It is with a great sense of pride – also tinged with an element of sadness - that I write what is in all probability the last President’s Annual Report of Auckland District Law Society.
Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 : One Society Plan
As all practitioners will know, without doubt the biggest issue of the just completed law society year was whether Auckland (and all New Zealand practitioners) move to a comprehensive national “One Society” model for the delivery of all law society functions or whether various functions would, in future, be delivered by new incorporated societies keeping their own separate identities being based (at least initially) on the same geographical boundaries as the existing 14 District Law Societies.
A lot of hard work was put in by a lot of people in presenting both the “pros” and “cons” of the two options. Six forums were held throughout the Auckland District to enable as many practitioners as possible to have their say and input into what was undoubtedly a far reaching restructure.
I was therefore delighted that by an overwhelming majority (1,406 in favour as against 279 against) that the practitioners of this District favoured the adoption of the One Society model. The fact that all other 13 Districts also endorsed the concept (many of
them unanimously) I believe demonstrates that such a proposal is clearly in the best interests of all New Zealand lawyers.
Whilst there will be some sadness that Auckland District Law Society as we have known it will cease to exist, it must be borne in mind that under the Lawyers & Conveyancers Act, Auckland District Law Society as we know it was going to cease to exist
anyway regardless of which option was taken. Change had to happen either to a separate (and I believe, much weaker) incorporated society, or to a branch of a larger and more cohesive national body.
The future of the Auckland Branch will be very much up to the wishes of Auckland practitioners. It is certainly envisaged that in many areas it will be “business as usual”. There will still be an Auckland Branch and there will still be an Auckland Council, and
Auckland committees.
Whilst the final shape of the Auckland Branch may take a little time to fully evolve, it will be a very important part in what will undoubtedly be a stronger national body for all lawyers.
Libraries
One of the huge advantages of the “One Society” model is that the running of libraries can be undertaken as a regulatory function and as such be a legitimate compulsory cost over all New Zealand lawyers whether or not they are members of a law society.
Had the “One Society” model not been adopted and Auckland incorporated, then that incorporated society would probably have had to run a library for members and meet the cost of the library service from the number of practitioners who joined the voluntary
incorporated society.
By all law societies joining the national structure there is a real opportunity to properly rationalise library resources on a national basis so that all practitioners can have ready access to a first class library service with a rationalisation of hard copy around the
country.
Auckland already has a degree of experience in the provision of library services from the High Court at Auckland, with regional libraries at Whangarei, (High and District Court) together with reduced hard copy services and electronic access available to all
District Courts within our region.
A national library board has already been set up to implement the new national law library service
Professional Standards
Overall there was a slight reduction in complaints this year – this is encouraging. However, there has been, as always, a number of challenging and high profile disciplinary matters dealt with during 2007.
It is very important that we maintain the ability to regulate ourselves – which the Lawyers & Conveyancers Act 2006 substantially does. There are a large number of “rubbish” complaints that come in. Practitioner input into complaints enables practitioners to identify which complaints are “rubbish”, and therefore should be quickly dismissed and which complaints have some degree of substance.
When Council members deal with complaints work they primarily wish to get rid of the “rubbish” complaints and then determine which complaints are relatively minor and can be dealt with by way of dialogue/education and which require prosecution. Whilst
the Council does not wish the “bad” practitioners to practice, the Complaints Committees are aware of the demands and requirements of legal practice and take this into account when dealing with complaints – I believe that continuing with this approach and the involvement of practitioners in the complaint process is essential.
Consultation with Government
There has been more consultation between the Auckland District Law Society Council and Department of Justice this year than in the rest of my time on Council put together. Auckland District Law Society Council met with Ministry of Justice officials on no
less than four occasions throughout the year having input on a number of issues that affect the Courts in the Auckland area.
In November 2007 the Minister for Courts, the Honourable Rick Barker, attended at Chancery Chambers to give a presentation on the Ministry’s future intentions, and was involved in a considerable dialogue with the Council on issues that directly affect our area.
