New Zealand Law Society Complaints
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
When a Client's Mental Capacity Is in Doubt: a Practical Guide for Solicitors
WHEN A CLIENT'S MENTAL CAPACITY IS IN DOUBT A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR SOLICITORS THE LAW SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES | CAPACITY GUIDELINES | 1 © 2016 The Law Society of New South Wales, ACN 000 000 699, ABN 98 696 304 966. When a client’s mental capacity is in doubt: A practical guide for solicitors is copyright. © 2016 The Law Society of New South Wales Except as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), no part of this publication may be reproduced without the specific written permission of The Law Society of New South Wales. DISCLAIMER The Law Society of New South Wales and the authors accept no responsibility for the accuracy of the information or the opinions contained herein. Practitioners should satisfy themselves in relation to any matters relating to the contents of this publication. CONTENTS 1. Introduction 4 2. What is the solicitor’s role in mental capacity assessment? 4 3. What is “mental capacity”? 5 4. Key principles 6 5. Indicators of lack of mental capacity – warning bells and red flags! 7 6. Communication with client 8 7. Solicitor’s records of initial mental capacity assessment 8 8. When to refer and to whom 9 9. What to include in the referral letter 10 10. How to raise the issue with the client 10 11. Making the final legal judgment when the clinical mental capacity assessment is available 11 12. When to seek the appointment of a substitute decision-maker 11 13. Conclusion 12 Appendix A Different mental capacity tests 13 Appendix B Capacity worksheet for lawyers 16 Appendix C Techniques lawyers can use to enhance client capacity 19 Appendix D Resources 23 1. -
Sample Qualification Examination Barrister
1 of 16 LAW SOCIETY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA SAMPLE QUALIFICATION EXAMINATION BARRISTER NOTE 1. This sample examination represents approximately one-half of a typical 100-mark, three-hour Qualification Examination. It is marked out of 50 and could be completed in 1 1/2 hours. The regular exams are printed on one side of a page only. In the regular exams, each of the three sections is worth 30 marks. One section (Practice Management) is worth 10 marks. 2. The questions and answers are based on the law as of January 2021. 3. This sample examination may be circulated. All other Qualification Examinations are confidential and can only be reviewed at PLTC by students who fail their examination. SPECIAL NOTICE For the purposes of this examination, assume that all events in these questions do not take place during the COVID-19 pandemic, regardless of any dates in the questions, unless a question directly specifies otherwise. INSTRUCTIONS 1. You have 1 1/2 hours to complete this examination. 2. The Barrister Exam identifies whether questions are Practice Management (5 marks), Civil (15 marks), Criminal (15 marks), or Family (15 marks) within the question stem. Ethics questions are not identified separately—these questions are spread throughout the examination. 3. The following instructions apply to the different types of questions you will answer. (a) Multiple Choice You are to choose the best answer, even where a technical argument exists for the correctness of other answers. Hard copy: Circle the letter for only one answer statement. ExamSoft: Select the letter for only one answer statement. -
How to Use a Solicitor in England and Wales
How to use a solicitor in England and Wales Easy Read Do you need a solicitor? Solicitors give advice about the law. They are experts and can help you understand your rights and solve different legal problems you may have. There are many areas of law and different legal problems. For example, if you need help with a lease if you want to complain about a service or if you feel you lost your job unfairly. 2 If you need a solicitor you should choose one who knows the law about the problem you have and can help you. This guidance will tell you about what to expect when you use a solicitor. It also tells you how you can get the best and most suitable help for you. Finding a solicitor You can find a solicitor in different ways. Local advice agencies such as a law centre or Citizens Advice Bureau can recommend solicitors. You might like to talk to friends, family or local groups about their experiences. 3 You can also find solicitors through the Law Society at: www.lawsociety.org.uk/ FindASolicitor If you are arrested and kept in custody at a police station you can get free legal advice. If you are charged with a criminal offence and you need to go to court, you may be able to get free legal advice. Meeting your solicitor When you have chosen a solicitor you will need to make an appointment. If you need to see a solicitor urgently the solicitor should try and see you as quickly as possible. -
Why Choose Us As Your One Supplier?
