ISSUE 04/2008         PRINCIPAL SPONSOR                                    IP FIRM PARTNER          FROM THE PRESIDENT You may have noticed that CLANZ has launched premium membership, to enable New Zealand’s in-house counsel to access a far greater range of member benefits and more actively engage with their association. This is outlined in more detail later in this edition of eCLANZ. On the theme of upgrade, the 2008 annual conference is fast approaching and registrations are flooding in. This year's theme of Extreme Makeover: In-house Edition will see delegates learning how to renovate their in-house legal practice and ensure they are building on solid foundations. To guarantee your place on 15 and 16 May in Rotorua register for the one conference you don't want to miss. Keynote speakers Peri Drysdale, Hamish Carter and Alan Patching will provide the inspiration while the elite of New Zealand's chief legal advisers and in-house counsel will provide insight and advice on being the best in-house lawyer you can be. The conference will also host the 2008 CLANZ AGM at which a new committee will be elected. If you wish to get involved in your representative organisation, download a committee nomination form or feel free to contact me about joining the team. The 2008 CLANZ Awards will be presented at conference in three award categories: CLANZ-LexisNexis Corporate Lawyer of the Year, CLANZ-Bell Gully Young Corporate Lawyer of the Year and the CLANZ-Wigley & Company Community Contribution Award. Our generous sponsors have ensured these awards will truly benefit the recipients or in the case of the community award, the community organisation assisted by the recipient. Download an awards nomination form to nominate yourself or someone whose contribution you admire. I look forward to seeing you at our 21st annual conference in Rotorua on 15 and 16 May and to welcoming you as a premium member of CLANZ. Helen Mackay - CLANZ President PS. Premium membership gives you a greater discount off conference registration than the cost of the membership itself so why wouldn't you join?   CLANZ 21st Annual Conference, 15-16 May - Extreme Makeover In-House Edition The premier event for in-house counsel. Stimulating and educational, the program will deliver the opportunity for each attendee to receive their own “makeover”, to take new and fresh ideas back to employers and colleagues. Described as the most important gathering of in-house lawyers for the year, the conference presents you the opportunity to meet with colleagues over two days of learning, discussion and networking. CLANZ's 21st annual conference will also be celebrated with a gala coming of age dinner on the Friday evening. > Conference details > Online registration Online salary calculator Another huge response to Team Factors’ legal salary survey, supported by CLANZ and Thomson-Brookers, saw participation from thousands of lawyers across the legal profession in law firm and in-house roles. Participants who completed the survey and left their details have been provided with exclusive free access to core results, including the ability to search across in-house positions and compare reported private practice base remuneration as well as in-house base remuneration rates by public/private sector, years of experience and key roles. Premium membership CLANZ membership remains free, but a new category of premium membership will help your association deliver more benefits. As well as additional benefits available for premium members, the first year’s fees will in effect be free for many members. Traditionally, CLANZs funding has come from conference income and sponsorship. The new premium membership will cost $150 plus GST per year, entitling those members to a greater discount on conference fees and various other benefits. CLANZ President Helen Mackay says the move to introduce a level of paid membership has been made in anticipation of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act coming into force on 1 July and from the need to engage more actively with the membership. "We will be using the membership revenue to provide even more benefit for premium members and have made the decision to join a 'no-brainer' in the first year by discounting the conference attendance by more than the membership fee.” Read more 'Free' premium membership opportunities Going to conference? Become a premium member for $150+gst and save $200+gst on the conference registration – that’s more than the cost of your annual premium membership fee. Investing in the ACLA/CLANZ Legal Department Benchmarking Report 2008 for your legal department? Members save $300+gst off the purchase price of the full Report. Premium members ordering the Report in April and May will also save another $150+gst off the non-participant price – so if you also attend conference you will save the cost of your premium membership fee more than twice. In-house Counsel Awards 2008 The 2008 CLANZ Awards will be made on Thursday 16th May 2008 at the 21st Annual CLANZ Conference in Rotorua. Each award recognises a different aspect of the valuable contribution that in-house lawyers make to the legal profession and to the wider community. The CLANZ–LEXISNEXIS Corporate Lawyer of the Year is awarded to an in-house lawyer who has made a valuable contribution to their employer and the profession. The CLANZ–Bell Gully Young Corporate Lawyer of the Year and $5000 scholarship package is awarded to an in-house lawyer who has made an outstanding contribution