rights Committee
Cricket: Law Society v Bell Gully for the Sir Dennis Blundell Trophy.
Kelburn Park 1.30pm. See story page 1
Friday 14 February
Criminal Law Committee
Fri, Sat, Sun 21-23 February
Mediation for Lawyers Part B – Family Law, NZLS CLE Workshop.
Amora Hotel, Wellington.
Tuesday 25 February
FDR Training for Mediation, NZLS CLE Workshop.
Health Law Committee
Wednesday 26 February
The Paperless Office – how to get there, NZLS CLE Seminar. NZICA, Wellington.
1-4pm (2.5 CPD Hours) Also Webinar 26 February, 9.30-10.30am (1 CPD Hour)
Legal Assistance Committee
Thursday 27 February
Employment Law Committee
Friday 28 February
Women in Law Committee
❑ Women in Law
Key issues for women in the legal profession
By Sophie Klinger, Convenor, Women in Law Committee
HAPPY New Year from the
Women in Law Committee! We are
looking forward to seeing everyone
at exciting events that we have
planned for the coming year.
This January, the Committee is
meeting with New Zealand Law
Society President, Chris Moore.
We will be looking to discuss key
issues concerning women in the
legal profession, the Committee’s
goals and plans, and ways that we
can work effectively with other
parts of the Law Society and the
profession. I will give an update
later of what is covered at this
meeting.
Following on from a successful
networking event hosted by the
Committee in November 2013,
connecting Wellington women’s
professional committees and organisations, it was recognised that
there are many common issues,
goals and areas of interest among
groups and organisations operating
in Wellington. The Committee is
planning a joint event with the
engineering and accountancy
professions in March this year –
more details to come on this soon.
As well, the Committee is delighted
to announce that Hon Justice
Glazebrook of the Supreme Court
has agreed to be our distinguished
speaker for the Shirley Smith address in 2014. Justice Glazebrook
brings a wealth of experience and
intellect and we look forward to
hosting her address later this year.
It is sure to be a very stimulating
and thought-provoking event.
If you have any feedback from
attending one of our events last
year, such as the career planning
workshop or the ‘Get Up and
Speak’ advocacy seminar, this
would be very welcome as we are
always looking for ways to improve and to better meet the needs
of women in the profession. Also,
if you have any suggestions about
issues, activities or speakers that
you would like the Committee to
consider this year, please get in
touch. We’re always on the lookout for creative and interesting
ideas.
COUNCIL BRIEF CROSSWORD
DOWN
2. I’m quiet, but he probably won’t be! (3)
3. Pleased to be lucky (5)
4. Soils satins, perhaps (6)
5. Train that is brought to absolute rest (7)
6. Evict a sailor and look the other way
(4,5)
7. His work is above most people! (11)
8. Where games are won by the overforties (6,5)
12. It makes one admission after another (9)
15. It’s clear I’d be involved in whatever
occurred (7)
17. Be up in a local tax and get discount (6)
19. Live well on five hundred (5)
21. It may be pierced or just pricked (3)
see page 7
in this issue
Quick Clues
ACROSS
1. Sleight of hand
(11)
9. Employ (3)
10. Transact (9)
11. Takes off (5)
13. Tarnished (7)
14. Scream (6)
16. Stress (6)
18. Performer (7)
19. Purchaser (5)
20. Abandon (4,5)
21. Fish (3)
22. January 1st (3,5,3)
Conferences
April 15-17 2014 – Assisting Unrepresented
Litigants – A Challenge for Courts and
Tribunals, Coogee, Sydney. www.aija.org.au
April 21-24 2014 – World Bar Conference
2014, Auckland. www.nzbar.org.nz
April 29-30 April 2014 – Maori Legal Forum,
Novotel, Auckland Airport.
May 8-9 2014 – 6th World Women Lawyers’
Conference, Paris. www.iba.org
May 8-11 2013 – The 24th annual meeting
and conference of the Inter-Pacific
Bar Association – IPBA 2014, Vancouver, Canada. www.ipba2014.com or
neil.russ@buddlefindlay.com
June 20 2014 – IBA Asia Law Firm
Management Conference, Singapore.
www.ibanet.org
June 24-27 2014 – World Indigenous
Lawyers’
Conference,
Brisbane.
www.indigenouslawyersqld.com
July 3-5 2014 – 5th LAWASIA Family Law
& Children’s Rights Conference, Sapporo,
Japan. http://lawasia.asn.au
August 9-11 2014 – Banking and Financial
Services Law Association, 31st annual
conference, Queenstown. http://bfsla.org
Notices
Chaplain, Julia Coleman, 027 285 9115
Cryptic Clues
February 14-16 2014 – Earth Law
Conference on Sustainability, Earth Law NZ
& German Australia Pacific lawyers
Association, VUW Law Faculty, Wellington.
anna-burnett@vuw.ac.nz
February 18-19 2014 – 6th Annual Elder
Law for the Health Sector Conference,
Auckland. www.conferenz.co.nz
February 19-21 2014 – 5th International
Gambling Conference, AUT City Campus,
Auckland. Problem Gambling Foundation of NZ.
www.internationalgamblingconference.com
March 4-5 2014 – 5th Annual National
Public Sector Legal Officers’ Forum 2014,
Canberra. www.liquidlearning.com.au
March 11-12 2014 – IER Industrial and
Employment Relations Summit, Crowne
Plaza, Auckland. www.conferenz.co.nz
April 7-12 2014 – ILA-ASIL 76th Biennial
Conference, Washington DC. (International
Law Assoc. & American Society of
International Law). www.asil.org
April 8-9 2014 – ANU/NJCA Conference on
Sentencing, Canberra. http://njca.com.au
April 14 2014 – Resource Management Law
Association of NZ, Wind Energy Conference,
Wellington. www.rmla.org.nz
Will
PRACTISING WELL
You can use this diagram for either the Quick or Cryptic Clues, but the answers
in each case are different. This month’s solutions are on page 2.
ACROSS
1. They have been worn by men in
retirement (11)
9. It turns quiet at the end (3)
10. Does it provide wood for building
aircraft? (5,4)
11. Most of the men attempt to find a way
in (5)
13. Get in an unusual profit (3,4)
14. It contains a variety of provisions (6)
16. Women haven’t the face to use them!
(6)
18. In fairness, it’s simply very cold water
(7)
19. Part of the audit totalled up to the
same thing (5)
20. Part of the tide of lawlessness? (5,4)
21. Slip up out of merriment (3)
22. The top salesmen in print? (4,7)
I would also like to extend an
invitation to anyone interested in
joining
our
vibrant
and
hardworking team. We’re all passionate about promoting and recognising women and actively
engaging with the wider profession
across a range of issues. We’re
keen to have on board a diverse set
of skills, interests and backgrounds.
Let me know if you have any questions, would like to come along to a
meeting or help out with an event.
You can contact the Convenor on
womeninlawcommittee@gmail.com.