ISSUE 73 - DECEMBER 2007 HEALTH WARNING: This magazine contains comments that may disturb the bar Has your firm spoken to advantage yet about joining one of the Legal Buying Groups and massively reducing your office supplies overhead? If not.. call us today to receive details and information of how you can introduce an innovative new supply system that will reduce costs and save time throughout the year. Lower costs Why choose us as Save on purchase price and eliminate your one supplier? hidden costs. Flexible ordering Work with us to create an effective, efficient ordering system that’s perfect for you. Dedicated service One source, one solution means you PAGE 4 PAGE 8 PAGE 17 PAGE 26 can focus on the success of your Ted & Alice Catherine Calder Pupil Power New Year Quiz Tel: 0845 370 3500 business. Fax: 0845 370 3501 E-mail: [email protected] Superb choice Circulated FREE to Barristers’ Clerks in the United Kingdom www.advantageoss.com Choose from over 30,000 product lines, all available from just one supplier. WWW.CLERKSROOM.COM/MAGAZINE EDITOR’S PAGE Like lots of “Christmas specials” the December edition was prepared during the run up to the holiday, so I trust by the time you are reading this that you have had a great Christmas and are looking forward to a prosperous New Year. If you believe the government, the press or any economic forecaster, then we look to be in for a bumpy ride. Time to “remain seated with your seatbelt firmly fastened!” Bob Moss ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES TO: [email protected] We have had exactly one year of the “paperless” Clerksroom Magazine, available EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES TO: as a download version only. -
Solicitor Not on the Record
Solicitor not on the record Purpose: To provide assistance to barristers who find out that their solicitor is not on the court record Scope of application: All practising barristers Issued by: The Ethics Committee Issued: April 2019 Last reviewed: May 2020 Status and effect: Please see the notice at end of this document. This is not “guidance” for the purposes of the BSB Handbook I6.4. Issue: a barrister is instructed by an instructing solicitor to represent a lay client at a hearing. The barrister is told or finds out that the solicitor is not on the court record. What should the barrister do? Answer: nothing. 1. A barrister can provide reserved legal activities (including advocacy at court) if s/he is instructed by a professional client, a licensed access client or a public access client. There is nothing in the BSB Handbook or the Legal Services Act which requires that the person instructing the barrister to attend court must have conduct of the litigation. 2. Indeed, it is axiomatic that when a barrister is instructed by a licensed access client, the licence holder will not have conduct of the litigation. The same applies in a public access case when the barrister is instructed by an intermediary. 3. The Law Society recognises that solicitors may act for a client on a limited retainer. This is called ‘unbundling’. It is usually so that the client can save money. The Law Society guidance1 says: ‘The essence of unbundling in its purest form is that 1 At the time of review in May 2020, the Law Society guidance was awaiting updating to reflect the replacement of the SRA Handbook (version 21) by the SRA Standards and Regulations on, and with effect, from 25th November 2019. -
Canadian Lawyer Mobility and Law Society Conflict of Interest*
Fordham International Law Journal Volume 18, Issue 1 1994 Article 4 Canadian Lawyer Mobility and Law Society Conflict of Interest Alexander J. Black∗ ∗ Copyright c 1994 by the authors. Fordham International Law Journal is produced by The Berke- ley Electronic Press (bepress). http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ilj Canadian Lawyer Mobility and Law Society Conflict of Interest Alexander J. Black Abstract This Article discusses inter-jurisdictional mobility of lawyers in Canada, comparing Canadian practice to European Community (”Community” or “EC”) reforms and U.S. practice. Ironically, the Community eschews using the label ”federal” because the process of European unification is ongoing, yet the new regime for the transfer of lawyers between EC Member States is freer and less fettered than the transfer regimes in Canada. In the United States, the mobility of lawyers is dependent upon reciprocal agreements between state bar associations whereby qualification in one state bar permits direct entry to practice in other states. Hence, this Article compares the rules affecting lawyer mobility in the ten Canadian provinces and two territories, the European Community, and the United States, specifically New York State, a jurisdiction receptive to foreign law degrees. CANADIAN LAWYER MOBILITY AND LAW SOCIETY CONFLICT OF INTEREST* AlexanderJ. Black** Un Canadien errant, bani de son foyer Parcourant en pleurant, des pays 6trangers Un jour triste et pensif, assis au bord des flots En courant fugitif, il s'adressa ses mots Si tu vois mon pays, mon pays malheureux Va dire a mes amis, que je me souviens d'eux.' CONTENTS Introduction ......................... ..................... 119 I. Canadian Lawyer Mobility ........................... 121 A. -