to their employer and who has clearly demonstrated their leadership or potential leadership within New Zealand’s in-house legal profession. The CLANZ–Wigley & Company Community Contribution Award is awarded to an in-house lawyer who has made an outstanding contribution to the community. The award winner will have $7,000 paid to their chosen cause. These corporate lawyers are unsung heroes and their work often goes unrecognised. Read more Detailed information and data-rich resources help organisations develop and refine strategies to save legal costs and improve efficiencies and effectiveness. Based on extensive research with general counsel of organisations that together spend over $1 billion on legal costs each year. “...a huge collection of metrics hitting just about every performance point a legal department needs to make.” National Business Review “...core benchmarking findings to assist legal department leaders ...to better manage their legal departments and their legal spend.” NZ Lawyer “...detailed information... that could help save organisations millions of dollars in legal costs.” Simon Tupman Discounts for CLANZ members $300+gst discount for all CLANZ members NEW To coincide with premium membership, an additional $150+gst discount from the non-participant price of the full Report effectively makes your first year’s CLANZ premium membership free. Simply confirm your premium membership when ordering your copy of the ACLA/CLANZ Legal Department Benchmarking Report 2008 in April or May to qualify for a combined $450+gst discount. Full details and media commentary CLANZ receives royalties from sales of the ACLA/CLANZ Legal Department Benchmarking Report 2008. Why law departments struggle to improve productivity Legal commentator Andrew Davis is not surprised that general counsel overwhelmingly view workload/time pressure as the most pressing issue they face. While Davis agrees that process improvements can potentially deliver millions of dollars in savings, he says that relatively few law departments actually manage to improve their productivity and thereby reduce the workload of their lawyers. Mr Davis lists five reasons why some law departments are unable to unlock these savings Read more More media commentary Legal Counsel Executive Development program - now in NZ You’re an experienced in-house legal professional working closely with the senior executive team or at a senior level in the business. You wish to develop your management and leadership competence to provide a legal service that clearly adds strategic value to the business and ensures you progress your career. Senior New Zealand counsel previously travelled overseas for this program; it’s now available in New Zealand. Legal counsel are increasingly expected to demonstrate cross-functional management skills, business savvy and effective leadership behaviours. IKD has been conducting the flagship Legal Counsel Executive Development residential program since 2000 with consistently outstanding feedback. Delivered in two parts at the Hilton Hotel, Auckland, 23-25 June and 11-12 August 2008. Discount available for CLANZ members. Course details and registration Big law firm adds dedicated in-house section  CLANZ Sponsor Bell Gully has added a new section on their website dedicated to articles and other information of interest for in-house counsel. The content will be regularly updated with short summaries and links to items of interest Read more   Free IP hotline for CLANZ members Need help with an IP issue? Want quick, practical IP information? Call the A J Park IP hotline for 10 minutes of free, general IP information. The numbers to call are: Commercial (Mark Hargreaves) (04) 474 0999 Trade marks (Alan Potter) (09) 353 8226 Copyright (Simon Fogarty) (04) 498 3435 Patents (Matt Devine) (09) 353 8220 AJ Park’s experts will give you the short answer to your IP questions to set you in the right direction.  Conditions: The A J Park IP hotline is for general IP information over the phone only. Mention that you are using the A J Park IP hotline when you make a call. Because of potential conflicts, questions should not relate to a specific dispute. AJ Park may decline to give information at their discretion, and may cancel the A J Park IP hotline at any time. Left to right: Mark Hargreaves, Alan Potter, Simon Fogarty, Matt Devine Do you know your blog from your wiki? A new blog called Online + Lawful discusses web-related legal issues, with a practical take on the law for those involved in planning, setting up, operating and maintaining websites, and a particular focus on social media websites. The site also explains various social media tools – including blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, etc - and links to web-related legal news from around the world – and will be of particular interest to lawyers involved with internet law and social media Recent articles and updates for in-house counsel • Reverse sensitivity in the spotlight (Bell Gully) • Re-thinking Auckland - The Royal Commission on Auckland Governance (Chapman Tripp) • Beware the comity of transtasman nations: Australia’s hunt for cartel criminals extends overseas (Chapman Tripp) • Lessons learned in employment law (Bell Gully) • Bell Gully competition specialists contribute international chapter (Bell Gully) • Hawke’s Bay health conflicts: lessons for the public sector (Bell Gully) • James & Wells contribute to Getting the Deal Through - Patents 2008 (James & Wells) • Financial adviser regulation: phase one complete but much more to come (Bell Gully) • Get the truth across clearly (A J Park) • Patterns of deception (A J Park) • New Zealand PPPs - work in progress (Bell Gully) • Do it once and do it right: message for developers (Bell Gully) From InsideoutLegal Other sites with in-house articles and resources CLANZ – Your representative association ACLA – Australian Corporate Lawyers Association (membership required for some materials) ACC – Association of Corporate Counsel (membership required) InsideOutLegal – a confluence of NZ legal materials (free) (see below) Team Factors – articles, research and other resources (free and paid) International Law Office – free legal newsletters in 33 areas and over 100 countries New rules fail to recognise modern work practices At its meeting in March the NZLS Board approved Rules of Conduct and Client Care to be referred to the Minister of Justice that when promulgated will have the force of regulations.  Despite CLANZ submissions that the rules should at least reflect the current reality of in-house counsel contracted to fill parental leave and other temporary positions, and preferably also to facilitate the continued development of greater workplace flexibility, the new rules recognise as lawyers only those in-house counsel employed under contracts of service, not those engaged under contracts for service.  This rule requires contracted in-house counsel to be qualified to practise on their own account. This means that some lawyers wishing to practice solely as in-house counsel will be required instead to set up as private practitioners, with its attendant bureaucratic requirements and cost, in order NOT to practice as private practitioners. If you have any questions about your own position, please contact your local district law society. Greens are the new black New Zealand in-house counsel put the law into lawn bowls, with the inaugural CLANZ-Bell Gully LAWn Bowls Championships in Auckland and Wellington.   In action: James Radcliffe, CLANZ Auckland events coordinator, and his Wellington CLANZ counterpart, Richard Best The Wellington event on March 6 under blue skies at the Victoria Bowling Club, tucked into the side of Mt Victoria, attracted around 80 bowlers. The winning team of Angela Duncan (Land Transport) and Susan Price (IRD), along with Bell Gully’s Chris Fogarty, were presented with the trophy. Prizes also went to the runners-up team led by CLANZ Wellington events coordinator Richard Best (SSC), CLANZ treasurer Rob Wells (BDO Spicers), Alistair Henry (Reserve Bank) and Nerissa Barber (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), with Heidi Leslie of Bell Gully. In third place were the Commerce Commission team of Bret Carter, Jacqui Eves, Ruth Nichols, joined by Bruce Young of IRD. Wellington's winning team was led by Angela Duncan of Land Transport and Susan Price of IRD. Nerissa Barber of the Ministry of culture and Heritage in action on the Wellington greens. In Auckland, the West End Bowling Club in Herne Bay hosted more lawyers in one hit than previously in its almost 100-year history with an enthusiastic turn-out on the greens on February 28. First place and the Auckland trophy was presented by Bell Gully chairman Roger Partridge to clear competition winners Westpac Legal – Mark Brent, Paul Lynch, Jason Moss and Juliet Lawson. Juliet also took a prize for bowl of the night, after landing a show-stopping first bowl of the end right alongside the jack. Westpac Legal, winners of the first CLANZ-Bell Gully LAWn Bowls Spot prizes were also awarded to two teams who brought costuming to the competition – the Manukau City Council team and Southern Cross Healthcare, also runners-up in the Auckland bowling action.   EVENTS   IT Contracts Forum – 2 free tickets and 10% discount for CLANZ members LexisNexis is offering CLANZ members two free tickets (on a first-come, first-served basis) and otherwise a 10% discount on its forthcoming IT Contracts Forum on 18 April 2008 at the James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel in Wellington. Topics include • IT, Telecommunication and Internet Contracts • Drafting IT Contracts to Avoid Disputes • Outcomes-Focused Service Level Agreements • Managing Force Majeure Non-performance and Delay • Social Media and the Law • 2008: The Year of the Panel Contract • IP Issues for IT There will also be open forum opportunities for questions to be answered by panel members. To see if you’ve been fast enough to get a free ticket, or to take advantage of the 10% discount, contact Maria Beltran on 09 368 9502 or email seminars@lexisnexis.co.nz. Quote "CLANZ special offer" on registration. Registration details 2nd Annual Regulatory Evolution Conference This two day conference will focus on how New Zealand’s regulatory regime can be the best in the world, plus ensuring regulatory best practice, measuring the impact of red tape and regulatory reform, regulating regulation, local government regulation and engaging stakeholders when drafting regulation. 19th & 20th May 2008, Wellington Town Hall, Wellington Read more Informed. In-house. Indispensable. The world’s largest annual gathering of in-house counsel, for world-class professional development and networking. Check the diary for Seattle, 19-22 October 2008. More than 3,000 attendees are expected for the Association of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting. Restricted to in-house lawyers, join your peers from over 30 countries and a huge educational program.