MA
DESIG N
m
Answers: See page 7
1
Given the positions of the six queens below, imagine that 4 vacant
spaces exist to their right; now move the queens in pairs, taking 2
adjacent queens at a time (and without disturbing their order), to a pair
of vacant spaces (as often as need be) so that all the black queens will
appear on the right followed by all of the white queens:
2
This fantastic position
arose in Storkovenhagen
during a 1945 match
between Jorgensen (white)
and Sorensen (black).
Black has mate in one
move (…Rh8#). However,
it is white’s turn to move
and white found a way to
turn the tables on white.
What did white do?
DOWN
2. Sheep (3)
3. Sea-eagles (5)
4. Summary (6)
5. Sailor (7)
6. Fancied (9)
7. Get far ahead of
(11)
8. Starring part (7,4)
12. Anticipation (9)
15. Rapture (7)
17. Part of the eye (6)
19. Consecrate (5)
21. Epoch (3)
Law graduate
CV scheme
THE scheme to assist law
graduates into work is still being
operated by the Wellington
Branch.
Law graduates seeking work
leave their CVs at the Society.
These are available to potential
employers needing staff who
can refer to the CVs and choose
appropriate graduates.
The work offered need not be
permanent. Any work in a law
office will give graduates valuable experience that may be
helpful to them next time they
make job applications.
!!!!!!!!"
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© Mark Gobbi 2013
COUNCIL BRIEF, FEBRUARY 2014 – Page 3
NEWS
Lawyers without borders – a new global perspective
By Professor Catherine Rogers
HISTORICALLY, regulation of
legal practitioners presumed that
lawyers practise in the particular
geographical jurisdiction where
they were licensed. In years gone
by, most lawyers were sole
practitioners and, insofar as they
existed, law firms were relatively
intimate organisations of partners
who all knew each other and
primarily serviced local clients on
local matters in local courts.
However, in recent years, all
around the world, this “localism”
has given way to “globalism”.
Despite these developments,
ethical regulation of lawyers by
national authorities remains largely
local and territorial.
As Bernard Greer has described,
the distinction between the
“practice of law” and the “ethical
regulation of lawyers” can be
likened to two contrasting maps.
Likewise,
national
ethical
regulation can be seen as a map
delineating the physical territories
of political entities, and modern
transnational law can be seen as a
map of weather patterns. In real
world terms, political units regulate
within their borders and carefully
guard against various types of
intrusion. No sovereign, however,
expects or attempts to prevent
clouds or the wind from passing
into or out of their territory.
Similarly, in the legal arena, domestic professional regulatory authorities (until recently) treated
the globalisation of law practice as
a “force of nature” – as difficult to
control as the weather. The lack of
control was not considered terribly
problematic, and lawyers and
clients were relatively content to be
apparently free from the reach of
domestic regulation.
Difficulties of crossjurisdictional activity
Problems, however, soon became apparent. Lawyers whose activities span multiple jurisdictions
may be required by the rules of one
jurisdiction to perform conduct that
is expressly prohibited by the rules
of another jurisdiction. For example, jurisdictions such as Germany,
France and Switzerland prohibit
pre-testimonial contact with wit-
New Zealand lawyer operating out
of a German office of an English
law firm in representing a French
client in a Singapore-seated arbitration against a Japanese company?
Most practitioners faced with this
question could offer only a confused shrug. Most national bar authorities could not do much
better.
Professor Catherine Rogers (centre) with Dr Petra Butler of the Victoria
University Law Faculty (left) and Marina Anderson at Professor Rogers’
Wellington Branch seminar late last year.
nesses, even though the practice is
perfectly acceptable under New
Zealand ethical rules and is often
deemed ethically mandated under
US ethical rules.
As another example, the UK
Proceeds of Crime Act of 2002
mandates that lawyers disclose
certain information to law
enforcement agencies (while
withholding the disclosure from the
client), even if such disclosure is
forbidden under US ethical rules
and German rules.
Meanwhile, the French doctrine
of “sous la foi du Palais” may
require that a lawyer maintain as
confidential from a client a
communication conveyed by
opposing counsel, even if such
communication contains a
proposed settlement that US ethical
rules would require the lawyer
disclose to the client.
When lawyers’ practice was
largely restricted to local and
national jurisdictions for local and
national clients, these national
differences were mere details, of
interest only to comparative law
scholars. Today, these and other
differences have important effects
on lawyers’ conduct, client rights,
and even the fairness of
adjudicatory processes.
For example, a German attorney
was arrested in England for
refusing to disclose client
confidences under the UK
Proceeds of Crime Act. An
American-licensed attorney who
was a French national employed
with a major law US law firm in
France was criminally convicted
and ordered to pay a fine for
interviewing a witness in France for
a proceeding in the United States.
Which rules should apply?
The stakes over these and
similar clashes are even higher
when lawyers originating from
different legal systems are acting in
the same international proceeding –
before an international court or
arbitral tribunal. In such instances,
clashing ethical obligations can
quickly escalate into problems of
fundamental unfairness. How can a
proceeding be fair if one party’s
counsel is interviewing witnesses
and the other is carefully avoiding
communication with witnesses?
Or, if one counsel is withholding
information from a party, while the
other is freely discussing that
information with the opposing
party?
It can even be difficult to even
determine which rules do or should
apply. Formal ethical rules are most
strongly associated with a lawyer’s
home or licensing jurisdiction, but
the relevance and application of
those rules are affected by a host of
other
considerations
and
practitioners may be subject to
other rules in addition to those of
their home jurisdiction.
Consider, for example, which
ethical rules govern the
confidentiality obligations of a
Independent Practitioners Committee
Trust Account Compliance and the Inspectorate
((One Hour CPD)
The aim is to educate newer members on ‘best practice’, explain some of the pitfalls in operating a Trust
Account and provide a referesher for experienced practitioners.
It will introduce the work of the Inspectorate and how members and Inspectors work together to achieve
the best outcomes.
The presentation by Jeremy Kennerley, Manager, NZLS Inspectorate and Wellington Inspectors, Ian Watson and
Graham Bentley will be interactive.
Moving towards global
regulation?
The historical model of lawyers
as primarily national actors
regulated by national authorities is
difficult to sustain in the modern
era of globe-trotting law merchants,
especially when they appear before
international tribunals. Oscar
Schachter
previewed
the
importance of international lawyers
as a group, calling them members
of an “Invisible College”.
Schachter argued that, even though
international lawyers were
ostensibly performing ordinary
legal services on behalf of
individual clients, they were
effectively engaged in a legislative
function, contributing to the creation of a global legal order.
If international lawyers have a
collective identity and function that
contributes to development of a
global legal order, perhaps the
time has come for more effective
regulation of lawyers at a global
level as global actors, instead
of continuing to treat them as
mobile extremities of national legal
professions.
Professor Catherine Rogers is
Professor of Ethics, Regulation &
the Rule of Law at Queen Mary,
University of London and
Professor of Law and International
Affairs at Penn State Law in the
United States. She was in New
Zealand late last year as 2013 New
Zealand
Law
Foundation
International Dispute Resolution
speaker. She presented several
lectures including “Lawyers
Without Borders” at the Wellington
Branch.
❑ This article first appeared in Law News
Issue 40 (22 November 2013), published
by Auckland District Law Society Inc.
