20 April 2012
By Southland Branch
Southland lawyers have the opportunity to participate in a special NZLS CLE Ltd one-hour webinar aimed at clarifying the complex issues around rural succession planning.
Succession Planning for Rural Practitioners will be presented on 8 June for one hour from 11:00am. It will look at how practitioners who advise agricultural families ... More about Guiding your clients through rural succession planning.
20 April 2012
By Southland Branch
The Law Society's legal education company NZLS CLE Ltd is planning two webinars to give Southland lawyers valuable information on new and planned legislation.
Webinars enable anyone - no matter where they are located - to hear presentations on a particular topic, view PowerPoint slides and type in questions ... More about Webinars offer chance to learn about new legislation.
10 April 2012
By Southland Branch
Gore District Council, Invercargill City Council, and Southland District Council will host a Youth in Local Government Leadership Conference in Invercargill from Wednesday 18 April to Friday 20 April 2012.
It is relevant to council staff such as policy makers, youth advocates and those working in community development teams and in other arenas ... More about Youth in Local Government Leadership Conference.
17 February 2012
By Southland Branch
A 150-minute videoconference to update property lawyers on developments in the Property Law Act 2007 is to be held in Invercargill on 1 May 2012.
The videoconference is being run by the New Zealand Law Society’s continuing legal education arm, NZLS CLE Ltd. It will be held in Invercargill if a minimum ... More about Invercargill venue for Property Law Act update.
16 February 2012
By Southland Branch
The Ministry of Justice has released an update on Balclutha District Court, which was closed in late November 2011 after engineering experts warned there was a high risk of partial or full collapse in a significant seismic event.
The ministry says seismic assessments have been conducted on alternative venues in the ... More about Balclutha District Court arrangements updated.
16 January 2012
By Southland Branch
Information released by the Department of Building and Housing's Weathertight Homes Resolution Service shows there was 1 active claims covering 1 property in the Southland branch region at 8 January 2012.
The Department has received 6691 claims lodged for 9329 properties and completed assessments for 10, 204 properties nationally.
Under the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service ... More about Only one leaky home claim in Southland.
15 December 2011
By Southland Branch
Southern Region
Supreme Court
Closes: 5pm, Friday 23 December
Opens: 9am, Monday 9 January
Court of Appeal
Closes: 3pm, Friday 23 December
Opens: 9am, Monday 9 January
High Courts
Blenheim, Christchurch, Dunedin, Greymouth, Invercargill, Masterton, Nelson, Timaru, Wellington
Close: 5pm, Friday 23 December
Open: 9am, Wednesday 4 January
District Courts
Blenheim, Christchurch, Dunedin, Greymouth, Invercargill, Nelson, ... More about Court holiday dates, Christmas-New Year 2011-12.
1 December 2011
By Southland Branch
The Ministry of Justice has announced that hearings at Balclutha District Court will be transfered to Gore while earthquake strengthening work is carried out.
The closure of the Balclutha courtroom is effective from 1 December 2011. The ministry says current indications are that the work will take up to 12 months to complete.
... More about Balclutha District Court hearings transfer to Gore.
29 November 2011
By Southland Branch
The Otago Southland Branch Conference weekend began on a very cold and snowy Friday with a luncheon to celebrate those who have been admitted for 30 years or more, and it was a great way to catch up with colleagues and friends.
On Saturday 5 November, members from the Otago and Southland ... More about Successful Otago Southland Branch Conference.
16 November 2011
By Southland Branch
Queenstown and Auckland environmental law specialist firm, North South Environmental Law (NSEL), has won the Resource Management and Environment Law Award at the 7th annual New Zealand Law Awards 2011 last Thursday. The winning law firms were selected by popular vote by their clients.
NSEL director Robert Makgill said, when accepting ... More about Queenstown law firm wins major law award.
27 October 2011
By Southland Branch
The Department of Building and Housing has released the Invercargill City Council technical report.
It sets out the key findings and recommendations from a technical review of the building control operations of the council.
