Over the counter offer of lawyers’ services

Press, 18 December 1985, Page 14

Over the counter offer of lawyers’ services

PA Wellington Legal services will be offered outside normal office hours and without the need for an appointment at a “law shop” that has just opened in Rotorua. The law shop is a new concept in legal services, providing expert legal advice in a relaxed atmosphere and on a relatively, informal basis, the “New Zealand Herald” reported yesterday.

It will stay open until 6 p.m. each day, and will also open on Saturday mornings for people who find it inconvenient to visit a lawyer during working hours. No appointment will be needed, the partnership running the shop says. Although a full range of legal services will be offered, the law shop will cater especially for firsthome buyers, the paper said. They will not be charged

for an initial consultation on sources of finance and the costs involved in buying a house. 7 A maximum fee of $450 has been set for first-home purchasers. A senior partner, Mr Roger Brewster, said the shop’s main aim was to make legal services more accessible. An informal office in a shopping street was less intimidating, he said. The Minister of Housing,

Mr Goff, who officially opened the shop, said it was “a commendable concept,” but . the Government still proposed a conveyancing service by the Housing Corporation next year. Clientele for the corporation represented less than 10 per cent of the conveyancing market, and would not be a threat, Mr Goff said. The shop is believed to be the second to open in New Zealand. Another is running in Hamilton.