‘Earth law’ conference for Wellington 2014
THE concept of sustainability through an alternative, ‘earth-centred’
approach to law will be examined at an exciting conference to be held in
Wellington early in 2014.
Organised by the Earth Law Alliance of Aotearoa New Zealand and the
German Australian Pacific Lawyers Association (“GAPLA”), with the
support of the New Zealand Centre for Public Law and Victoria
University, the conference takes place at the Victoria University Law
Faculty on 14-16 February 2014.
For the first time in New Zealand the conference will bring together a
new generation of environmental academics and practitioners whose
focus lies in achieving true sustainability in our laws, most notably
through taking an ‘earth-centred’ approach to law.
While this is a growing topic of concern worldwide, it is new to
mainstream environmental law in New Zealand though ‘earth
jurisprudence’ reflects the tenets of Maori and other indigenous
cosmologies.
Integrating such an alternative approach into laws thus seems easier to
imagine in New Zealand than in many other countries and there are
examples in New Zealand law when this has already been achieved.
The conference seeks to introduce the concepts of Earth Law to a wider
audience, both through the conference proper, its eventual publications,
and the free side events aimed at the wider public. It also seeks to simply
reinforce the need for better efforts to achieve true sustainability and to
provoke more discussion about it and action towards achieving it.
For more information – see website information: http://
www.victoria.ac.nz/law/about/events-old/nz-centre-for-public-law/newthinking-on-sustainability
Council Brief Advertising adman@paradise.net.nz
Deadline March Council Brief – Tuesday 18 February
Candidate Information Meeting for June 2014 Admission
Presented by the Wellington Branch NZ Law Society and the Wellington High Court Registry
1-2pm Monday 10 February 2014, Level 8, NZLS Building
26 Waring Taylor Street, Wellington CBD
Reserve your place on https://bookwhen.com/wellington-branch
Cost of $25 includes refreshments of wine, juice and finger-food
Come and learn what to do and not to do when:
• applying for a Certificate of Character
• registering your documents with the High Court
Monday 3 February, Level 8, Law Society Building, 26 Waring Taylor Street from 5:15pm to 7.15pm
Please encourage anyone you know who will be seeking admission in June to attend
Page 4 – COUNCIL BRIEF, FEBRUARY 2014
ADMISSIONS
First ever admission ceremony conducted
in te reo Maori
a ‘joyous occasion’
By Philip McCabe
AS each chief signed the Treaty of Waitangi,
Lieutenant Governor Hobson said “He iwi
tahi tatou”,
meaning in English “We are now
one people”. That did not of course ignore
clear differences between Maori
and settler
culture which have endured to this day.
Some of those cultural differences were
displayed recently when on 18 December
five law graduates of Maori
descent were
admitted as Barristers and Solicitors of the
High Court of New Zealand.
Admission ceremonies are these days
rather relaxed affairs, but the admission of
- lawyers was something else enthese Maori
tirely. I doubt if the High Court has ever
hosted such a colourful and joyous occasion,
one conducted largely in te reo Maori
and
dominated by laughter and song rather than
speechifying. Justice Joe Williams presided
over the ceremony and he was joined on the
bench by Chief Judge Isaac, Judge Ambler
- Land Court
and Judge Doogan of the Maori
and former Chief Family Court Judge and
now Law Commissioner Peter Boshier.
The courtroom was packed with family
and friends of the candidates. Most of the
speeches by moving counsel, candidates and
the Bench provoked laughter in the courtroom and, after the speeches of each candidate, their family and friends stood up and
burst into song. Several of the candidates
wore beautiful feather korowai. It would
be hard to imagine a friendlier, happier or
louder admission gathering.
This was moreover the first ceremony
of its kind. It is notable for that reason, but
also because I have never previously heard
a judge refer to Counsel as putiputi
(flower) inside or outside of the courtroom.
Phoebe Monk was the new lawyer in question. She works in the office of the Maori
Land Court and was addressed as the
“Flower of Chambers” so the law is not
always such a serious affair.
In his concluding remarks. Justice
Williams reminded the five new lawyers
that the oath they had taken admitted them
to a long legal tradition embodying honesty, integrity and service. He emphasised
that with the rights of the lawyer came
obligations to the community. The ceremony ended with all those in the courtroom standing to sing “How Great Thou
Art” with considerable gusto and in te reo.
Pictures taken at the admision ceremonies on Friday 13 December 2013 before Hon
Justices Dobson, Kós, O’Regan, and MacKenzie, and the first ever ceremony for candidates
of Maori
descent conducted in te reo Maori
on 18 December, before Hon Justice Williams.
Photography By Woolf has been the official photographer for the
Law Admission ceremonies for more than 20 years.
To view the images of the current Law Admission go to www.woolf.co.nz and
click on the ‘Portfolios/Events/Graduations’ on the lower right hand size.
To view images from older Law Admission ceremonies please visit us at our gallery in the
Cable Car Complex, 286 Lambton Quay, Wellington.
Candidates admitted to the Bar on 13 and 18 December 2013
Caitlin Deborah Boyce
Anna Lee Broadhurst
Arthur Weldon Easther
Louise Kelly Griffin
Samuel Hamish Glenn Martin
Tanya Puri
Jesse Thomas Simmons Strafford
Julia Frances Taylor
Elizabeth Mary Thomas
Nicholas James Quirke
David Patrick Williams
Yuanfang Zhao
Luke William Scanlon English
Ashlee Grace Bowles
Brierly Emma Broad
Rushika Handunnethi De Silva
Yangmay Downing
Rebekah Joy Jordan
Kathleenmere Wickliffe
Kathryn Emma Mckevitt
Claire Margaret O’Connell
Chris Park
Simone Alyssa Seddon
Margaret Anne Topping
Diana Grace Wilson
Seamus William Pearson Woods
Toby David Gee
Matthew Joseph Kennedy Dodd
Hamish William Edward Drake
Robert Georgiou
Robert Bernard Mills Hegarty
James Thomas Hutchinson
Rebecca Jayne King
Sam Thomas McCutcheon
Matthew Scott Minnema
Amanda Charlotte Stirling
Mallory Kate Ward
Kristen Jaimee Wong
Lisa Marie Bazalo
Louise Mary Brazier
Morgan Malia Coats
Nicola Claire Dalgleish
Laila Moonee Dookia
Helena Frances Kate Hallagan
Tessa Kate Hogg
Jennifer Anne Howes
Sheree Marie Moanaroa
Stephanie Anne Snedden
Emma Siobhan Swain
Andrew Robin William Taylor
Anna Rose Whaley
Mary Alison Baines
Kate Blackbeard
John Kenneth Aguirre Go
Max Peter Hardy
Alysha Margaret Hinton
Rebecca Jane Jonassen
Nicholas Peter Smith Kennedy
David Alan Solomon Nkya
Alec James Han Sing Redvers-Hill
Paul Timothy Saker-Norrish
Kirstin Georgina Semmens
Kade Patrick Sheely
Kate Mary Lethbridge Teppett
Te Reo Admissions 18 Dec
Tai Nathan Ahu
Phoebe Ann Monk
Caleb Peter Bridgeman
Quinn Jackson Katene-Rosa
Marcia Rohario Murray
COUNCIL BRIEF, FEBRUARY 2014 – Page 5
LAW PRACTICE
A long and rewarding career in the law
LONG careers are not uncommon
in the law but few can compare
with David Gault who was
admitted in 1960 and who first
worked as a law clerk in 1955.
