Lawyer's role in land sale under scrutiny

Lawyer Donna Hall. File photo / NZ Herald

High-profile lawyer Donna Hall is being investigated for her part in a transaction where she acted on behalf of a group buying Government land while also representing a trust which had a hand in selling it.

The Herald understands a complaint has been lodged with the Wellington District Law Society by a land owner alleging Ms Hall had a conflict of interest.

Ms Hall is a prominent Waitangi Treaty lawyer and is the partner of Justice Sir Eddie Durie. A barrister acting for Ms Hall, Bill Jeffrief, confirmed the Law Society complaint was being investigated and said her conduct would withstand any scrutiny.

The complaint relates to land previously owned by the state-owned enterprise Landcorp.

Ms Hall and her firm Woodward Law were instrumental in a deal which would see various Maori land trusts, whose owners are of Ngati Tuwharetoa descent, buying properties from Landcorp.

In June 2007, land trusts Tauhara Middle 15 and the Opepe Farm Trust jointly purchased a block near Taupo for $5 million.

The property's ownership was split 20 per cent to 80 per cent respectively.

Tauhara Middle raised its $1 million share by mortgaging its land, using cash reserves and obtaining a loan from another Maori land trust, Tauhara 4A2A.

The purchase was to be facilitated by yet another private trust, registered with the Charities Commission, known as the Hikuwai Hapu Lands Trust.

Three of the trusts (Tauhara Middle, Tauhara 4A2A and Hikuwai Hapu Lands Trust) shared three trustees.

In a Maori Land Court decision in 2008 to decide whether those trustees should retain their positions on Tauhara Middle 15, Judge Lane Harvey touched on the relationship between Woodward Law and the trusts.

"All three trusts were apparently advised or at the very least encouraged by the same solicitors over the key decision on whether or not to enter into the purchase of Tauhara North.

"While other solicitors may have acted on the actual settlement, the minutes and correspondence make it plain that Ms Hall and Mr [Martin] Taylor played an important if not crucial role in providing information to the meetings and expressing support for the proposals."

Independent advice from solicitors who expressly warned trustees about a conflict of interest and high level of risk associated with the investment was ultimately ignored.

Judge Harvey said: "With hindsight it is no doubt easier to see that it would have been preferable for all the parties that every aspect of the Hikuwai proposal was dealt with completely transparently at arm's length and without any hint of conflict by the trustees or their advisers.

"If that had occurred, then any suggestion of conflict of interest would be untenable."

Mr Jeffrief said Ms Hall had done nothing wrong - and in fact trustees had benefited by an increase in the farm's value from $5 million to $8 million.