No-frills lawyer 'as effective' as high-powered counterparts

An Auckland-based "no-frills" defence lawyer says he can provide legal services as effectively as high-powered counterparts who have fancy offices and several staff.

Peter Eastwood says sole practitioners, colloquially known as "car boot lawyers", provide good service and are value for money. "You can run a very lean ship if you don't have a plush office and a boardroom."

The lawyer, who has worked independently for 15 years, says having an expensive office and fulltime secretary would mean higher overheads, which would increase costs that were passed on to clients and the Government.

His comments yesterday follow the release of a discussion document this week by Dame Margaret Bazley, who said the criminal legal-aid system was failing and was characterised by "inefficiency and poor service".

Mr Eastwood has a small office in Herne Bay but said he could understand why some lawyers used their cars as mobile offices, particularly if they needed to be in more than one court a day.

He said he met clients at the Auckland District Court before their appearances because a lot of people found legal offices intimidating and would prefer to meet at court.

Laptops and Blackberrys allowed lawyers to be mobile, and that didn't mean clients weren't given effective representation. "A lean, no-frills, self-employed barrister is very much consistent with the millennium. They're mobile managers," he said.

In Auckland, where legal aid bills are higher, 77 per cent of legal aid criminal cases are handled by sole practitioners.

Asked about Dame Margaret's comment that a small but significant group of lawyers were overcommitting themselves and not turning up to cases, Mr Eastwood said: "Lawyers are often seeing a number of different clients in a number of courts, so engage in a juggling exercise."

He believed that the public defence service could help independent lawyers by allowing them to use its facilities like researchers and para-legals do.

He recognised there were advantages to working with several lawyers and being able to share problems with colleagues, but said a "robust, independent bar" was important, otherwise "everyone became a state servant".

"Most defence lawyers are conscientious and idealistic and believe in the responsibility they have in standing up for the little guy - the sort of people corporate lawyers wouldn't have in their offices."

RAKING IT IN

Top 10 legal aid payments in the year to June
* Charl Hirschfeld, barrister, Auckland: $2,186,870
* M.P. Reed, QC, Wellington: $1,872,526
* Rainey Collins, Wellington: $1,870,258
* Kensington Swan, Wellington: $1,632,416
* Cooper Legal, Wellington: $1,453,737
* Tamaki Legal, Manukau City: $1,262,338
* Shane Tait, barrister, Manukau City: $1,131.822
* G. J. King, barrister, Wellington: $1,006,839
* Thomas Dewar Sziranyi Letts, Lower Hutt: $934,240
* Wackrow Williams & Davies, Auckland: $804,953