Professor Kate Diesfeld, Professor Lois Surgenor, Associate Professor Marta Rychert, Dr Kate Kersey, Ms Olivia Kelly
1Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand, 2University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand, 3SHORE & Whariki Research Centre, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand, 4University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand, 5Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
Biography:
Professor Diesfeld has held legal advocacy roles with disabled people in multiple countries and academic roles have included Kent School (England), University of Waikato and Auckland University of Technology. She co-edited Involuntary Detention and Therapeutic Jurisprudence (2003) and Elder Law in New Zealand (2014). She is a Fellow of the American College of Legal Medicine and Convenor of The Law Association’s Mental Health and Disability Committee. She is a Steering Group member at Aotearoa Disability Law and holds editorial roles for Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, and LAWS. She is a Marsden Fund Principal Investigator: “A rehabilitation model for professional discipline”.
Abstract:
Lawyers who are disciplined for misconduct are often given a “second chance” by disciplinary bodies. This opportunity typically has rehabilitative conditions that are designed to promote lawyers’ future safe practice. Conditions offered to other disciplined professionals often include training, education, mentorship, supervision, health assessment and corresponding interventions. Our study will craft a rehabilitation model for professional discipline and is supported by the New Zealand Royal Society Marsden Fund. Through quantitative and qualitative research, we inquired how rehabilitation features in the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal. Disciplined lawyers themselves have views on the optimum approach to their rehabilitation. In our interviews, one reported: “Lawyers don’t look after their own well”. This analysis combines their views with constructive insights from representatives of the Tribunal, regulatory bodies, supervisors and mentors. We contemplate diverse approaches to humane and restorative discipline of lawyers, including therapeutic jurisprudence, trauma-informed professional regulation, and Victoria’s “Lawyer Wellbeing Systems Theory of Change”. Engagement with international advocates and scholars will enrich our final model of rehabilitation.