The on-site stage of the review process was undertaken by the Department of Building and ... More about DBH releases Invercargill City Council technical report.
20 October 2011
By Southland Branch
Information released by the Department of Building and Housing's Weathertight Homes Resolution Service shows that there was an active claim covering a property in the Southland region at 30 September 2011.
As at 30 September 2011 the Department has received 6582 claims lodged for 9077 properties and completed assessments for 9651 properties nationally.
A total of 328 ... More about Only one leaky building claim in Southland.
19 October 2011
By Southland Branch
The annual combined Otago and Southland Branches conference will be held at the Queenstown District Court on Staurday 5 November 2011 followed by a conference dinner with the guest of honour being Justice Whata and Associate Judge Matthews. Early bird reduced rate registration is still available until October 7.
The Conference takes place ... More about Last chance for early registrations for the 2011 Otago / Southland Conference.
18 October 2011
By Southland Branch
The Association of Dispute Resolvers, Leader has posted advance notice of 2012 mediation workshop dates on its website.
The dates for the workshops are as follows:
Auckland 20-24 March 2012 & Auckland 6-10 November 2012
Wellington 19-23 June 2012
South Island 14-18 August 2012
For expressions of interest, contact the LEADR ... More about Leader workshops 2012.
12 October 2011
By Southland Branch
Southland councils processed 96% of their resource consent applications on schedule in the year ended June 2011.
The region has done slightly better than the national council average which is 95%.
10% of the regions application deadlines were extended through the use of section 37.
Nationally during 2010-2011, 36 154 resource consent applications were processed through to ... More about 96% of region's resource consent applications processed on time.
20 September 2011
By Southland Branch
Southland will be expected to implement a single report for presentation of information required under the Sentencing Act 2002 to Invercargill courts from 1 March 2012.
The Department of Corrections' Community Probation Services (CPS) says it has implemented a new Integrated Practice Framework (IPF) for the management of parole, home detention, release on ... More about New court sentencing reports .
8 September 2011
By Southland Branch
Gift duty will be repealed from 1 October 2011, but lawyers are being warned that they shouldn’t automatically advise clients to forgive any outstanding debts owed to them by a family trust.
Doing so could result in clients becoming ineligible for means-tested benefits in the future, including the residential care subsidy. ... More about Webinar to assess implications of gift duty repeal.
17 August 2011
By Southland Branch
Information released by the Department of Building and Housing's Weathertight Homes Resolution Service shows that there was 1 active claims covering 1 properties in the Southland branch area at 2 August 2011.
The building was located in Invercargill.
Nationally at 2 August 2011, there were 1, 809 active claims (up from 1,792 at 31 June 2011) covering 4,317 properties (4,317 at 31 ... More about Only one leaky building claim in Southland.
16 August 2011
By Southland Branch
New Zealand Law Society information on practising certificates on issue at 1 August 2011 shows that Southland branch has 1.1% of New Zealand's lawyers.
Of the 128 practising certificates held by Southland lawyers, 76 are held by men and 52 by women - meaning 59% of Southland lawyers are men. This is slightly above the national ... More about 1% of New Zealand lawyers based in Southland.
16 August 2011
By Southland Branch
The Southland District Council will be able to charge a visitor levy on people travelling to Stewart Island/Rakiura under legislation before Parliament.
The Local Government and Environment Committee has released its report on the Southland District Council (Stewart Island/Rakiura Visitor Levy) Empowering Bill and recommends that it be ... More about Select Committee report on visitor levy to Stewart Island/Rakiura .
12 August 2011
By Southland Branch
Information on residential dwelling unit sales released by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand shows that sales in Southland in July 2011 were an impressive 29.4% up on July 2010.
Year-to-date, there have been 906 sales in Southland, which is 2.5% ahead of the first 7 months of 2010.
As an indicator of the value of ... More about Southland residential conveyancing shows rise.
