Lawyers Complaints Service ought to have ensured that he was in a position to refund the fee if he could not arrange for that to happen promptly and ought to have refunded the fee promptly when no instructing solicitor had been arranged. “However, in my view, his actions did not breach the particular regulations relied on for charges two and three [and six and seven],” Justice Mallon said. Mr Skagen has applied for a recall of the High Court decision. ▪
Fined for misleading another lawyer A lawyer who self-reported misleading another practitioner and the New Zealand Law Society has been fined $5,000 by the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal. Lisa Kate Tregenza admitted a charge of unsatisfactory conduct in [2016] NZLCDT 31. The particulars of the charge Ms Tregenza admitted were: ▪▪ she received an authority to uplift a client file from a law firm; ▪▪ she declined to hand over the file because the client, Mrs A, had about $2,000 of outstanding fees; ▪▪ five days after the first request, she received another email expressing urgency to hand over the file and requesting the bill of costs and letter of engagement for work done on Mrs A’s file; ▪▪ Mrs A then complained to the Lawyers Complaints Service, alleging that Ms Tregenza had failed to provide a letter of engagement, bill of costs and her file; ▪▪ during the course of the enquiry, and on or about 5 November 2015, Mrs A wrote to a Law Society Legal Standards Officer and to the law firm that had requested Mrs A’s file, enclosing a letter of instruction dated 21 April 2015; ▪▪ the date was false because the letter of engagement was not created until November 2015; and ▪▪ in doing so, Ms Tregenza made a false representation to the Law Society and the law firm, and breached Rule 11.1 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 by falsely representing that a letter of engagement had been created and sent
on 21 April 2015 when it had not. Mrs A engaged Ms Tregenza on an agreement for sale and purchase. Subsequently, Mrs A wanted to uplift her file, having changed lawyers. After investigating and dismissing Mrs A’s complaint, a lawyers standards committee commenced an own motion inquiry, which resulted in charges being laid before the Tribunal.
4 November 2016 · LawTalk 900
protection of the public, as was acknowledged by counsel for the applicant; and ▪▪ she is a valuable member of the profession, as is evidenced by the references provided by her peers, who were made fully aware of the charges and the particulars. As well as the fine, the Tribunal ordered Ms Tregenza to pay the Law Society $4,000 standards committee costs and $1,780 Tribunal costs. ▪
‘Regrettable mistake’ Ms Tregenza “responded to the inquiry saying that she foolishly regarded the letter of engagement as a mere formality and wrongly thought that it was the only way to rectify the situation,” the Tribunal said. “She emphasised that it was not a calculated intention to misrepresent the situation or to mislead. In a further letter to the Lawyers Complaints Service the respondent apologised profusely for her ‘regrettable mistake’.” Counsel for the standards committee submitted that Ms Tregenza should be censured because her actions misled both the Law Society and another lawyer. The Tribunal said it reached the conclusion that it was not necessary to censure Ms Tregenza for the following reasons: ▪▪ she has had an unblemished career over many years with no disciplinary history; ▪▪ she self-reported and promptly acknowledged her error and apologised for it; ▪▪ she addressed the Tribunal and has shown genuine remorse; ▪▪ she is of good character and is unlikely to offend again; ▪▪ there is no element that requires
Lawyer appeals Tribunal decision Wellington lawyer Keith Ian Jefferies has appealed the six-month suspension, commencing on 10 October 2016, imposed by the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal in [2016] NZLCDT 29. Mr Jefferies has been granted a stay of the suspension, pending the hearing of his appeal by the High Court. The Tribunal suspended Mr Jefferies after he admitted having been convicted of offences punishable by imprisonment which tend to bring the legal profession into disrepute. He was convicted on two counts of possessing Class A drug methamphetamine, one count of possessing Class C drug bk-MDMA, and one count of possessing utensils. The District Court fined Mr Jefferies $1,300, declining to discharge him without conviction (see LawTalk 899, 21 October 2016). Mr Jefferies lodged his appeal in the High Court on 17 October. ▪
Law Society Registry Comments concerning the suitability of any of the below-named applicants for the certificate or approval being sought should be made in writing to me by 10 November 2016. Any submissions should be given on the understanding that they may be disclosed to the candidate. 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 www.lawsociety. org.nz/for-lawyers/law-society-registry/applications-for-approval. — Christine Schofield, Registry Manager christine.schofield@lawsociety.org.nz 04 463 2940 0800 22 30 30 04 463 2989
Approval to Practise on Own Account
Mackay Helen Mary McGuigan Janna May McKenna Scott Anthony Under s 30 of the Lawyers Palinich Sonja Olga and Conveyancers Act 2006 Partington Kar-Yen Alana Boyd Megan Sian Ramsay Stuart George Fry-Irvine Liza Jean Scott Sarah Jane
Sumpter Catherine Véronique
Admission
Under Part 3 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 Stevenson Brendan Paul
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