Law Society president dead

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33583, 11 July 1974, Page 14

Law Society president dead

(N.Z. Press Association}

WELLINGTON, July 10.

Mr William Guy Smith, president of the New Zealand Law Society, died in Colonge, Germany, today after a heart attack. He was 53.

Mr Smith, of Wellington, was elected to the presidency of the Law Society in March, and with his wife was on a world tour, during which he was to have represented New ealand at the International Bar Association’s conference in Honolulu next month. Mr Smith was educated at Rongotai College, Wellington, and Victoria University, where he gained a law de-

He served four years overseas as a lieutenant in the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve during World War 11.

In 1947, he was admitted as a barrister and solicitor at Wellington and became a partner in a Wellington law firm the next year. Mr Smith was a member of the council of the Wellington District Law Society from 1955 to 1964, and became president in 1963. He was appointed to the council and standing committee of the New Zealand Law Society in 1962, and was honorary treasurer of the national body from 1966 to 1973.

In 1973, Mr Smith was appointed president-elect of

the New Zealand Law Society and succeeded Mr S. W. W. Tong as president in March this year. He was a member of the Courts Martial Appeal Court and the Company Law Advisory Committee. “Mr Smith was a leader of men,” said a vice-president of the New Zealand Law Society, Mr L. H. Southwick, Q.C., today in a tribute. “From 1966, when he was elected treasurer of the society, he showed remarkable ability in managing the financial affairs of the society and, later, as presi-dent-elect and president, in developing the capability of the society to serve the profession and the public. “He strongly supported the profession’s efforts to have legal advice and representation provided free of charge to those who cannot afford to pay. He believed that, because lawyers are concerned, the Law Society should be seen to be concerned with the rights of all people, regardless of individual cultural backgrounds, status, and financial circumstances,” Mr Southwick said.

The president of the Canterbury District Law Society (Mr P. G. S. Penlington) said that the legal profession, and the country as a whole, had lost “a truly outstanding leader.” His election as president of the Law Society had opened a new era for law societies throughout New Zealand. Mr Smith had immediately identified with practitioners of all ages because of his friendliness and his humility. "His liberal and forthright approach had already manifested itself in his public statements as president,” Mr Penlington said. “Within the profession, he had, by his own example, imparted a new impetus and drive to the administration of the affairs of the profession.” Mr Smith is survived by his wife and six children.