5 August 2011
By Southland Branch
Invercargill barrister and solicitor Sarah Dowie has been appointed to the Lottery Otago/Southland Community Distribution Committee. Ms Dowie is a senior solicitor with Macalisters and is involved in Playcentre and local sport.
Her appointment is one of five to lotteries boards and committees announced by Internal Affairs Minister ... More about Invercargill lawyer appointed to Lottery distribution committee.
3 August 2011
By Southland Branch
Southland lawyers have been invited to attend Financial Awareness Week seminars and networking functions.
This year the week, designed to raise awareness of the value of professional advice, falls from runs from the 15 - 19 August. The Institute of Financial Advisers (IFA) runs the events.
Recent legislative changes have lifted the ... More about Invitation to Financial Awareness Week seminars.
21 July 2011
By Southland Branch
The Department of Labour is reporting that most regions experienced growth in advertised skilled vacancies in the month of June 2011. Growth was the strongest in the South Island - except Canterbury (up 12.0%) and the North Island - except Auckland and Wellington (up 7.3%). There was a small drop in job vacancies ... More about Strongest growth in skilled vacancies in South.
13 July 2011
By Southland Branch
This year’s Otago branch conference will come together with the Southland branchand will be held at the Queenstown District Court on 5 November.
As well as a series of seminars during the day, there will be a dinner in the evening.
Planning of the programme and the dinner is ... More about Diary the big Queenstown conference.
12 July 2011
By Southland Branch
Drawing the Line: Ethics in Sport is the theme for the Australia and New Zealand Sports Law Association (ANZSLA) annual conference.
Queenstown will host this year's event at the Crowne Plaza 12-14 October. It is centrally located with views over Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables mountain range.
Sessions this ... More about Ethics in Sport conference to be held in Queenstown.
6 July 2011
By Southland Branch
Information released by the Department of Building and Housing's Weathertight Homes Resolution Service shows there is only one active claim in the Southland region at 31 June 2011.
The claim is situated in the Invercargill District Council zone.
Nationally at the end of June 2011, there were 1,792 active claims (down from 1,825 at 31 ... More about Only one leaky building claim in Southland.
1 July 2011
By Southland Branch
Next week will see at least one new lawyer holding a practising certificate in Southland.
On 5 July, Elliot Mitchell, who is straight out of Otago University law school, will have a morning tea at the law society library to celebrate his admission to the society.
Southland branch manager Janine McMurdo ... More about New admissions to Southland Law Society.
29 June 2011
By Southland Branch
The Invercargill court house is now officially part of the Southland legal fraternity with Judges, lawyers, and the Attorney General turning up to an opening function.
Chris Finlayson joined Judge Flatley, Judge Phillips, Justice French, retired Judge Anderson and 87 lawyers, to an opening of the new courthouse.
There is also ... More about Legal fraternity gathers for courthouse opening.
27 June 2011
By Southland Branch
The Ministry of Justice is seeking expressions of interest from suitably qualified persons who would like to be considered for appointment as Visiting Justices in the Southland region.
Under section 19(2) of the Corrections Act 2004, the Governor-General may, on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice, appoint any Justice of the ... More about Expressions of interest sought for two Southland Visiting Justice positions.
15 June 2011
By Southland Branch
Lawyers are invited to attend a NZLS CLE Ltd webinar on asset planning - the impact of the Ministry of Social Development's means assessment.
Live to your computer on 21 July the seminar delivered via the internet will address questions surrounding what the Ministry of Social Development takes into account ... More about Asset planning webinars.
15 June 2011
By Southland Branch
NZLS CLE Ltd is providing lawyers with the opportunity to learn more about the Unit Titles Act 2010.
This heralds a significant change in the property market and along with the explosion of unit title developments a significant numbers of residents come under the ambit of this Act.
They, along ... More about Unit Titles Act seminars.
15 June 2011
By Southland Branch
The NZLS CLE Ltd are hosting a series of seminars and video-conferences on Evidence for Family Lawyers at the end of this month.
