Lawyer fails in bid to have conduct complaint thrown out

Donna Hall. Photo / Martin Sykes

High-profile lawyer Donna Hall has lost a review case to throw out a complaint about her conduct related to a land transaction in the central North Island.

In December the Legal Complaints Review Officer confirmed an earlier decision by the Wellington Standards Committee to lay charges.

Any conduct charges - none has been laid yet - would be heard by the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal which has the power to strike lawyers from the bar.

Documents obtained by the Weekend Herald show that in May last year the standards committee advised Ms Hall that a complaint involving a Maori land trust known as Tauhara Middle 15 was of "sufficient gravity to warrant the laying of charges pursuant to [the Law Practitioners Act 1982] and that such charges should be laid with the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal."

Ms Hall applied for a review of the decision, claiming the committee "failed to support its determination with reasoning, and therefore failed to properly justify its determination."

She sought a reversal and a determination that no further action be taken in respect of the complaint.

However, in December the Legal Complaints Review Officer Owen Vaughan declined the application and upheld the standards committee's determination to lay charges.

Neither Ms Hall nor her lawyer Bill Jeffries returned calls yesterday. Mr Jeffries has said that his client's conduct would withstand any scrutiny.

The New Zealand Law Society would not comment. A spokesman said it was an offence to publish material related to the matter under the Lawyer's and Conveyancers act.

The complaint by a Tauhara Middle 15 landowner alleges conflicts of interest:

In 2007 when Ms Hall acted for trustees of Tauhara Middle 15, which was buying a 20 per cent government-owned landblock, and the vendor, Hikuwai Hapu Lands Trust.

Ms Hall acted for Tauhara Middle 15 and Tauhara Middle 4A2A in arranging for an unsecured loan of trust funds from 4A2A to the first trust. The funds helped Tauhara Middle 15 raise $1 million to pay for its 20 per cent share.

Ms Hall participated in voting and arranged powers of attorney while acting for both the trustees of Tauhara Middle 15 and vendor Hikuwai Hapu Lands Trust.The complaint also claims Ms Hall provided incompetent advice which resulted in Tauhara Middle 15 trustees breaching the terms and duties of their trust order.