New issues were raised by lawyers, according to Grant Thornton and the Family Law Section of the Law Society
The most problematic issues faced by lawyers in relationship property cases have been revealed by a newly released study by Grant Thornton and the Family Law Section of the New Zealand Law Society (FLS).
The insights come from the “2019 New Zealand Relationship Property Survey” conducted by independent market researcher Ipsos for the advisory firm and the FLS.
Lawyers were most burdened by systemic delay in the Family Court, with 46% of respondents providing the answer. This is followed by non-disclosure of information, at 42%, which Grant Thornton says could mean uncertainty about whether the best use is being made of tools available for non-disclosure.
Dealing with unrealistic, aggressive and/or inexperienced opposing counsel, a new issue addressed by the survey, received a significant response, with 39% of respondents indicating it as a problem.
“Many hours spent with a combative and unreasonably disagreeable, or frustratingly inexperienced opposing counsel could quickly make any practitioner’s day to day job unpleasant and sometimes highly stressful. This appears to be a serious issue for the profession which could ultimately lead to people leaving family law and an area which the FLS may need to give further thought to how this might be addressed,” the study said.
That issue is followed by uncertainty around interface between relationship property and trust law (38%) and economic disparity issues (30%).
Lawyers on these cases are also challenged by dealing with unrealistic client expectations (29%), complexity of law for low-value matters (28%), and equality of arms between parties (25%). They also face dealing with self-represented litigants (10%) and sections 2D & 13 - de facto relationships & exception to equal sharing (8%).
A total of 253 practitioners completed the survey out of a total of around 1,700 possible respondents, which makes the findings highly representative, Grant Thornton and FLS said. Of those surveyed this year, 48% also participated in the prior research done in 2017.