LEGAL PROFESSION ACT REGULATIONS Interpretation 1. In
LEGAL PROFESSION ACT REGULATIONS Interpretation 1. In these Regulations, “Act” means the Legal Profession Act, S.P.E.I. 1992, Cap. 39; PART I THE SOCIETY 2. The offices of the Society shall be in the City of Charlottetown. 3. (1) The seal of the Society now in use shall continue to be the seal of the Society. (2) The seal of the Society shall be in the custody of the Secretary-Treasurer. Every instrument to which the seal is affixed, except the annual certificates, shall be signed by the President or Vice-President, and countersigned by the Secretary- Treasurer. Annual certificates shall be signed by the Secretary-Treasurer. 4. (1) The President shall preside at all meetings of the society and of the Council, and in the President’s absence, the Vice-President, and in the absence of both, the senior barrister present who is a member of the Council, shall be Chair. If at any meeting of the Society no member of the Council is present, the meeting shall appoint a Chair. (2) All questions proposed for consideration by the members shall, unless otherwise provided, be determined by the majority of votes duly cast on the question. (3) Meetings of the Council may be conducted by telephone conference call, and those members of Council participating in the call shall be considered present at such meeting. 5. Proceedings at meetings of the Society and the Council shall be conducted in accordance with parliamentary procedure. Committees of the Society may, subject to the Act and these Regulations establish procedures for the conduct of their meetings. -
Higher Rights of Audience Consultation: Analysis of Responses
Higher rights of audience consultation Analysis of responses Education and Training – Policy May 2007 May 2007 Page 1 of 33 www.sra.org.uk Contents Why we consulted .................................................................................................... 3 The current position................................................................................................. 3 Summary ................................................................................................................... 4 Profile of respondents.............................................................................................. 7 Practice Rule 1 – lower courts................................................................................. 9 Practice Rule 1 – higher courts ............................................................................. 11 Why is advocacy different from other reserved areas? ...................................... 13 Differences between lower and higher courts ..................................................... 14 Should current restrictions be retained? ............................................................. 16 Should there be any other quality assurance? .................................................... 19 What quality assurance should there be?............................................................ 21 What should quality assurance apply to?............................................................ 22 What standards should quality assurance be based on?................................... 24 Should -
Is the Title of Solicitor Still Relevant? What's in a Name?
What’s in a name? Is the title of solicitor still relevant? What’s in a name? “Solicitor” is but one name in the English lexicon of an estimated quarter of a million words.1 The exact number is unknown because a language is not a fossil, frozen in time. The human penchant for dictionaries gives the illusion that a language can be captured in print and paper, but the result is only a time capsule. The real language, as it exists in the heads and on the tongues of millions of people is a living creature, always evolving. The evolution of a language is the sum of the evolution of its words, each of which, however fundamental they may seem, was made up once upon a time. In this way, every word is a historical artefact, a kind of time-space map, with a story to tell of where and how it has been used over time. The story of the word “solicitor” is relatively unique in the global legal dictionary. In French you have the choice of words like “associé” and “advocat”. In Russian you have “юрист” (“yurist”) and “ адвокат” (“advokat”). “Yurist” comes from the root for law, so “lawyer” seems to be the best fit - that happy, international catch-all. “Associé” fits with the Anglo-American title “associate”. “Advocat” and “advokat” fit nicely with barristers who practice advocacy. Even “barrister” makes sense as professionals are called to the “Bar”. But where did an oddity like “solicitor” come from? Dictionaries give clues as to its origins: ● Late Middle English (denoting an agent or deputy): from Old French solliciteur, from solliciter (Oxford); ● 1375–1425; late Middle English solicitour < Anglo-French; Middle French soliciteur. -
