Donna Hall denies being in land deal for big fees

Long-term gains negate the short-term aspects of lawyer Donna Hall's alleged conflict of interest over a central North Island land deal, her QC says.

Earlier, QC Helen Cull refuted claims her client pushed for the deals so she could hang on to $300,000 in legal fees from the Hikuwai trust.

Ms Hall is fighting conflict of interest allegations before the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal for allegedly acting for the vendor, purchaser and lender during the 2007 deal.

The Wellington-based lawyer acted on behalf of both Tauhara Middle 15 Trust and Hikuwai Hapu Lands Trust, which facilitated the transaction.

In addition, the tribunal has been told Ms Hall also acted for Tauhara Middle 4A2A Trust, which provided an unsecured loan to Tauhara Middle 15 to help fund its $1 million contribution to the deal.

"In this case, the interests of the Tauhara and Hikuwai trusts were in common," according to Ms Cull.

"The ultimate benefit has been obtained, as to their trusts and their beneficiaries, an acquisition of a valuable resource."

Ms Cull says the two parties' interests were not "opposed" or in direct conflict with each other.

The Tauhara Middle 15 Trust bought the Tauhara North block near Taupo from Landcorp for $5 million jointly with another trust, a the rateable value of which is now $ 8.01 million.

"This is not evidence of negligence or incompetence," Ms Cull says.

Tribunal member Susan Hughes, QC, yesterday questioned whether trustees were aware Ms Hall stood to lose the sizeable sum of legal fees if the deal did not go through.

"There was never any suggestion that fees were dependent on the sale of Tauhara North," Ms Cull said in response today.

"This has not been an issue that was particularised for answer. Hikuwai was selling all those blocks of land. One, in particular, was bought for $20 million and was sold for $25 million, so that went into the coffers of the trust."

When asked where in the material Ms Hall made this disclosure to the affected parties, the tribunal was referred to Ms Hall's letterheaded bill.

"In the bundle you see her bill and you see it is done on a time-cost basis across all of the transaction," Ms Cull said.

Ms Hughes said there would need to be evidence of informed consent as this would need to be examined.

"We need to understand how your client says she has provided parties with full information. That is something we need to understand from your client."

Ms Cull said while Tauhara Middle 15 Trust bought the land from Hikuwai Hapu Lands Trust for $ 5 million, the origional price was $ 7 million and was "dropped to assist Tauhara Middle 15".

"Tauhara Middle 4A2A Trust paid 1 million out of a potential $103 million. There is nothing to say here that Ms Hall fees were contingent on this sale proceeding.

"Her retainer was from Hikuwai, and if there were monies of all the deals that came across then she would be paid on a time-cost basis, not on whether the sales went through," Ms Cull argued.

The role of the Maori Land Court took centre stage earlier, as Ms Cull argued her client had not witheld the conflict of interest from trustees and that the Maori Land Court had a supervisory jurisdiction with powers to promote and assist on behalf of Maori land owners, including variations of trust.

She says it included dealing with specific problems with the trustees, "and if the court was of the mind that the trustees should have gotten further advice they could have said so, this is a wide jurisdiction".

While the Maori Land Court gave its approval and authorised the sale of the land, it signalled it would not approve the purchase until five questions had been answered.

“It is my submission the ground is shifting in relation to the allegations in this charge," Ms Cull said.

She presented bundles of documents covering evidence canvased by the Maori Land Court in 2007 in response to allegations by the Law Society that her client failed to answer the five questions asked by the court.

This follows allegations by the society that Ms Hall "bypassed" these questions and put the Hikuwai trustees first.

The application was met with hesitation by the tribunal.

"The Maori Land Court can't cure Ms Hall's conflict of interest, can it?" Ms Hughes said.

Law Society standards committee lawyer Gary Turkington said he did not want to be obstructive, but he could not see the relevance of the submission.

"I have raised this a number of times, but we still have not received an affidavit from the practitioner about what happened."

It is not clear towards the end of the day whether Ms Hall will give evidence during the final day of the hearing tomorrow.

http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/richard-prebble-caught-turangi-subdivision-...Long term gains negate the short term aspects of a prominant lawyers conflict of interest over a central North Island land deal.

