2007 has been a momentous year for Auckland District Law Society as it prepares for the introduction of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 which is expected to take effect from 1 July 2008. The new Act inevitably means that Auckland District Law Society in its current form will cease to exist at the end of 2008.

ADLS members voted overwhelmingly in favour of amalgamation with NZLS and other district law societies and work is now progressing on the structures needed to be put in place to achieve one national law society. In preparation for the changes, Auckland District Law Society has:

• surveyed its members to ascertain what practitioners value about ADLS services and what additional services ADLS could introduce.
• installed a new Sage Accpac CRM system to integrate the Society’s databases and financial system and improve service delivery across all departments.
• upgraded the ADLS website to include the online sale of electronic legal forms.
• relocated the ADLS sales and distribution centre for sales of hard copy products to the ground floor, Chancery Chambers and expanded this service to include other legal materials.
• completed an audit and upgrade of ADLS IT network including replacement of servers and upgrade of software.
• replaced equipment at remote District Court law libraries and upgraded Citrix software which provides remote access.
• completed programmed maintenance work on Chancery Chambers including painting the exterior of the building and upgrading the passenger lift.
• maintained staffing levels to ensure adequate trained staff are on board for the transition to the new regime.
• provided information to the profession and to ADLS staff on developments with the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act via Law News and the ADLS website as well as convening meetings throughout the region to discuss the proposed changes.

Professional Standards
Managing the regulatory aspects of Auckland District Law Society’s functions is the largest cost centre for ADLS operations at $1,353,883 for the 2007 year. Staff costs make up 60% of this cost while the costs of disciplinary proceedings make up about
20% of the overall costs.

The number of formal complaint files opened last year was less than the previous year (401 compared to 461 in 2006) although the number of informal non-complaint files increased from 199 to 281.

This indicates that more issues are being dealt with before they escalate into formal complaints.

Staff in the Professional Standards Department handle a large number of inquiries both from the public and the profession. PSD staff handled 15,880 telephone inquiries during 2007 while a further 19,919 were dealt with by the Society’s reception. This is
a significant increase on the number of calls handled compared to the previous year. Incoming emails also increased significantly from an average of 3112 per month in 2006 to an average of 5542 per month in 2007. These communications cover a wide range of subject matter on all aspects of legal practice issues, advice on how to find a lawyer, legal aid, and more general enquiries about court proceedings, conveyancing transactions and general legal processes. The ADLS website also records high levels of contact to ‘Find a Lawyer’ and information pages for both the public and the profession.

Over the coming year, Professional Standards Department staff will be working with NZLS to put in place new systems and procedures for operating under the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act. In place of Complaints Committees and Costs Committees, there will be new Standards Committees that will have authority to consider complaints about professional misconduct as well as client care issues including fee disputes. The Standards Committees will have a wide range of powers including the ability to impose fines, reduce fees, and order compensation.

Future effective management of the law society’s regulatory framework will continue to be heavily dependant on the voluntary input of practitioners. ADLS is remarkably well-served by the generous support of the profession.

Libraries
The Library and Research Centre, which is the second largest cost centre for the Society at a total net cost of $1,070,781 for the 2007 year, is also facing major structural changes.

Auckland District Law Society played a significant role in assisting and promoting the work of the national Law Society Libraries Steering Group which produced a comprehensive report to all district law societies and New Zealand Law Society recommending
the future amalgamation of law libraries for the benefit of the profession nationally. As a result of these initiatives, New Zealand Law Society has now established a new Law Society Libraries Board which has responsibility for combining law libraries and
developing a co-ordinated approach to the delivery of legal information services.

The Library and Research Centre has continued to provide excellent service to the profession, not only by maintaining a first class resource of legal information but also through the provision of research and document delivery services not only to Auckland
practitioners but nationwide.

Staff at the Library are also significantly involved in the ongoing development of the LINX database which is produced cooperatively with the Wellington and Canterbury District Law Societies. LINX database is the core catalogue of materials held by the joint
libraries and is a significant research tool for the legal profession.