Submission from the Legal Complaints Service
Legal Complaints Service response to LSB Business Plan We took the opportunity to pick up aspects of your business plan and set out some of our learning and experiences from handling complaints about solicitors under a few key themes. We hope that our experiences of managing a redress scheme, of working with external regulators and of handling complaints with consumers and the profession will help you bring your plan to life and ensure a better system for everyone involved. Market structure issues Alternative Business Structures The introduction of alternative business structures (ABSs) seems likely to be a watershed for the legal services market. Our view is that is has the scope to be a great model to promote innovation in providing legal services. It also has the potential to break up and significantly change what the legal profession currently looks like. Our main question about the introduction of ABSs is - what it will mean for consumers? We already see innovations in how legal services are provided and from this know there is a huge potential for confusion. For instance, recently we began to see an increase in the numbers of complaints about a specific area of conveyancing. Consumers who had approached financial institutions to re-mortgage their houses had been offered legal services through the financial institution. This led to a complicated situation when things went wrong. We found that as the solicitors involved had been retained by the financial institution, the consumers whose houses were jeopardised by the transaction could not complain to us. Strictly speaking they were not the client – instead the client was the financial institution. -
Barristers &Solicitors
G151 English Legal System LLEGAL PPROFESSION:: BBAARRRRIISSTTEERRSS && SSOOLLIICCIITTOORRSS ((22)) By the end of this unit you should be able to describe [AO1]: How a client can complain about their solicitor and barrister When a client may take action through the court as a result of the representation The impact of the changes under the Legal Services Act 2007, following the Clementi Review. You will also be able to evaluate [AO2]: The effectiveness of the current provisions on complaints The proposed reforms to the legal system, including complaints, under the Legal Services Act 2007 G151 English Legal System SOLICITORS: COMPLAINTS Grounds for client’s complaint? Either they are dissatisfied with: o the service given or o the amount they have received/asked to pay. Contractual? When you instruct a solicitor, you enter into a with them. It means that if you do not pay, the solicitor has the right to sue for the fees. But it also means that the client may have a right to sue the solicitor for breach of contract! Griffiths v Dawson (1993) White v Jones (1995) – even if you are not directly represented by the solicitor Action for Negligence Clients can also, now, sue for negligence. To prove: they need to show that the solicitor fell below the standards of a reasonable solicitor, and the courts are able to award compensation if the claim succeeds. Hall v Simon (2000) HL decided that immunity from liability was no longer acceptable, and that both barristers and solicitors should be liable for advocacy and written opinions. G151 English Legal System BUT I DON’’T WANT TO GO TO COURT..... -
Sample Qualification Examination
Page 1 of 7 LAW SOCIETY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA SAMPLE QUALIFICATION EXAMINATION SOLICITOR ANSWER GUIDE PRACTICE MANAGEMENT (5 MARKS) 1. The Law Society has no power to reduce the account (1 mark). 1 mark for any one of the following: • The lawyer does have a duty to charge a reasonable fee; • Karen could negotiate with the lawyer; • Karen could have the account reviewed by the Registrar; or • Karen could use the fee mediation program administered by the Law Society. See PM Professionalism: Practice Management, s. 5.06 and Legal Profession Act, s. 70. 2. (a) Dhillon should deposit $300 of her own funds to cover these fees. (1 mark) See PM Professionalism: Practice Management, Chapter 6, Trust Accounting Handbook (V. 9—September 2019) at p. 7, and Law Society Rule 3-60(5). (b) Dhillon should pay the funds to the Law Society (1 mark) and provide the Law Society with details about the client and the matter (1 mark), See PM Professionalism: Practice Management, Chapter 6, Trust Accounting Handbook (V. 9—September 2019) at pp. 40–41, and Legal Profession Act s. 34 and Law Society Rule 3-89. 02/21 DM1457839 Page 2 of 7 REAL ESTATE (15 MARKS) (2) 3. (c) (2 marks). The following explanation is not required for full marks: A solicitor must ascertain whether property taxes are paid to date. Zoning is not something that a solicitor normally deals with in a residential conveyance without client instructions. Similarly, a solicitor should seek instructions on obtaining a survey, but it’s not a task that the solicitor will do automatically.