Hi all,
Gay, Jan, Frances and Anne were talking on Wednesday about the difficult position we are regarding our legal representation in the future.
We have a suggestion to make. 1/ We meet next on 6 June (next Thursday) 2/ At that meeting we have no discussion about the the lawyer we will use, but we do hold a straw poll on the minute "That we continue to engage Helen Davidson as lawyer for the project, moving our business from McMillan & Co." If there is no strong opposition, then it could go on the agenda for the next regular meeting. 3/ If there is strong opposition, then at the 6 June meeting we agree to have an extraordinary meeting, which those who do not hold strong opinions are not expected to attend unless they wish to. At that meeting the only agenda item would be to reach a consensus on how we proceed with legal representation from this point.
We identified some questions which we wanted to have answered. Others have given us responses as noted below: *1/ Does Kiwibank have a requirement or an opinion regarding whether or not we can change lawyers?* *"* I don't believe they should have any say on who we choose to use as a lawyer. I think they will understand us changing if we decide to given the circumstances. They just need to have a qualified lawyer to sign off routine paperwork." *2/ What costs would be incurred if we move a trust account?* There should be no costs associated with moving the Trust account, according to Law Society rules - same as documentation - see below. *3/ Who currently holds our legal documentation?* Kiwibank holds all the financial documentation originals, with other documents at McMillan, UCOL holds original of company documents. An Authority to UpLift would be the process to move the documents to another firm and there should be no charges for a client to collect the client's documents on request according to Law Society rules. *4/ What back-up administrative support will be made available if 'our' lawyer is incapacitated at some point?*
If we do find that we need to have an extraordinary meeting, we would also ask the small group to circulate before the meeting a list of the pros and cons as they identified them, for everyone to consider. Others may have other questions they also want addressed.
It would be useful to meet on 6 June in light of the induction workshop on Saturday 8 June, Currently there are 6 interested parties planning to attend, 3 in Dunedin and 3 traveling from Auckland or New Plymouth, 3 interested in the 2/3 bedroom unit and 3 in the 1 bedroom unit. I have been telling people that the workshop is 2-4pm, with a meal to follow at 5pm.
*Please would you let us know how you respond to our suggestion, and whether or not you would be able to come to a regular meeting on Thursday 6 June, next week.* Thanks, Anne