Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006

Complaints and discipline - Procedure

243: Power to refer bill of costs to Standards Committee

You could also call this:

"The Tribunal can check if a lawyer's bill is fair by sending it to a Standards Committee."

Illustration for Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006

You are involved in a case with the Disciplinary Tribunal about a complaint of overcharging by a lawyer or law firm. The Tribunal can send the lawyer's or law firm's bill of costs to a Standards Committee if they think it is unfair. They can do this even if they make another order under section 242. You need to know the Standards Committee will look at the bill of costs and make a decision based on section 156. This means they will decide what to do with the bill as if they were dealing with a complaint about it. The Standards Committee's decision is separate from any other order the Tribunal might make under section 242. The Tribunal's power to send a bill to the Standards Committee does not limit their power under section 242. This means they can still make other decisions in the case. The Standards Committee will make their decision based on the information they have.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM366798.

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

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Part 7Complaints and discipline
Procedure

243Power to refer bill of costs to Standards Committee

This section applies in relation to any case that is before the Disciplinary Tribunal and arises wholly or partly out of a complaint of overcharging by a practitioner or former practitioner or an incorporated firm or former incorporated firm.
If, in any case to which this section applies, the Disciplinary Tribunal considers that the practitioner's or former practitioner's or incorporated firm's or former incorporated firm's bill of costs in respect of any matter to which the complaint relates is unfair or unreasonable, the Disciplinary Tribunal may, whether or not it makes an order under section 242, order that the bill be referred to a Standards Committee.
The Standards Committee must, after considering the bill of costs, make such order or orders under section 156 as it would have made under that section if it had determined a complaint in respect of that bill of costs.
This section does not limit section 242.

Compare

1982 No 123 s 112(4)