The services delivered by the Library and Research Centre received high praise from the Qzone market survey from all segments of the profession. The strong levels of appreciation confirm that the profession is extremely well-served by the excellent staff at the Library and Research Centre, very capably led by Helga Arlington, ADLS Librarian, and a very dedicated team of practitioners who make up the ADLS Library Committee.

Continuing Legal Education
The Qzone survey of practitioners also confirmed that CLE seminars, papers and conferences were very highly valued by the profession with 60% of respondents confirming CLE as having “huge value”. Not surprisingly, the need to be kept up to date with
changes in the law and legal practice was a key requirement for those responding to the survey.

Auckland District Law Society’s CLE programme attempts to cover the full range of legal practice needs and in 2007 it conducted daylong conferences on trusts, credit law, property law, commercial contracts, and employment law. A series of seminars on the 8th edition of the Agreement for Sale and Purchase of Real Estate, Police Court Workshops, and seminars on litigation, estate planning and conveyancing. In 2007, ADLS provided a total of 66 courses attended by 3664 attendees.

The programme continues to grow from strength to strength and is a key element of law society services for the profession. Sukumar Verma, CLE Director, provides a very professional approach to the delivery of the CLE programme. He is very ably assisted by Debbie Walker and the CLE Committee which represents all aspects of legal practice including representation from both the High Court and District Court judiciary.

Members’ Services
The primary purpose of the Qzone survey conducted in 2007 was to review the profession’s response to existing ADLS services and to determine what services practitioners wished to see the Society provide in future. The survey provided some key findings which need to be taken into account as the Society, in conjunction with NZLS and other districts, works on developing members’ services in the new voluntary membership environment.

While a significant majority of respondents valued highly the services provided by CLE and the Library and Research Centre, as well as commercial services such as forms, directories and the Legal Practice Manual, the key messages delivered from the survey results show that the profession is looking for greater leadership from the law society. The Qzone analysis makes it clear that, while the Society’s services are largely seen as providing a solid administrative support role there is a need for the Society to be taking pro-active steps to promote the status of the profession in the public arena and to provide motivational leadership at all levels. This indicates an increased need for the Society’s leaders to assume a higher profile in future. While the Society is already actively engaged in such work as responding to new legislation and discussions with government representatives on a range of issues, much of this work is unsung. Engaging in some element of media relations in future is essential. The Qzone survey also confirmed that practitioners are looking for greater advocacy and communication to promote a positive image of the profession in the public arena and to respond more quickly against practitioners not behaving appropriately.

Changes in legislation impacting on ADLS forms have required further reviews by the Documents and Precedents Committee.

Towards the end of 2007, a major review of all forms was required as a result of the introduction of the new Property Law Act on 1 January 2008. Work has also progressed during 2007 on the development of an online method of delivering electronic forms for sale to practitioners. This is expected to be launched in April 2008 and is part of the upgraded ADLS website functionality.

The Commercial operations of Auckland District Law Society including sales of forms, directories, Legal Practice Manuals and rental income from Chancery Chambers contributed a net surplus of $1,437,520. The ADLS Director Members’ Services,
Marcus Martin, and his team are constantly engaged in improving the Society’s services to meet the needs of the diverse range of practitioner members in the future.

Administration
A complete audit of Auckland District Law Society’s IT infrastructure was undertaken in 2007 and the network upgrade progressed in accordance with consultants recommendations.

Several ADLS managers and staff were involved in the process but in particular the Society’s IT Manager, Simon Marsden, and Accountant, Lawrence Sami, have provided leadership for this project.

ADLS is well placed to proceed into the new regulatory framework and new voluntary membership environment with a strong asset base, strong commercial revenue streams, excellent staff resources, and up to date infrastructure. However, the profession’s greatest asset is, of course, the profession itself remaining engaged through the various arms of the law society for the overall benefit of all practitioners. The continued maintenance and support of a strong Auckland Council and committee structure is vital for the future success of the national law society.

Margaret Malcolm
Executive Director