Mr Gault has worked
consistently since that time and
says he still gets great satisfaction
from the law, values the contacts
with his clients some longstanding,
and is pleased to “have a reason for
getting up in the morning”.
David Gault studied law fulltime at then Victoria College in
1953 and 1954 after schooling at
Nelson College. As was the
practice of the time and while still
studying, he worked as a law clerk
in the firm of Scott and Kember in
1955, later moving to Perry Wylie
and Pope where he benefited from
such luminaries as Sir William
Perry, his brother David Perry and
Maurice O’Brien who was later to
take silk.
Mr Gault notes the prevailing
expectation of the time that sons of
lawyers would themselves become
lawyers and go into the family firm,
a practice he calls a “post-colonial
philosophy”, and which has largely
gone now. “It was clear that my
mother and father expected that I
would be a lawyer and would enter
the family firm. Although in my
case it worked well, I think that
overall the practice was not a good
thing, that it is better to have an
arms-length relationship between
employer and employee.”
Gault Mitchell & Wilson
David Gault joined his father Ian
Munro Gault in the firm Gault
Mitchell & Wilson in 1958 and
worked happily there for nearly 40
years. By 1996 he had some
thoughts of retirement to his
Horowhenua beef breeding farm
(though 17 years later those
thoughts have not yet come to
fruition!). “I proposed to my Gault
Mitchell partners that I leave the
firm but continue to service the
Porirua office as a practitioner sole,
to which they agreed. I thought two
to three years on would see me as a
full-time cockie.”
Through his family Mr Gault
had an association with the Porirua
Basin going back many years and
so felt an affinity with the area.
“My parents had a weekend house
at Titahi Bay from the 1930s – it
was a popular holiday destination
from Wellington then. When the
perpetual lease for Mana Island
came on the market around 1953
my father bought it and my older
brother John farmed it. Between the
Bay and the Island we spent many
hours on the water and I feel very
grateful for having had that
experience.”
Expansion in Porirua Basin
Mr Gault could see the potential
for the region and it was largely on
his urging that Gault Mitchell &
Wilson had set up its Porirua office
in 1960 – there was already a
branch in Tawa. “The firm was the
first law practice to set up in
Porirua City in 1960. A number of
other Wellington firms followed
but only one remains from the
original aspirants.”
David Gault joined Bill Bevan at
KapiMana Legal Services in June
2011 continuing to work part-time,
mainly in the areas of property,
wills, probates and, trusts. Mr
Gault still gains satisfaction from
the work and he enjoys the
challenges that go with legal
practice.
Being around in the profession
for somewhat longer than most has
given David Gault a broad
perspective on how legal work has
changed over recent decades.
“When I started, law clerks did all
the Land Transfer Office work
manually. We would search the
titles in the large bound volumes
they had, writing out the detail
laboriously in longhand, and then
report back to the boss. Photo
copiers had not been invented.
“It was a great training and did
help you understand the principles
behind land transactions compared
with today where computers have
taken over. Today, it seems to me,
we rely on the machine – the
computer, which in some respects
has taken over from one’s intellect.
The work that you had once to do
❑ Library News
Welcome back and Happy New Year!
By Robin Anderson Wellington Branch Librarian
LIBRARY users will have noticed
that Research Librarian Barbara
Keenan is no longer there. Barbara
has left the library world to pursue a
new career in the software world.
She goes with all our best wishes for
a great time. The Library hopes to
have her successor in the job in late
February. However we are pleased
that there are three of us in the
library to help you with any of your
requests so keep the research and
document requests coming in.
New Zealand’s legislation
website is now offering the official
version of legislation from 6 January 2014. So you can download a
pdf of statutes from http://
www.legislation.govt.nz/. Please
also note that Statutory Regulations
and Statutory Rules now have a new
name – Legislative Instruments.
If you are interested in following
legal news then the NZLS Library
now has a twitter account and posts
regularly any news items it finds relevant or useful for New Zealand
lawyers and law librarians. Look
for us on Twitter – @NZLSlibrary .
❑ New books list – see page 6
David Gault – well into his sixth decade of law practice.
by thinking it through is now
largely done for you and I think that
has been a loss.
“With manual searching and
registration of documents you went
back to the beginning to scrutinize
the original documents. Now you
ask LINZ to produce copies and
sometimes they cannot be located
and that can create practical
problems – for instance, a
document that creates easements
noted on a title, you would want to
know the detail of those
easements.”
Trusts conundrum
Work on trusts provides a
significant portion of Mr Gault’s
practice and he notes the changes in
trust law over recent years. “I recall
a reputable trusts lawyer saying
some years ago that with the
abolition of estate duty, ‘there go
all the trust precedents I have set up
over the years’, yet trusts law work
has expanded since that time. I
understand that New Zealand has
more discretionary trusts per head
than other comparative Englishspeaking countries.
“The preservation of the
entitlement to state support in
retirement homes continues to be a
concern of trusts lawyers. I
attended a trusts seminar earlier in
2013, part of which was about
preserving taxpayer benefits in
light of law changes introduced by
the
Ministry
of
Social
Development. One thing that is
plain to me is that with our aging
population it is not going to be
possible to continue to fund the
elderly as we have in the past, and
the government will continue its
efforts to limit the rights of citizens
for state-funded support.
“It was apparent from the
seminar that many lawyers are
grappling with what is the best
advice to give their clients on how
they should deal with the money
that has been lent to their respective
trusts and which is still owing to
them by the trustees – some there
said they were uncertain how to
advise their clients.”
Regulation of profession
David Gault sees the profession
as much more regulated these days
with attendant bureaucracy. “One
obvious example is CPD that we
are required to be part of.
“The profession has a public
face to preserve, and those in office
in the NZ Law Society and
probably the majority of
practitioners are concerned that the
reputation and standing of our
honourable
profession
is
maintained, and I feel strongly
about that.”
Inter-Pacific Bar Association Annual
Meeting and Conference
THE 24th annual meeting and conference of the Inter-Pacific Bar
Association – IPBA 2014, is being held in Vancouver, Canada, from 8 to
11 May 2014. The conference theme is ‘Sustainability in a Finite World’.
For further information or to register (the early bird registration period
expires on 31 January 2014) please visit their website –
www.ipba2014.com or contact Neil Russ, New Zealand’s Jurisdictional
Council Member on 09 358 7002 or neil.russ@buddlefindlay.com .
Mr Gault notes that the formality
which typified relations between
professional colleagues in the past
has declined particularly with the
use of emails. For instance the
salutation of “Dear Sir/Madam”
has often been replaced with “Hi
David/Janine”. “Old school of
which I am part, prefers the
former.”
