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1. SQ v KL & L Ltd [2023] NZDT 180 (22 June 2023) [pdf, 196 KB]

   ...be obtained from the Ministry of Justice, Disputes Tribunal website. The Notice must be filed at the District Court of which the Tribunal that made the decision is a division, within 20 working days of the decision having been made. There is a $200 filing fee for an appeal. You can only appeal outside of 20 working days if you have been granted an extension of time by a District Court Judge. To apply for an extension of time you must file an Interlocutory Application on Notice and a sup...

2. LCRO 80/2021 A LN and B LN v QG (9 November 2021) [pdf, 265 KB]

   ...complaint through a nine-page letter to the Complaints Service dated 24 September 2020. In summary Ms QG submitted: (a) The hard drive failure concerned email data relating to a particular period. It did not affect electronically stored client files. However, paper files might not have included copies of emails exchanged. (b) Nevertheless, Mr LN should have copies of all emails he received from Ms QG. (c) When the retainer was terminated Ms QG asked Mr LN to provide copies of...

3. Prajapati v Khetarpal [2016] NZIACDT 5 (22 January 2016) [pdf, 150 KB]

   ...26 November 2012, and $500 on 13 December 2012; $2,200 in total. Ms Khetarpal’s practice (where she was the sole licensee and an employee), did not operate a clients’ funds account. Ms Khetarpal left the practice in late April 2013; she had not filed the application when she left. [5.4] The complainant engaged new representation in May 2013, and the new proprietor of the practice refunded the complainant. [6] The Registrar identified one potential area of infringement of profession...

4. I v J [2016] NZIACDT 15 (24 March 2016) [pdf, 110 KB]

   ...take $4,400 from his client, by pretending he had only paid $100, and not the $4,500 in fact paid; he also falsified an acknowledgement the fee was in fact $100. [1.3] Mr J dishonestly attempted to mislead the Registrar by providing only part of his file when she made inquiries regarding this complaint. [1.4] Mr J then repaid the $4,400 and lied to the Registrar about doing so. [2] Aside from the dishonesty, the complaint includes that Mr J was unprofessional, failed to provide a refu...

5. LCRO 69/2021 ID v KZ and UG (7 September 2023) [pdf, 327 KB]

   ...LCRO decision).2 In that decision, the LCRO directed the Committee to: (a) reconsider and determine the complainants’ complaint about all invoices referred to in the Committee’s determination; and (b) reach a decision on whether Mr ID’s fees and disbursements invoiced by him to the complainants were fair and reasonable for all of his attendances provided to the respondents. [5] The Committee duly reconsidered that aspect of the complaint and issued a further determination in A...

6. LCRO 149/2023 HV v BQ (2 April 2024) [pdf, 401 KB]

   ...which Judgement is given in favour of the Client in any Proceedings or for which (sic) the Client receives under its policy of insurance…. [10] “Step 5” in the Claims Process was “Retain lawyers and reports” and was described as “Case file goes to your Lawyer”. “Step 6” was “Claim filed in court/case management process” and was described as “Lawyer files claim with High Court. Case management process commences (see next flow chart). Work commenced at steps 3 an...

7. LCRO 42/2019 EW v BL decision & orders (19 June 2020 & 28 July 2020) [pdf, 242 KB]

   ...She considers BL’s conduct “shows a trail of deception over the financial part of [their] relationship”. 3. EW considers her complaint about BL’s fee to be “about dishonest recording and charging time that [he] did not spend on [the] file”. In this regard EW comments on specific entries on BL’s time sheets, which she says, either did not take place, or were inflated. She provided an amended timesheet which would have the effect of reducing the fee based on time t...

8. [2023] NZIACDT 4 – TC v MacLeod (7 February 2023) [pdf, 210 KB]

   ...exclusive sales were over the threshold of $379,000. As for the recent employment of a second New Zealander, Immigration NZ already had the evidence. Residence granted [32] On 22 January 2020, the family were granted residence visas. Fees [33] IMMagine issued the following invoices to the complainant (at $400 per hour, incl GST): 8 8/10/2019 $ 9,430 17/12/2019 $11,845 24/1/2020 $ 1,265 $22,540 [34] The complainant declined to pay. There was an exchange...

9. LCRO Annual report 2022-23 [pdf, 338 KB]

   ...reviews.2 This compares with 194 and 264 reviews completed in the previous two reporting years. Of the 169 completed reviews, 106 related to reviews filed in previous reporting periods. 1 Given that there is a 30 working day time frame for filing a review application, no exact match can be made between Standards Committee determinations and review applications for any given period of time. 2 This refers to actual numbers of completed reviews without taking into account when the...

10. LCRO 160/2016 ET v NE (23 May 2019) [pdf, 203 KB]

    ...respondent, Mr NE. [2] The complaint related to Mr NE’s representation of Mr ET in 2015 when he sought leave to appeal out of time his June 2010 conviction on a charge of driving with excess breath alcohol (EBA). Mr NE rendered one invoice for fees which had not yet been paid at the time this decision was made. Background Court appearance [3] Mr ET pleaded guilty to the EBA charge in the District Court at [City] on 29 June 2010 and applied for a discharge without conviction o...