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There are renewed calls from employment lawyers to regulate lay advocates following an Employment Court ruling where the judge strongly criticised the "unprofessional" and "abusive" conduct of an advocate toward the opposing party's lawyer.
The court's judgment refers to correspondence from the advocate, Lawrence Anderson, which includes making phone calls and sending texts to the opposing counsel late at night, including at 1.21am on the day the hearing was scheduled to commence and using multiple accounts to post one-star Google reviews of the lawyer.
The Law Association's Employment Law committee wants lay advocates to face rules and regulations similar to what lawyers must comply with, such as duty of care to clients.
Graeme Colgan is an experienced employment lawyer. He sat for 28 years as an Employment Court judge - the last 12 of which as the Chief Judge. Among other credentials, he is a Life Member and Patron of the Employment Law Institute of New Zealand. He says there is a need to regulate lay advocates for the benefit of the courts and its proceedings, and to protect the clients for whom these advocates represent.