A further change Mr Gault
notes is in the area of civil legal
aid. “I was on a Wellington civil
legal aid committee years ago
when the profession’s contribution
was largely to administer the
scheme – the chairman of the
Wellington committee at the time
was Michael Hardie Boys, then a
Wellington practitioner. It’s all
changed now of course – administered by a government bureaucracy!”
Aside from the law, David
Gault’s interest in livestock farming is longstanding. “My mother’s
family farmed in south Taranaki
and I grew up around the
sheepyards and in the woolshed. I
have owned a farm at Manakau
from the mid 1970s and bred Hereford cattle for many years. Now it
is sheep and dry stock.”
‘Best of both worlds’
“I have the best of both worlds –
the physical fitness I have got from
farming has been largely
responsible for keeping me going I
think, and I am grateful to have
that; at the same time law practice
has given me mental stimulation
which is also invaluable.”
Mr Gault harbours one small regret in his 53-year career: that he
was unable to attend the 2010 Law
Society dinner held to honour those
who had been in practice for 50 or
more years. “Of the 16 to be honoured, a quarter – Walter Iles QC,
Neil Gray, Don Mathieson QC and
myself, were all at Nelson College
together. Sadly, I was having surgery on that day and could not be
there. I would have valued a picture
of the four of us together at the
occasion.”
Will
Notices
see page 7
in this issue
Council Brief Advertising
adman@paradise.net.nz
Page 6 – COUNCIL BRIEF, FEBRUARY 2014
VUW LAW FACULTY
A shakey start, jargon, legal Latin and the bespoke LL.M.
By Professor Tony Smith,
Dean of Victoria University’s Law School
GREETINGS to
all as we are
welcomed to
the awakening
New Year with
another
big
shake, centred
this time not
Professor Tony Smith that far north
of Wellington.
The news coverage of such
incidents is now more or less
instantaneous – we get blow by
blow accounts from those who
experienced the jolts first hand, and
the reports of damage (or not) are
reasonably comprehensive. The
slow news period of our long
Christmas vacation (the equivalent
period in the United Kingdom, July
and August is referred to there as
“the silly season”) affords an
opportunity to catch up on some
non-essential reading. For me, that
includes reading about New
Zealand’s history which was a
closed book to me throughout
my secondary and university
education. I was surprised to read
that in 1942, there had been an
earthquake in Wellington in which
some 7,000 chimneys were
toppled. According to my source,
Wellington: Biography of a City
(2006) by Redmer Yska,
“Councillors prepared a deputation
to Prime Minister Fraser, seeking a
state subsidy for the city’s damaged
chimney-pots. Fraser, busy running
a war on several fronts and
preparing for an imminent general
election, declined”. Tough times.
How widely circulated was the
news about those incidents, I
wonder? They do not appear to
have cemented themselves into the
public consciousness as were the
quakes of 1848 and 1855. The
second of those was an 8.2 on the
modern Richter scale and its effects
on the Wellington landscape were
memorably monumental, raising
Oriental Parade by some seven feet.
Heads-up from Culture Minister
It may also have been a function
of the recent news dearth that there
was a report during the period to the
effect that the Minister of Culture
had launched a “Jihad” (his word,
apparently) as to the language that
should or should not be used in the
❑ Library News
New books at NZLS
Library, Wellington
Criminal appellate advocacy, Wellington : New Zealand Law Society 2013 KM595.L1 NEW
Earthquake strengthening requirements: impact on commercial
buildings. Wellington : New Zealand Law Society 2013 KN83.L1
NEW
Ethics : confidentiality and disclosure, Wellington : New Zealand
Law Society 2013 KL82.L1 NEW
Family law conference : reclaiming the ground, Wellington : New
Zealand Law Society 2013 KN170.L1 NEW
Financial Markets Conduct Act reforms, Wellington : New Zealand
Law Society 2013 KN304.1.L1 NEW
Gifting and residential care subsidies : potential liability
Wellington : New Zealand Law Society 2013 KM336.7.L1 NEW
Overseas Investment Act : process, documentation and latest
developments, Wellington : New Zealand Law Society 2013
KN304.L1 NEW
Takeovers intensive, Wellington : New Zealand Law Society
2013 KN262.1.L1 NEW
Tax conference 5 September 2013, Wellington : New Zealand Law
Society 2013 KM335.L1 NEW
Tax snapshot for non-specialists, Wellington : New Zealand Law
Society 2013 KM335.L1 NEW
Te kahui maunga : the National Park District Inquiry Report
Lower Hutt : Legislation Direct 2013 KM208.432.L1 NEW
The difficult property file, Wellington : New Zealand Law Society
2013 KN74.L1 NEW
The retirement village option : advising your client on the benefits
and pitfalls, Wellington : New Zealand Law Society 2013
KN63.9.R4.L1 NEW
The role of the trustee, Wellington : New Zealand Law Society
2013 KN216.L1 NEW
Trust deeds : drafting mistakes and issues : and how to fix them
Wellington : New Zealand Law Society 2013 KN210.L1 NEW
Trusts : implications of the Law Commission’s report
Wellington : New Zealand Law Society 2013 KN210.L1 NEW
Trusts can survive a relationship breakdown : myth or reality?
Wellington : New Zealand Law Society 2013 KN210.L1 NEW
Update on contract, Wellington : New Zealand Law Society
2013 KN10.L1 NEW
preparation of official documentation. “Heads up”, “stakeholder”
and “cutting edge” are all, apparently, verboten forthwith. We lawyers know that the Minister, in his
alternative role as Attorney-General, is a brave man. He regularly
advises his ministerial colleagues
that proposed legislation is not
compliant with the requirements of
the Bill of Rights Act, for example,
as is his duty under that legislation.
Nevertheless, it takes a particular
sort of fortitude to instruct others in
the use of language (is it still, incidentally, the Queen’s English?).
English is, after all, a cultural treasure that belongs to us all, and it
might be argued that we are free to
mangle it in pursuit of our own purposes.
According to the Dominion
Post, the Attorney-General “harbours a special dislike of Oxford
commas, split infinitives and any
extraneous use of ‘that’”. To be
frank, I have never heard of the Oxford comma before, but I am never
surprised by what they might get up
to in the Other Place.
Acquittal of
Beatrice Mtetwa
WELLINGTON Branch members will recall
articles about Beatrice Mtetwa, the
Zimbabwean human rights lawyer, published in
Council Brief of July 2013.
Beatrice has courageously
fought to defend human rights in
Zimbabwe over many years despite
political interference in the justice
system by the Mugabe government.
Most recently, Ms Mtetwa was put
on trial after she was arrested on charges of
using abusive language toward officers who
were searching for an official from Mr
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change
This item from the Commonwealth Lawyers
Association reports her acquittal in that case.
THE Commonwealth Lawyers Association
(CLA) welcomes the decision to acquit
Zimbabwean human rights lawyer Beatrice
Mtetwa. Beatrice Mtetwa was arrested on 17th
March 2013 on charges of obstructing the
course of justice after she allegedly blocked
police from searching her client’s residence.
