Lawyers in Aotearoa New Zealand must comply with a number of professional obligations. These are described in the Rules of Conduct and Client Care (the Rules) and subject to other overriding obligations including to the courts and the justice system.  

Professional conduct 

Under the Rules, a lawyer is required to:  

• Act competently, in a timely way and in accordance with your instructions and any arrangements made.
• Protect and promote your interests and act for you without any compromising influences or loyalties.
• Keep all your information confidential.
• Treat you with respect and courtesy.
• Not engage in misleading or deceptive conduct in respect of any aspect of their practice.
• Inform you how to make a complaint and deal with any complaint promptly and fairly.

A full summary of lawyers' obligations when providing legal services can be found in the Preface to the Rules.

Information required from your lawyer

When you initially instruct a lawyer, they must provide you with certain information including:

• The name of the person responsible for your work
• The basis on which fees will be charged, including when and how they are to be paid
• Information about the lawyer’s professional indemnity insurance (if any), the Lawyers’ Fidelity Fund¹ (if applicable) and the process for dealing with any complaints from clients
• Any limits on the extent of the lawyer’s obligations or liability.

Confidentiality and privilege

When you communicate or share information with your lawyer, they must keep the information confidential unless there are proper grounds for disclosure. 

Your information may be disclosed when:   

• the information relates to the anticipated commission of a crime
• it’s necessary to protect someone from a serious risk to health or safety
• disclosure is required to enable the lawyer to defend themselves from a complaint or claim by the client.

Legal professional privilege allows a client to completely and openly discuss matters with their lawyer. It applies to communications between a lawyer and client made for the purposes of obtaining or receiving legal assistance from being disclosed to any one else without the client's permission.

How your money is protected 

Lawyers trust account

A lawyer who receives money from a client must promptly pay the money into a special bank account known as a ‘lawyers trust account’. This includes money paid by clients for fees in advance of any work being undertaken.

Barristers and lawyers who do not have a trust account cannot receive money to hold for their clients or take fees in advance.

Money cannot be used without your consent

Money in a trust account cannot be used by the lawyer or law firm for private use and lawyers must certify monthly to the Law Society that they have met their legal requirements in relation to the trust account.

If a lawyer holds your money in a trust account, they may only pay it to you or to someone else as directed by you. They must also keep records of all money held for you and must provide you with a clear and understandable statement at the completion of a transaction or at more than 12 monthly intervals.

A lawyer can deduct their fees from money they hold for you, only if: 

• an invoice has been issued in respect of those fees (and/or)
• you have provided authority (in writing) for those fees to be paid. In both cases an invoice must be issued first.

The Law Society operates a Lawyers Fidelity Fund that clients may make a claim on if there is theft by their lawyer.

¹The Lawyer's Fidelity Fund is maintained by the Law Society in order to protect lawyer's clients against financial loss arising from theft by lawyers. Lawyers are subject to the requirements in s110 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 and also the LCA (Trust Account) Regulations 2008 when they hold client money. Find out more about the Lawyers Fidelity Fund.