Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006

Complaints and discipline - Complaints

146: Investigations by investigators

You could also call this:

"Looking into complaints about lawyers or conveyancers"

Illustration for Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006

You can make a complaint about a lawyer or conveyancer. A Standards Committee looks into your complaint. They can ask an investigator to help them. The investigator looks into your complaint and related matters. They write a report about what they find. You can think of a related matter as something that is connected to your complaint. The investigator can look at accounts, including trust accounts. They can look at accounts kept by the lawyer or conveyancer you complained about. They can also look at accounts kept by people or companies related to the lawyer or conveyancer. The investigator writes a report saying if they think someone broke the rules. They say if they think the lawyer or conveyancer, or someone related to them, broke the rules. They also say if they think someone who works for the lawyer or conveyancer broke the rules.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM366184.

This page was last updated on 4 January 2026 — View changes

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145: Instrument of appointment, or

"A document that proves you are allowed to be an investigator under the law."

147: Powers of investigation, or

"Investigating complaints about lawyers and conveyancers"

Part 7Complaints and discipline
Complaints

146Investigations by investigators

A Standards Committee may, for the purpose of inquiring into any complaint or matter, require an investigator appointed under section 144(1)—
to inquire into the complaint or matter and any matters related to, or arising from, the complaint or matter; and
to furnish to the Standards Committee a report on the complaint or matter and any such related matters.

The investigator may, in inquiring into, and reporting on, the complaint or matter and any such related matters,—
examine (among other things) any accounts (including trust accounts) kept—
1. by a practitioner or former practitioner; or
2. by a person who, or body that, is or was, in relation to a practitioner, a related person or entity; or
3. by an incorporated firm or former incorporated firm; and
state (among other things), in his or her report, the investigator's opinion on the question whether there are reasonable grounds to suspect that a breach of any of the provisions of this Act or the practice rules has been committed—
1. by a practitioner or former practitioner; or
2. by a person who, or body that, is, or was, in relation to a practitioner, a related person or entity; or
3. by an incorporated firm or former incorporated firm; or
4. by a person who is not a practitioner but who is an employee or former employee of a practitioner or an incorporated firm.