THE countdown to implementation of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 (LCA) is about to reach, in terms of days, the "ten, nine, eight …" phase.

From 1 August, lawyers will operate within new and different legislation, regulations and rules.

Of major importance will be the new Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules (RCCC). These were being finalised as LawTalk was being typeset.

As soon as available, the new RCCC will be placed on the NZLS website, at www.lawyers.org.nz/lawyersconveyancers.asp. From 1 August, it will be available on the society's new website, www.lawsociety.org.nz.

The new rules will replace the Rules of Professional Conduct for Barristers and Solicitors (7th edition), as published in 2006.

They will provide for, among other things, standards of conduct and client care, the requirement that lawyers provide clients in advance with information on the principal aspects of client service, the kinds of conduct for which a lawyer or former lawyer may be disciplined, and conditional fee agreements.

All lawyers should make themselves familiar with these rules.

Documentation to assist lawyers to comply with the RCCC is also provided at www.lawyers.org.nz/lawyersconveyancers.asp.

Three PDF documents are available for download.

One is entitled Information for Clients and the form contains the information that the RCCC states must be provided to clients at the outset of an engagement. Another is a sample Standard Terms of Engagement form.

Once a law practice has settled its Terms of Engagement form and completed the Information for Clients form, all variables relating to a particular retainer can then normally be set out in the letter of engagement. A letter of engagement is the third document available on the NZLS website.

Eight sets of regulations that will come into effect on 1 August have also been gazetted, and links to these are available on the NZLS website, again at www.lawyers.org.nz/lawyersconveyancers.asp.

These regulations, which are also available on the New Zealand Legislation website, www.legislation.govt.nz, cover: Practice Rules; Trust Accounts; Fidelity Fund; Complaints Service and Standards Committees; Legal Complaints Review Officer; Disciplinary Tribunal; Senior Counsel and Queen's Counsel; and Admission.

The next issue of LawTalk has a publication date of 4 August, though most districts post out their copies so that practitioners will receive it the Friday before that, which happens to be 1 August – the implementation date for the LCA. This issue will, in a special feature, cover in detail the changes the LCA brings for the profession.