Well-known Wellington lawyer Donna Hall is fighting conflict of interest allegations before the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal for allegedly being the vendor, purchaser and lender during the 2007 deal.

She acted on behalf of both Tauhara Middle 15 Trust and Hikuwai Hapu Lands Trust, which facilitated the transaction.

In addition, Ms Hall also acted for Tauhara Middle 4A2A Trust, which provided an unsecured loan to Tauhara Middle 15 to help fund its $1 million contribution to the deal.

"In this case, the interests of the Tauhara and Hikuwai trusts were in common. The ultimate benefit has been obtained, as to their trusts and their beneficiaries, an acquisition of a valuable resource," Ms Hall's lawyer Helen Cull QC said, adding that the two parties interests were not "opposed" , or in direct conflict with eachother.

The Tauhara Middle 15 Trust bought the Tauhara North block near Taupo from Landcorp for $5 million jointly with another trust, according to Ms Cull, the rateable value of which is now $ 8.01 million.

"This is not evidence of negligence or incompetence," said Ms Cull.

Earlier on, Ms Cull refuted claims that her client pushed for the deals so that she could hang onto $ 300 000 in legal fees from the Hikuwai trust.

On Monday, tribunal member Susan Hughes QC questioned whether trustees were aware that Ms Hall stood to lose the sizeable sum of legal fees if the deal did not go through.

"There was never any suggestion that fees were dependent on the sale of Tauhara North. This has not been an issue that was particularised for answer. Hikuwai was selling all those blocks of land, one in particular was bought for $20 million and was sold for $25 million, so that went into the coffers of the trust," said Ms Cull.

When asked where in the material Ms Hall made this disclosure to the affected parties, the tribunal was refered to Ms Hall's letterheaded bill.

"In the bundle you do see her bill and you see it is done on a time cost basis across all of the transaction," Ms Cull said.

Ms Hughes said there would need to be evidence of informed consent as this would need to be examined.

"We need to understand how your client says she has provided parties with full information, that is something we need to understand from your client."

Ms Cull said while Tauhara Middle 15 Trust bought the land from Hikuwai Hapu Lands Trust for $ 5 million, the origional price was $ 7 million and was "dropped to assist Tauhara Middle 15".

"Tauhara Middle 4A2A Trust paid 1 million out of a potential $103 million. There is nothing to say here that Ms Hall fees were contingent on this sale proceeding. Her retainer was from Hikuwai and if there were monies of all the deals that came across then she would be paid on a time cost basis, not on whether the sales went through," Ms Cull argued.

The role of the Maori Land Court took centre stage earlier on Tuesday, Ms Cull argued her client had not witheld the conflict of interest from trustees and that the Maori Land Court had a supervisory jurisdiction with powers to promote and assist on behalf of Maori land owners, including variations of trust.

"Including dealing with specific problems with the trustees, and if the court was of the mind that the trustees should have gotten further advice they could have said so, this is a wide jurisdiction," Ms Cull said.

While the Maori Land Court gave its approval and authorised the sale of the land, it signalled it would not approve the purchase until five questions had been answered.

“It is my submission the ground is shifting in relation to the allegations in this charge," Ms Cull said.

Ms Cull presented bundles of documents covering evidence canvassed by the Maori Land Court in 2007 in response to allegations by the Law Society that her client failed to answer the five questions asked by the Court.

This follows allegations by the Law Society Ms Hall "by-passed" these questions and put the Hikuwai trustees first.

The application was met with hesitation by the tribunal.

"The Maori Land Court can't cure Ms Hall's conflict of interest can it?" Ms Hughes said.

Law Society standards committee lawyer Gary Turkington said he did not want to be obstructive, but he could not see the relevance of the submission.

"I have raised this a number of times, but we still have not received an affidavit from the practitioner about what happened," he said.

It is not clear towards the end of the day whether Ms Hall will give evidence during the final day of the hearing tomorrow.

The hearing continues.

Link to:

http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/donna-hall-claims-ground-shifting-over-alleged-conflict-ja-115711

http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/maori-investors-point-finger-donna-hall-ric...

http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/richard-prebble-caught-turangi-subdivision-...

Melody Brandon
Tue, 03 Apr 2012

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Donna Hall denies being in land deal for big fees - lawyer