Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Amendment Rules (No 2) 2015

2015/188

Coat of Arms of New Zealand

Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Amendment Rules (No 2) 2015

Pursuant to section 103 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006, the New Zealand Law Society, with the approval of the Minister of Justice and after consultation in accordance with that section, makes the following rules.

Rules

1 Title

These rules are the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Amendment Rules (No 2) 2015.

2 Commencement

These rules come into force on 1 July 2015.

3 Principal rules

The rules amend the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 (the principal rules).

4 Schedule amended

(1)

In the Schedule, chapter 14, replace rule 14.5.2(j) (as inserted by the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Amendment Rules 2015 made on 10 April 2015) with:

(j)

is a duty lawyer; or

(2)

In the Schedule, chapter 14, replace rule 14.7 (as inserted by the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Amendment Rules 2015 made on 10 April 2015) with:

14.7

A barrister sole may not (except in criminal proceedings where the client is legally aided or has a pending application for legal aid) accept direct instructions under rules 14.5.2(d) to (h) unless he or she:

14.7.1

is practising on his or her own account, in accordance with the provisions of section 30 of the Act or is entitled to do so;

14.7.2

has completed any prescribed training requirements set by the Law Society after consultation with the New Zealand Bar Association and has satisfied the Law Society that he or she is a suitable person to accept direct instructions from clients; and

14.7.3

has provided in writing to the prospective client the information required by rules 3.4A and 3.5A and has informed the prospective client in writing of his or her:

(a)

capacity and experience in performing the requested service; and

(b)

advocacy experience as a barrister; and

(c)

any disadvantage which the barrister believes may be suffered by the prospective client if no instructing lawyer is retained.

Dated at Wellington this 5th day of June 2015.


Christopher Moore,
President of the New Zealand Law Society.

Explanatory note

This note is not part of the rules, but is intended to indicate their general effect.

These rules amend the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 (the principal rules).

Amendments, which change the rules about barristers sole taking direct instructions, were made to the principal rules on 10 April 2015 (see the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Amendment Rules 2015). These rules make further changes to the principal rules.

Rule 14.5.2 provides that a barrister sole may accept direct instructions if he or she is acting in one of a number of listed capacities or matters. The rule is amended by replacing 14.5.2(j) with a new paragraph that refers to “duty lawyer” rather than “duty solicitor”.

New rule 14.7 sets out the conditions that a barrister sole must comply with in order to take direct instructions. The new rule makes an exception to the obligation to comply with the conditions in criminal proceedings where a client is legally aided or has a pending application for legal aid.

Issued under the authority of the Legislation Act 2012.

Date of notification in Gazette: 6 August 2015.

These rules are administered by the Ministry of Justice.