lOMoARcPSD|13097948
LAWS 101 Notes Legal Services
Legal System: Legal Method and Institutions (University of Canterbury)
Studocu is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university
Downloaded by Emma Grant ()
, lOMoARcPSD|13097948
L EG AL
INS T IT UT
PART I- THE CONCEPT OF A PROFESSION/LEGAL PROFESSION IN NZ
A. What is a professional?
“A vocation or calling, especially one that involves some branch of advanced science or
learning” (Lamb & Littrich – Oxford dictionary definition)
Common traits:
Skill based on body of theoretical knowledge
Provision of training and education
Testing competence prior to entrance
Organisation
Code of Ethics
Ethos of altruistic service
Dal Pont’s common attributes of a profession:
Special skill and learning
Public service the principal goal
Autonomy and self-regulation
And – special jargon/language and collegiality
Other expectations of professionalism:
Common traits don’t differentiate accurately between activities which are not
“classically” professions (Lamb & Littrich).
Professionalism is expected of many agencies within the law and justice sector
not traditionally thought of as professions.
MODERN PROFESSIONS
PUBLIC SERVANTS
Policing Act 2008- Code of Conduct (s20)
Establishes standards for all NZ Police employees
s 56(3) of the State Services Act 1988:
“the chief executive shall ensure that all employees maintain proper standards of integrity,
conduct, and concern for the public interest.”
Code of Conduct for State Services
Covers over 100 public service departments, crown entities and crown entity subsidiaries
including: Ministry of Defence, IRD, Ministry of Health, ACC, Human Rights Commission, Oranga
Tamariki, Sport and Recreation New Zealand, Department of Corrections, SFO, Te Puni Kokiri,
NZ Customs Service, Crown Law, Ministry of Justice.The Code is based on the spirit of service
to the community
Four main key behaviours that public service employees should demonstrate
1. Fairness – “be professional and responsive”;
2. Impartiality;
3. Responsibility; and
1
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, lOMoARcPSD|13097948
L EG AL
INS T IT UT
4. Trustworthiness.
B. What is a lawyer?
“n. 1. A member of the legal profession, esp a solicitor. See also advocate,
barrister, solicitor. 2. A popular name for burbot (a fish).” - Collins English
Dictionary
“A member of the legal profession”
Refer back to Lamb & Littrich and Dal Pont common traits: Code of ethics
Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008
Whatever legal services your lawyer is providing, they must—
ü act competently, in a timely way, and in accordance with instructions received and
arrangements made:
ü protect and promote your interests and act for you free from compromising
influences or loyalties:
ü give you clear information and advice:
ü protect your privacy and ensure appropriate confidentiality:
ü treat you fairly, respectfully, and without discrimination:
ü let you know how to make a complaint and deal with any complaint promptly and
fairly.
Nathanson offers 4 ‘images’ referred to in Lamb & Littrich:
1. A distorter of truth
2. A sorcerer
3. A hero
4. A paper generator
Other conceptions of a legal ‘profession’:
1. It is more accurately about power and control: “From this perspective, the
legal profession is seen as a monopoly, promoting a sense of exclusiveness
and superiority, aloof and self-interested above the interests of clients or
society itself, and very concerned with the rewards of a livelihood protected by
a monopoly in the marketplace” Johnson and Larson in Lamb & Littrich
2. A money-making business like any other?
“…at its worst made the learned profession of an earlier day the obsequious
servant of business, and tainted it with the morals and manners of the
marketplace in its most anti-social manifestations” Harlan Stone (1934) (later
Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court) quoted in Dal Pont (2017) at 10 fn 41
2
Downloaded by Emma Grant ()
LAWS 101 Notes Legal Services
Legal System: Legal Method and Institutions (University of Canterbury)
Studocu is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university
Downloaded by Emma Grant ()
, lOMoARcPSD|13097948
L EG AL
INS T IT UT
PART I- THE CONCEPT OF A PROFESSION/LEGAL PROFESSION IN NZ
A. What is a professional?
“A vocation or calling, especially one that involves some branch of advanced science or
learning” (Lamb & Littrich – Oxford dictionary definition)
Common traits:
Skill based on body of theoretical knowledge
Provision of training and education
Testing competence prior to entrance
Organisation
Code of Ethics
Ethos of altruistic service
Dal Pont’s common attributes of a profession:
Special skill and learning
Public service the principal goal
Autonomy and self-regulation
And – special jargon/language and collegiality
Other expectations of professionalism:
Common traits don’t differentiate accurately between activities which are not
“classically” professions (Lamb & Littrich).
Professionalism is expected of many agencies within the law and justice sector
not traditionally thought of as professions.
MODERN PROFESSIONS
PUBLIC SERVANTS
Policing Act 2008- Code of Conduct (s20)
Establishes standards for all NZ Police employees
s 56(3) of the State Services Act 1988:
“the chief executive shall ensure that all employees maintain proper standards of integrity,
conduct, and concern for the public interest.”
Code of Conduct for State Services
Covers over 100 public service departments, crown entities and crown entity subsidiaries
including: Ministry of Defence, IRD, Ministry of Health, ACC, Human Rights Commission, Oranga
Tamariki, Sport and Recreation New Zealand, Department of Corrections, SFO, Te Puni Kokiri,
NZ Customs Service, Crown Law, Ministry of Justice.The Code is based on the spirit of service
to the community
Four main key behaviours that public service employees should demonstrate
1. Fairness – “be professional and responsive”;
2. Impartiality;
3. Responsibility; and
1
Downloaded by Emma Grant ()
, lOMoARcPSD|13097948
L EG AL
INS T IT UT
4. Trustworthiness.
B. What is a lawyer?
“n. 1. A member of the legal profession, esp a solicitor. See also advocate,
barrister, solicitor. 2. A popular name for burbot (a fish).” - Collins English
Dictionary
“A member of the legal profession”
Refer back to Lamb & Littrich and Dal Pont common traits: Code of ethics
Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008
Whatever legal services your lawyer is providing, they must—
ü act competently, in a timely way, and in accordance with instructions received and
arrangements made:
ü protect and promote your interests and act for you free from compromising
influences or loyalties:
ü give you clear information and advice:
ü protect your privacy and ensure appropriate confidentiality:
ü treat you fairly, respectfully, and without discrimination:
ü let you know how to make a complaint and deal with any complaint promptly and
fairly.
Nathanson offers 4 ‘images’ referred to in Lamb & Littrich:
1. A distorter of truth
2. A sorcerer
3. A hero
4. A paper generator
Other conceptions of a legal ‘profession’:
1. It is more accurately about power and control: “From this perspective, the
legal profession is seen as a monopoly, promoting a sense of exclusiveness
and superiority, aloof and self-interested above the interests of clients or
society itself, and very concerned with the rewards of a livelihood protected by
a monopoly in the marketplace” Johnson and Larson in Lamb & Littrich
2. A money-making business like any other?
“…at its worst made the learned profession of an earlier day the obsequious
servant of business, and tainted it with the morals and manners of the
marketplace in its most anti-social manifestations” Harlan Stone (1934) (later
Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court) quoted in Dal Pont (2017) at 10 fn 41
2
Downloaded by Emma Grant ()