Her trial began in June 2013 and the CLA
sent an independent trial observer to monitor
proceedings. The CLA’s trial observer was
present at every hearing, many of which took
place at weekends and for a limited number of
hours per sitting.
The CLA works closely with the Law Society
of Zimbabwe and is committed to securing the
independence of the legal profession and respect for the rule of law in Zimbabwe.
The CLA wishes to thank its partners, the
Socio Economic Rights Institute of South Africa
(SERI) who worked with the CLA to provide the
independent trial observers, and the Bertha
Foundation who generously providing the
funding for the trial observation.
Commonwealth Lawyers Association
26th November 2013
In principle, I am with the first
Law Officer on the split infinitive.
New Zealanders seem to me to industriously go out of their way to
coin them, and I wince at their appearance. I blame the opening sequences of the TV programme Star
Trek, which intoned at the beginning of most episodes that the mission of the Starship Enterprise was
“to boldly go where no man has
been before”, creating what Fowler
in his Modern English Usage described as a category 4 user of the
split infinitive, namely those who
know what constitutes a split infinitive and approve of its use. Category 1 incidentally, includes those
who neither know nor care and category 2, those who do not know,
but care very much. There may
very well be an Oxford comma in
that last sentence, incidentally, for
which I apologise.
I am not entirely sure what
makes a humble “that” “extraneous”, although I had noticed its
relative absence in New Zealand’s
vernacular when I returned in 2007.
It figured rather prominently, as I
recall, in the Mother Goose rhyme
“this is the house that Jack built”
and I suspect that a pruning using
the “extraneous” secateurs would
not play well in Little Schools
throughout the world. De gustibus
non disputandum, I say.
Nil desperandum
Which brings me to legal Latin.
In 1730, Parliament passed an Act
purporting to abolish law-Latin in
legal proceedings. But it was found
that technical terms such as nisi
prius, fiere facias and habeas corpus were (as Blackstone put it) “not
capable of an English dress with
any degree of seriousness”, and so
two years later another Act was
passed to allow such words to be
employed “in the same language as
hath been commonly used”.
Lord Woolf took up the cudgels
against the use of Latin in his reforms of English Civil procedure in
the early years of this century. Ex
parte hearings were to become
“without notice” hearings, for example. But it was, and is, quite
common practice to alert the other
side that a “without notice” application was to be made, so we have
the oddity that a “without notice”
application has been made, notice
having been given.
Your bespoke LL.M.
On a less frivolous note – down
at the Old Government Buildings,
we are starting to implement the
changes that have been made to the
LL.M. programme, in an attempt to
make it more attractive to people
who would like to undertake further and higher legal study. The
LL.M. is becoming something of a
bespoke degree, which can be put
together in a variety of different
formats. It can be taken as entirely
taught courses, or a mixture of
taught courses and dissertation,
or by thesis entirely. So far as
the taught courses are concerned,
there are now some block study
courses (to be taken over a few
weekends) and intensives which
can be taken in little more than a
week. More details are available at
www.victoria.ac.nz/law/study/
postgraduate/llm . A less than stellar undergraduate record will not
necessarily preclude enrolment.
We are worldly-wise enough to accommodate the fact that student
days were not invariably managed
as sensibly as our parents (or, on
reflection, we) would have wished.
NZ Law Society – Wellington Branch
Staff Directory
Branch Manager: Catherine Harris
Administrator: Claudia Downey
Librarian: Robin Anderson
Research Librarian:
Technical Services Librarian: Liz Oliver
Library Assistant/LINX: Julie Kirkland
PO Box 494, Wellington
Phone: 04 472 7837
Email: Catherine.Harris@lawsociety.org.nz
Website: www.lawsociety.org.nz
NZ Law Society Library, Wellington
Phone: 04 473 6202
Fax: 04 471 2568
email: wellington@nzlslibrary.org.nz
COUNCIL BRIEF, FEBRUARY 2014 – Page 7
COMMUNITY LAW CENTRE
WILL
Leaving a violent partner: immigration law and family violence
ENQUIRIES
FOR URGENT ACTION
By Inna Zadorozhnaya, Community Lawyer, Refugee and Immigration Legal Advice Service
Community Law Wellington and Hutt Valley
DOMESTIC violence affects every
community in New Zealand. People
remain with abusive partners for
many reasons, including fear,
isolation, lack of support or
resources, and because of cultural or
religious values. This article
discusses an option for clients when
immigration status appears to be a
reason to stay in a violent
relationship.
Community Law Wellington and
Hutt Valley (“CLWHV”) includes a
specialist Refugee and Immigration
Legal Advice Service (“RILAS”).
RILAS assists former refugees with
family reunification, as well as running drop-in sessions for general assistance with immigration enquiries.
An April 2013 Wellington Family
Courts’ Association session with
Judge Bill Hastings examined the difficult interactions between immigration law and family law relating to
relocation. Recently RILAS has
assisted a number of clients in cases
involving immigration law and
domestic violence. The RILAS team
and CLWHV recognise that this is a
high need area. We hope that together
with migrant communities and support groups we can address the needs
of our most vulnerable migrants, such
as women and children in relationships involving domestic violence.
Refugee and migrant women are
often very isolated, having left their
family support back in their home
country. Further, for many migrants
mainstream New Zealand culture is
very different to their ethnic culture
and accordingly support from the appropriate agencies is not always easily
understood and accessed. Many do
not speak English. Often the abusive
partner will forbid access to education
and/or their ethnic community to seek
support. This disempowerment is
further exacerbated if the women do
not have permanent residence status in
New Zealand.
In general, the migrant women we
see whose immigration status can
incentivise them to stay in an abusive
relationship are either:
a. in a relationship with a partner
who is a New Zealand citizen or
residence visa holder; or
b. in a relationship with a partner
who is a holder of a temporary
visa such as a work or student
visa.
In both of the above categories,
women may stay in abusive relationships to retain their immigration status in New Zealand or to meet
immigration requirements for a temporary or residence visa. When
migrant women leave their partners
in New Zealand, they could become
“unlawful”, as often their visa in
New Zealand is linked to that of their
partner. Further, if they end the relationship, it is likely their New Zealand partner may remove their
support. Thus, women leaving such
relationships need to obtain a legal
immigration status in New Zealand
in their own right with little or no
financial support, and often with
limited opportunities for obtaining
employment due to childcare
arrangements, lack of English language or appropriate education.
Immigration New Zealand has a
special category for victims of domestic violence (“special visas”)
whose partners are New Zealand
citizens or resident visa holders. The
special visas are available to the first
category of women stated above.
Special visas allow women to apply without the support of their partner and, if they meet the
requirements, be granted an independent legal immigration status in
COUNCIL BRIEF
The monthly newspaper of the
Wellington Branch NZ Law Society
Advertising Rates: casual or contract rates on application. Telephone Robin
Reynolds, Reynolds Advertising, Kapiti Coast (04) 902 5544, e-mail:
adman@paradise.net.nz. Rates quoted exclude GST.
Advertising Deadline: for the March 2014 issue is Wednesday 19 February, 2014.