The output of these discussions was reported in Law News. There will need to be further involvement of Auckland practitioners in the development of the Ministry’s plans for the region.
Legal Aid
There is likely to be an increase in legal aid rates in the coming year. This has been as a result of a large amount of work done by a large number of people putting pressure on the Legal Services Agency and Government. The proposed increases are
still inadequate. The “model” that has been promoted does have considerable merit and will lead to greater chances of more regular increases in the future and an element of “inflation proofing” of legal aid rates in the future.
I think there can be no real doubt that Government continues to take advantage of practitioners’ professionalism in continuing to do legal aid work at the modest levels that are offered.
Events
A large part of being a profession is the collegiality that exists within that profession. Whilst there are many ways of achieving that collegiality – through working together on committees, complaints committees and the like, the principle way to enjoy the
benefits of such collegiality is through the many social and other events organised by Auckland District Law Society.
This year I was fortunate enough to attend three Bar Dinners within our region.
The first Bar Dinner was held in Whangarei in March to honour the appointments to the bench of Judges Duncan Harvey and Judge Noel Cocurullo.
A further Bar Dinner was held in Auckland in May to honour the appointment of Judges Emma Aitken, Noel Cocurullo, Phillipa Cunningham and Alan Roberts to the District Court Bench.
The final Bar Dinner of my Presidency was held in February 2008 to honour the appointments of Justices Ailsa Duffy and Peter Woodhouse to the High Court, Associate Judge Robinson to the High Court and Judges Alison Sinclair, Laurie Hinton and Gus
Andrée Wiltens to the District Court.
In addition to these Bar Dinners there was also a special sitting at the Manukau District Court to mark the retirement of Her Honour Judge Heather Simpson and a special sitting of the High Court to acknowledge the sad loss during the year of the Hon Justice David Morris.
Many other functions were held throughout the year for other practitioner groups, many of these functions being extremely well attended.
The Recently Admitted Members’ section of our profession goes from strength to strength with many well organised and well attended functions. Recently admitted members (less than 5 years of practice) now account for about 20% of all members of
the profession. They are an extremely important group going forward.
ADLS Council, Committees and Staff
I have thoroughly enjoyed the privilege that I was given of being able to be President of ADLS. Whilst it was undoubtedly hard work at times, I found it very rewarding and gratifying to meet so many practitioners from diverse practice groups, types of practice and geographical areas. It was a privilege to have been the President at such a time of great change within our legal structure.
Whilst there will be change following on from my presidential year, I believe that we have chosen the best change that we could have, and that we have set up the best possible organisational structure that will suit our needs as we go forward over the next decade and beyond.
The work and results that have been achieved this year would not have been possible without the support, input and help from all of Auckland District Law Society Council. It has been a difficult year and it has been a challenging year, it has been a stimulating year and the results achieved are as a result of everyone’s input into that result. I record my thanks and appreciation to all members of Council.
Many other aspects of law society affairs are the function of practitioner hours put in by large numbers of our profession who have served on the society’s committees. The practitioners (far too many to mention) fill a significant role on behalf of us all. This
is part of the collegiality of being a profession and I thank you for that work and acknowledge your input.
Whilst the council and volunteer practitioner input is essential to the running of a district law society, it would also not be possible without the dedicated professional staff that are engaged by the law society. I would like to thank Margaret Malcolm the Executive Director for her outstanding leadership and the harnessing of the staff at the ADLS and for her assistance to the profession.
Whilst there will be some change in the way that some activities are carried out as we move towards a national profession I am sure that the dedicated and skilled Auckland staff will be at the forefront of the new national structure.
I have enjoyed the privilege of being president of Auckland District Law Society and will undoubtedly miss some aspects of the role, but I am greatly heartened that as I leave office I am being replaced by another president who will lead the society with
distinction, and with an excellent council who will carry on the excellent work of the last few years.
I wish all members the best for the coming year.
Andrew Gilchrist
President
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