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General Manager of Representative Services, Amanda Woodbridge, highlights the growing value of Law Society membership since introducing the paid subscription. She discusses the Law Society’s support, advocacy, wellbeing initiatives, and events, with a focus on accessible CPD, mental health support, and technical guidance for over 10,000 members.
Since introducing a paid membership subscription from 1 July, GM Representative Services Amanda Woodbridge says the New Zealand Law Society Te Kahui Ture o Aotearoa is just at the start of a much bigger journey for its members with much to be proud of.
The 10,000 lawyers who have chosen to become Law Society members is an endorsement of the support and value that we provide through our branch network and sections. We are listening closely to their needs and interests and responding with events that are highly relevant, making CPD accessible, and supporting the advocacy, collegiality and connection that enables the profession to thrive.
Members can expect to hear more from us on the big issues of the day. We are particularly proud of the Te Tiriti panel discussion and presentation by authors Dr Carwyn Jones and Dr Damen Ward, which we co-hosted with Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa, in November. It was well received with nearly 500 attendees, and we are planning a follow-up session later this year.
Our branches continue to do an outstanding job with offering collegial and relevant events including securing interesting guest speakers. One example was our Waikato branch organising for Justice Susan Glazebrook DNZM to speak on her involvement in rescuing women judges from Afghanistan. Her talk covered the Taliban takeover in 2021 and paid tribute to the courage and dignity of the Afghan women judges, six of whom have resettled in New Zealand.
We also partnered with NZ Asian Lawyers for the inaugural NZ Asian Lawyers Awards in November to recognise Asian lawyers who are making a significant contribution in their communities and areas of practice. Russell McVeagh hosted the event with Attorney General, the Hon Judith Collins KC presenting the awards.
Our sections deliver highly sought-after technical guidance, advocacy, wellbeing and collegial events. More than 60 per cent of our members have chosen to belong to a section.
In terms of technical guidance, a stand-out was the Property Law Section’s (PLS) webinar with Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand and Rāngai Hāpai Ture o Aotearoa Legal Executives New Zealand. This practical, interactive session was a sellout. Facilitated by PLS deputy chair Kristine King and presented by Robert Metcalf, Deputy Registrar-General of Land, this was for lawyers, registered legal executives and staff at the coalface of property transactions. It was followed up with a webinar on the “how tos” of digital signing on 26 March.
ILANZ has run 24 events for section members since July with excellent attendance. Webinars with Dentons about privacy breaches and procurement attracted 500 and almost 470 participants, respectively. A webinar with the Commerce Commission about collaboration and sustainability saw close to 400 attend. Work is underway for our annual ILANZ conference in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland from 7-9 May. The conference theme is “Ignite, Taku ahi tūtata!” (the fires that are close, sharpen my blade) with attendance going some way towards fulfilling CPD requirements.
We take a keen interest in the Law Society’s law reform and advocacy work. Our Family Law Section (FLS) regularly meets with the Law Reform and Advocacy Team and the Ministry of Justice to work through courthouse safety and security concerns raised by the profession. Our branches are also interested in courthouse rebuilds and repairs, with the Law Society advocating for increased investment and the involvement of local lawyers in new builds.
In July, FLS, together with the Law Reform and Advocacy team, together held a series of workshops with the Legal Services Commissioner and legal aid providers to discuss proposals from the Commissioner to simplify obtaining approval to provide legal aid, and to assist with getting juniors on serious sexual violence cases, as well as to identify administrative improvements.
Recent wins for FLS include the government fully funding Family Disputes Resolution mediation for both parties from July 2025 and the Ministry of Justice establishing a process to enable the regular review of court-appointed counsel remuneration.
PLS has worked closely with Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) on a six-year project to modernise the online portal Landonline. The project reached a significant milestone in March, with LINZ switching off legacy Landonline for law firm users. Registrar-General of Land Robbie Muir has acknowledged the efforts of PLS and members who participated in numerous customer days and provided feedback that has shaped the new Landonline.¹
In the last quarter of 2024, PLS provided feedback on draft regulations which will implement recent changes to the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, requiring natural hazard information to be included in Land Information Memoranda.
We are particularly interested in sole practitioners and small firms and expanding our offerings to these groups to reduce the costs and efforts associated with running a small business. The Legal Technology webinar offered by Resolute Lawyers Director and Auckland Branch Council Vice-President Anitesh Govind in June provided an abundance of practical tips to work smarter with technology, and we ran a follow up webinar in February.
From August to September, we held cybersecurity seminars with our partner ANZ in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. We were delighted with the high engagement of attendees. Given the importance of this topic, we offered this seminar nationwide online in March, and we will soon have an affordable cybersecurity training programme that small businesses and sole practitioners can subscribe to on an ongoing basis.
We have been engaging with our smaller communities including Northland, South Auckland, the West Coast and Timaru and we are forming stronger connections and discussing the different issues many of our lawyers in smaller centres face.
When we held our hui roadshow a year ago, we heard that lawyers in our smaller centres didn’t have the same opportunity as other lawyers to have CPD in person. We want to address that. We ran a half day seminar in Taranaki in October with another seminar planned for May. Created for lawyers by lawyers, the October seminar included cybersecurity, drug and alcohol monitoring devices, the impact of traumatic brain injuries, and the relationship between in-house and external lawyers.
The wellbeing of members and the profession is of the utmost importance and collegiality remains an important part of the work our branches undertake. I am delighted that we now have Jake Bergstrom leading the Wellbeing Programme, confirming our commitment to this important work. From July to December, we have had more than 780 lawyers participating in our Mentoring Programme and provided over 370 counselling sessions.
In addition to our bar dinners, which continue to be popular events on the branch calendar, the Auckland branch has introduced running events for lawyers who are keen on getting outside, is reintroducing the annual church service as ways to create connection and held their annual music event in March. The Auckland branch also secured Sir John Kirwan and former lawyer Dr Fiona Crichton for the third annual wellbeing webinar in the same month, with other branches having access too.
In terms of our sections, the FLS Immediate Issues Response Team is available for members affected by trauma or significant pressure from carrying out their professional duties. Many of the FLS team have experienced difficult situations over their years of practice so are able to offer practical advice. A protocol with the judiciary enables the FLS to contact members to offer support and access to professional services if required when a party or child involved in a Family Court proceeding has died, usually from suicide or homicide.
We want the profession to thrive, and having quality graduates entering our profession is essential to this. Of particular focus are our new lawyers and we are pleased to have made membership complimentary for the first two years of practice.
It was rewarding to launch the National New Lawyers Guide in September. Developed by the National New Lawyers Group, this guide has been months in the making. We are now developing similar resources for law students and lawyers in years three to seven of practice and working closely with law schools and the National New Lawyers Group in these endeavours. We are excited to announce the inaugural National New Lawyers Conference on 22 August in Christchurch and look forward to this becoming a regular fixture on our calendar.
I wish to acknowledge those in the profession who have chosen to become paying members of the Law Society. Your membership supports the profession to thrive, enabling Representative Services to continue to offer the services and products through our branches and sections, and providing you with a way to stay connected, keep learning and give back.
Members enjoy discounted education and learning through the Law Society branches, sections and CLE. We look forward to you renewing your membership for 2025/26 and we look forward to welcoming new members too. Join today.