Circulation: 3150 copies every month except January. Goes to all barristers and
solicitors in the Wellington, Marlborough, Wairarapa, and Manawatu areas. Also goes
WRPDQ\1HZ=HDODQGODZÀUPVWRODZVRFLHWLHVXQLYHUVLWLHVMXGLFLDORIÀFHUVDQG
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Will Notices: $57.50 GST inclusive for each insertion.
Subscriptions: Annual subscription $46.00 incl. GST. Extra copies $5.00 each.
Subscription orders and inquiries to: The Branch Manager, New Zealand Law Society
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Editor: Chris Ryan, telephone 472 7837, (06) 378 7431 or 027 255 4027
E-mail: chrisr@wise.net.nz
Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the NZ Law Society Wellington Branch or the Editor.
Council Brief is published for the NZ Law Society Wellington Branch
by Chris Ryan, and printed by APN Print, Wanganui.
New Zealand. Special visas include
temporary work visas (and resident
visas in some circumstances).
For the purposes of these special
visas, “domestic violence” is defined
broadly. A sole violent act may
amount to domestic violence, as may
a series of apparently trivial violent
acts. Violence includes physical
abuse, sexual abuse and psychological abuse.1 The primary victim is the
applicant in an application for a special visa.
A woman whose relationship
ended due to domestic violence may
apply for a special work visa valid
for six months. If an application for
residence is also lodged, the work
visa can be extended for a further
three months while Immigration
New Zealand considers the residence
visa application.
The basic requirements for the
special visas are as follows:
a. the applicant is living in New
Zealand;
b. the applicant was previously in a
partnership with a New Zealand
citizen or residence visa holder,
and that partnership ended due to
domestic violence; and
c. the applicant intended to seek
residence in New Zealand on the
basis of that partnership.
The applicant must provide evidence of the past partnership with a
New Zealand residence visa holder
or citizen, including evidence that
they were living with their partner,
and evidence of domestic violence.
The applicant will also have to provide financial evidence, such as bank
statements, to show that they need to
work to support themselves.
With their application for a
MA
special work visa, the applicant may
also submit a special residence visa
application under the category for
victims of domestic violence. Unlike
the special work visa, this residence
visa also requires the applicants to
prove that they cannot reasonably return to their home country as they
would face abuse or exclusion from
their community or be unable to
support themselves financially. If
successful, the applicant and their
children can live and work in New
Zealand indefinitely.
When a parent applies for the special visas, their children can also be
included in the application.
The application for special visas
is confidential and Immigration New
Zealand will not notify the former
partner.
It is important the applicant contact
Immigration New Zealand as soon as
practicable to state that the partnership
has ended due to domestic violence
and the applicant intends to apply for
the special work or residence visa for
victims of domestic violence.
The special visas apply only to
victims of domestic violence whose
former partners are New Zealand
residents or citizens. If the partner is
in New Zealand on a temporary visa
such as the work or student visa, the
special visas do not apply. Please
contact us if you require assistance.
We are happy to work alongside
family lawyers dealing with protection and care of children issues for
their clients.
For more information please contact RILAS Community Lawyer Inna
Zadorozhnaya: inna@wclc.org.nz
Footnotes
1
Domestic Violence Act 1995, section 3
DESIG N
Please contact the solicitors
concerned if you are holding a will
for any of the following:
MILNER, Thomas John
Late of 2/4 Bracken Street, Upper
Hutt. Retired. Divorced. Age 72.
Born 23 March 1940.
Died at Upper Hutt on 6 June 2012.
Public Trust (Michelle Buckley)
PO Box 31446, Lower Hutt
DX RP42084
Tel 04 978 4833 Fax 04 978 4931
Michelle.Buckley@publictrust.co.nz
RABEY, Gordon Paige
Late of Brooklyn, Wellington.
Retired. Aged 93 Years. Died at
Wellington on 6 December 2013.
Duncan Cotterill (Bronwyn Maysmor)
PO Box 10376, The Terrace, Wellington.
Tel 04 471 9407 Fax 04 499 3308
Bronwyn.maysmor@duncancotterill.com
SHEEHAN, Mervyn Francis
Late of C/- M Anderson, 40
Stillwater Place, Palmerston North.
Retired. Widowed. Age 84.
Born 5 June 1929.
Died at Palmerston North
26 September 2013.
Public Trust (Michele Cairns)
PO Box 31446, Lower Hutt
DX RP42084
Tel 04 978 4872 Fax 04 978 4931
Michele.Cairns@publictrust.co.nz
WILLIAMS, Richard Keith
Formerly of 1 Venus Place, Whitby,
Porirua 5024.
Died 23 October 2013.
Maude & Miller (Siri Nicholas)
PO Box 5249, Wellington 6145
Tel 04 473 7121 Fax 04 471 2039
sirin@mmiller.co.nz
■
■
m
The cost of a will notices is $57.50 (GST
inclusive). Please send payment with your
notice.
Will notices should be sent to the Branch
Manager, NZ Law Society Wellington
Branch, PO Box 494, Wellington.
Answers for puzzles from page 2
1
Start by numbering the
pieces from right to left
as shown. In the first
move, move pieces 4
and 5 to the right. In
the second move,
move pieces 1 and 2 to
the spaces vacated by
4 and 5. In the third
move, move pieces 3
and 1 to the spaces on
the right.
start
1
2
3
4
5
6
first
Crossword Solutions
From page 2
Cryptic Solutions
Across: 1 Nightshirts; 9 Tip; 10 Plane tree; 11
Entry; 13 Net gain; 14 Larder; 16 Razors; 18 Justice;
19 Ditto; 20 Crime wave; 21 Err; 22 Best sellers.
second
Down: 2 Imp; 3 Happy; 4 Stains; 5 Inertia; 6 Turn
about; 7 Steeplejack; 8 Tennis court; 12 Turnstile;
15 Evident; 17 Rebate; 19 Dwell; 21 Ear.
1
2
3
6
4
5
3
1
2
6
4
5
Quick Solutions
third
2
2 1 Nh5+ RxNh5 2 RxNg6+ KxRg6 3 Re6#
THE WIZARD OF ID
6
4
5
3
1
Across: 1 Legerdemain; 9 Use; 10 Negotiate; 11
Doffs; 13 Sullied; 14 Shriek; 16 Strain; 18 Artiste;
19 Buyer; 20 Cast aside; 21 Eel; 22 New Year’s Day.
Down: 2 Ewe; 3 Ernes; 4 Digest; 5 Matelot; 6
Imaginary; 7 Outdistance; 8 Leading role; 12
Foretaste; 15 Ecstasy; 17 Retina; 19 Bless; 21 Era.
Page 8 – COUNCIL BRIEF, FEBRUARY 2014
NOTICES
Lifeline Counselling has a team of qualified
professional counsellors experienced in
working with clients across a broad range of
issues.
dŚĞWĂƌƚŶĞƌƐŽĨdŚŽŵĂƐĞǁĂƌ^njŝƌĂŶLJŝ>ĞƩƐ
ĂĚǀŝƐĞƚŚĞĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐĐŚĂŶŐĞƐƚŽƚŚĞĮƌŵ
from 1 January 2014:
MEDIATION AND ARBITRATION
John Langford is a very experienced practitioner with expertise in
both mediation and arbitration.