The Family Court has become riddled with hearsay, opinion, propensity and irrelevant evidence leading to unnecessary delays, expense, frustration and irritation on the part of other ... More about Seminars on evidence for family lawyers.
14 June 2011
By Southland Branch
Which forum will produce the best result for your client? When does the 10-year limitation start? How do you deal with the technical evidence?
These questions and many more will be answered at an NZLS CLE Ltd live video-conference presented by Tim Rainey and Dan Parker in Invercargill.
... More about Leaky buildings video conference.
14 June 2011
By Southland Branch
Information on residential dwelling unit sales released by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand shows that sales in Southland in May 2011 were up 17.6% on May 2010.
However, year-to-date, there have been 625 sales in Southland, which is 4.7% down on the first five months of 2010.
As an indicator of the value of ... More about Southland May residential dwelling sales ahead of May 2010.
10 June 2011
By Southland Branch
Past and present Southland lawyers are invited to the opening of the new Invercargill courthouse.
The commemorations begin on 24 June at 3PM with a tour of the new courthouse, with a photo of local judiciary and the district’s lawyers to occur on the steps of the courthouse at 345PM. ... More about Invercargill courthouse opening function.
12 May 2011
By Southland Branch
Information released by the Minister for Courts, Georgina te Heuheu, shows that average waiting times of 89 days for committal to trial at Invercargill District Court in the first quarter of 2011 were shorter than the national average of 105 days.
Mrs te Heuheu released the information in response to a series of ... More about Information released on Southland District Court waiting times.
9 May 2011
By Southland Branch
Southland employment law practitioners have an opportunity to hear from the Chief Employment Court Judge during a special NZLS CLE Ltd webinar on 3 June 2011.
“Raising Personal Grievances and Challenges – getting it right” will be held at 1:00pm. The 1-hour webinar will link all registered participants to Judge Colgan and Buddle ... More about Webinar gives key information on raising and challenging personal grievances.
4 May 2011
By Southland Branch
Information collected by the New Zealand Law Society shows that 141 lawyers held practising certificates in the Southland branch area at 1 April 2011.
This was 1.2% of all practising certificates on issue at the time (including 341 lawyers based overseas).
Details of practising certificates on issue in Southland were as follows:
Southland branch practising ... More about Southland has 1.2% of New Zealand's lawyers.
26 April 2011
By Southland Branch
A seminar explaining the Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) and aimed at professionals with clients who own forestry land will be held in 2 locations in the Southland branch during May.
“Emission Trading Scheme Forestry” has been organised by the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants. The seminar aims to provide a ... More about ETS Forestry seminar to be held in Gore and Invercargill.
15 April 2011
By Southland Branch
While the new Legal Services Act comes into force on 1 July 2011, changes announced by the government on 13 April have added further complexity to the knowledge legal aid providers need of the new system.
A NZLS CLE Ltd seminar, “Changes to Legal Aid 2011”, is being held at 23 venues around New Zealand ... More about Legal Services Act changes update essential for all Southland legal aid providers.
14 April 2011
By Southland Branch
Information on residential dwelling unit sales released by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand shows that sales in Southland in March 2011 were down 10.5% on March 2010.
Year-to-date, there have been 339 sales in Southland, which is 12.4% down on the first three months of 2010.
As an indicator of the value of residential ... More about Southland residential conveyancing statistics, March 2011.
11 April 2011
By Southland Branch
Information released by the Department of Building and Housing's Weathertight Homes Resolution Service shows that there was one active claim covering one property in the Southland branch area at 31 March 2011.
The claim was located in the Invercargill City Council area.
Nationally at the end of March 2011, there were 1,825 active ... More about Leaky building claims very rare in Southland.
8 April 2011
By Southland Branch
Southland lawyers will be able to participate in a special NZLS CLE Ltd webinar which looks at the impact of the new zero-rating regime for business-to-business land transaction.
The new regime has applied from 1 April 2011 and significantly alters the way GST is accounted for, how assets are sold and the ... More about Webinar backgrounds GST changes for land transactions .
