Registry The following people have applied to the NZLS for certificates or approvals.
Admission under Part 3 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 Auckland Branch Joseph PRASAD Vernon Ivan TAVA Hamish Ian EGLINTON Been AHN Evgeny ALILUEV Catherine Ann ANDERSON Danielle Louise BAILEY Jonathan BEHAR Rhys Walter BOYD Richard Auger BROWN Jeremy Edward CAUGHEY Cheryl Jiaxin CHAN Ping CHEN Herman Soowook CHUNG Chantelle Diane DANTZIC Nicola Marie DE WILT Carolyn Mary DAVIES Jennifer DIN Hannah El OJEILI Cameron FRASER Dylan GEDGE Odette GILLARD James GODFREY Alexander GORMACK Ana Hinemoa HAKARAIA Ashiq Ghazi HAMID Zoë Rita HAMILL Sarah Jane Emma HUNTER Sandy ISAAC Imran Avinash KHAN Wing YI Archie KAPUA Richard Bernard KEAM Jessica Hazel KEARNS Nicholas LIM Cheryl LISSINGTON Ioana MAIER
Anna MANUSON Vanessa MCGOLDRICK Daniel MEYROWITZ Lewis MILLS Katherine MITCHELL Elcel Christine Marcos NERIDA Chee Huat Jimmy NG Sarah O’GRADY Anya PARK Sophie Elizabeth PARKER Shanna Maree PARSONS Ema PIUTAU Jesse REYNOLDS Alistar VAN SCHALKWYK Mallory Adele SCHOFIELD Felicity Jane SCOTT-MILLIGAN Anmol SHANKAR Yipu SHI Fei Fei THE Jennifer Marie Ramanlal TUPOU James TURNER Peter John SYDDALL Canterbury Westland Branch Radoslaw Dawid DAJER Alana Joanne MESSENT Ceara Anne ROONEY Hawkes Bay Branch Ailie Jane SUTHERLAND Manawatu Branch Gemma Frances WHITCOMBE Ursula Anne NICHOLLS Wellington Branch Owen Andrew GIBSON Simon John Graham BIDEWELL
Approval to Practise on Own Account under s30 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 Hawkes Bay Branch Piers Duggan HUNT The Registry is now advertising names of candidates for certificates of character, practising certificates and approvals to practise on own account on the NZLS website at http://www.lawsociety.org.nz/home/for_lawyers/registry/ applications_for_approval/ Comments concerning the suitability of any of the above-named applicants for the certificate or approval being sought should be made in writing to me by 17 May 2012. Any submissions should be given on the understanding that they may be disclosed to the candidate. Lisa Attrill, Registry Manager Email: lisa.attrill@lawsociety.org.nz, Direct Dial: (+64) (4) 463 2916 Freephone: 0800 22 30 30, Fax: (+64) (4) 463 2989
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LAWTALK 796 / 25 MAY 2012
Before the hearing, B advised the Lawyers Complaints Service that active steps had been taken to address the concerns raised by the inspectorate. Misleading conduct B had completed a solicitor’s certificate, as required by a client’s lender. That certificate contained a statement that B held professional indemnity insurance equal to the value of the lending, but she did not have professional indemnity cover. The committee found that the issue of the solicitor’s certificate was sufficiently serious to warrant referral to the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal. Breaches of trust account rules B had breached three separate requirements of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Trust Account) Regulations 2008. The committee found each breach on its own amounted to unsatisfactory conduct under the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 s12(c). The regulations require trust account supervisors to certify to the Law Society, by the tenth working day of each month, that the trust ledger was correctly reconciled at the end of the previous month with the corresponding trust bank accounts (reg 17(1)(a)(i)). B had not completed any month-end reconciliations, as she had incorrectly believed this wasn’t required given the trust bank account balance was zero. The committee said that regardless of her misunderstanding her breach amounted to unsatisfactory conduct. The inspection had also revealed that B did not have a trust account journal (see reg 11). On at least one occasion she had transferred money from one matter of a client to another matter without recording this transaction in a journal. Finally, B’s client trust ledger account cards contained no reference when electronic payments had been made, breaching reg 11(3). This requires all entries in the ledger accounts to include “references that identify their source or destination and enable them to be traced backward and forward”. Failure to provide letters of engagement B also admitted she had not prepared or provided a terms of engagement letter for any of her clients. The Conduct and Client Care Rules require lawyers to provide clients, in advance, with written information on the principal aspects of client service, including the basis on which fees will be charged and other matters. The lawyer had not provided letters of engagement at any time, let alone before undertaking any legal work for a client. The committee found this breach also amounted to unsatisfactory conduct. Penalty The committee fined B $300 for each of the four breaches. It also ordered her to pay the Law Society $750 costs. LT