'ƌĞŐdŚŽŵĂƐŚĂƐƌĞƟƌĞĚĂƐĂWĂƌƚŶĞƌďƵƚƌĞŵĂŝŶƐ
ǁŝƚŚƚŚĞĮƌŵĂƐĂŽŶƐƵůƚĂŶƚ
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DĂƩ&ƌĞĞŵĂŶŚĂƐďĞĐŽŵĞĂ^ĞŶŝŽƌƐƐŽĐŝĂƚĞ
For New Zealand Law Society members and
families there is a discounted rate:
ͻ
EŝĐŬĂǀŝƐŚĂƐďĞĐŽŵĞĂŶƐƐŽĐŝĂƚĞ
Skype Face-to-Face counselling applies
throughout New Zealand.
Thomas Dewar Sziranyi Letts
PO Box 31-240, Lower Hutt
Phone: (04) 570 0442 Fax: (04) 569 4260
www.tdsl.co.nz
He covers both Wellington and Wairarapa.
or by email jal@langfordlaw.co.nz
All our Counsellors are qualified to Masters level
and are members of the NZ Association of
Counsellors.
ͻ
John is available to assist in such matters, at cost effective rates.
He can be contacted on: 04-4724286
Our high-quality confidential service can help
with day-to-day issues such as: stress, anxiety,
burnout, depression, relationship issues, grief,
trauma and addiction.
Will Notices page 7
Please contact Lifeline Counselling on
face2face@lifeline.org.nz
or phone 09 909 8750
Council
Brief
Advertising
adman@paradise.net.nz
New venture for former legal researcher and landbroker
MANY practitioners will remember
working with Robyn’s Agency Services
Ltd a few years back. Principal Robyn
Renouf and her staff searched paperbased records such as those relating to
courts, companies and land titles on
behalf of many law firms in Wellington
and the provinces.
Much of the work disappeared with
the coming of computerisation but
Robyn says she had “30 good years” in
a demanding business, became one of
the first Landbrokers and finally a
licensed Conveyancer. (See article
below)
Robyn now has a new venture – a
luxurious lodge. Nestled in the dunes at
Peka Peka beach a few minutes north of
Waikanae on the Kapiti Coast lies
Atahuri. To build a special place at the
beach where all guests can be
themselves was a long-held dream of
Robyn’s. When the Tasman Lakes
Robyn Renouf at Atahuri. The telephone in the foreground is a souvenir
from a fire in her office building in February 1981.
subdivision was developed at Peka
Peka in the early 2000s Robyn knew
she had found her place.
Atahuri may be translated as “a beautiful, calm and restful place whichever
way you turn”and the Lodge provides all
of that. Opened about 18 months ago by
local MP Nathan Guy, Atahuri offers
top quality, luxury accommodation in
the dunes on Kapiti’s beachfront. The
magnificent views of Kapiti Island are
complimented on fine days by glimpses
of Mt Taranaki and Mt Ruapehu. Each
of the four luxurious guest suites have
separate entrances and patios offering
complete seclusion, though if preferred
there is the opportunity to meet other
guests in the various lounging areas dotted around the property.
A full breakfast is provided with
lunch and dinner by arrangement.
Emphasis is on fresh and seasonal
produce sourced from Atahuri’s own
vegetable patch and the Kapiti area. In
season Robyn delights guests with
whitebait fritters for breakfast, using
whitebait caught with her own net from
a nearby stream. At other times guests
have dug for tuatua at low tide and had
them served hot off the BBQ with pre
dinner drinks.
Atuhuri was designed to blend in
with its natural environment. Tastefully
selected art works, luxurious furnishings and a touch of beachside chic feature throughout. External doors are
recycled from the former Dannevirke
hospital and the bathroom vanities
made from Black Totara recovered
from under the gravels of the Manawatu
where it has lain for up to 2000 years. It
was during this period the great Taupo
eruption occurred.
If you are into active recreation, bikes
and kites are provided, and the Kapiti
coast offers many opportunities including taking a trip out to Kapiti Island,
beer tasting at Tuatara, wine tasting at
the Ohau Vineyard, Outlet shopping at
Otaki, horse riding along Waikanae
Beach, gliding and playing golf. For
those wanting pure relaxation a stroll
along the beach which stretches for miles
or a soak in the spa or just lazing by the
pool will revive and rejuvenate.
A partners’ retreat, a quiet weekend
away, a day to remember – Atahuri is
an ideal place for that special occasion.
www.atahuri.co.nz
Memories of simpler times, paper transactions and the 1987 crash…
ROBYN Renouf went to work as a law
clerk with Morison Taylor & Co after
leaving school in 1970. Working with
lawyers including Herbert Taylor,
Neville Simpson, Ray Pethig, John
Ingeson and Richard Cathie, she soon
learned the basics of legal searching.
“I was one of the first to do law
clerking who wasn’t doing a law
degree. I was one of a new breed of
legal staff in those days,” she says.
After a period working in law firms
in Sydney she returned to set up
Robyn’s Agency Services Ltd in 1978.
At its height the firm employed 12 staff,
searching and registering documents
with the Land Transfer Office (LINZ),
the Registrar of Companies and all the
various Courts for law firms in Wellington and the outer provinces. “There
were almost no women lawyers then,”
she says, “being a woman in business
was difficult enough but what was more
challenging was getting past the receptionist and into the partner’s office.
“Prior to Robyn’s Agency, law firms
outside Wellington such as Wanganui,
Palmerston North and the Wairarapa
used Wellington law firms as Agents to
access the Land Transfer Office
(LINZ), Companies Office and Courts
to search and file documents. I started
the company to give those firms an alternative and offer them a faster
turnaround. Remember, this was a time
before faxes or the internet. Everything
had to be done manually, titles physically sighted where one had to trace the
property diagram with search results
dispatched by mail or DX delivery.”
As the nineties wore on change was in
the air, the digital revolution – eventually to put an end to Robyn’s Agency –
was in the wings. While the Lawyers and
Conveyancers Act 2006 was in the
future, the Trans Tasman Mutual Recognition Act of 1997 recognized job qualifications gained in either country. As a
holder of an Australian qualification,
and after a landmark Court of Appeal
decision, Robyn became Wellington’s
only Landbroker and the first woman
Landbroker in the country. Robyn’s
Agency had previously done all the
ground work for conveyancing transactions and now could take the final step of
drawing up documents. Many of her
work colleagues said she had done the
longest apprenticeship of them all.
A few years later Robyn was one of
three conveyancers who assisted the
Department of Justice when preparatory work was being done for the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006. She
also lectured on conveyancing to students doing their professionals course
at Victoria University.
She looks back on her time at
Robyn’s Agency with great affection.
She remembers the 1987 crash – “our
biggest year, searching company files
whilst police were taking them from
us”, and the annual parties she used to
hold to coincide with the of one-day
cricket matches in Wellington, often attended by some of the then New Zealand team such as Lance Cairns and
Warren Lees with “Blowers” making
an appearance one year. “They were
good days…” she says.