In fulfilling his or her obligations to a client, a sole practitioner using Landonline should ensure that his or her attorney pursuant to the Law Practitioners Act, is the holder of a Digital Certificate with certifying and signing privileges. See Guideline D of the E-dealing Guidelines.

A sole practitioner should link his or her attorney to the sole practitioner's e-dealing licence to enable that attorney to access an e-dealing in the sole practitioner's absence and to make the necessary certifications to enable settlement to proceed. The lawyer attorney steps into the sole practitioner's shoes and assumes the lawyer-client relationship which exists between the sole practitioner and his or her clients.

The need for a sole practitioner to have an attorney is to cater for contingencies before they arise, likewise it is equally important to have systems in place to complete e-dealings if the sole practitioner is absent. The Primary Contact can also nominate an alternative Conveyancing Professional (lawyer) for any e-dealing prior to submission for registration. There is considerable advantage in the linking of the sole practitioner's attorney (by the firm's System Manager) to the licence, when e-dealing functionality is first acquired.

Choosing an e-dealing capable attorney

The ideal attorney is one who is both trust account partner (TAP) qualified and holds an e-dealing digital certificate with certify and sign privileges.

While not a strict legal requirement, there is a practical problem if a sole practitioner is incapacitated and has part completed e-dealings. If there is no e-dealing capable attorney new dealings will need to be created. That may be problematic if the other side has already completed their tasks in the prior dealing.

Conclusion

Where a sole practitioner carries out e-dealing, his or her attorney should be e-dealing capable and 'linked' to the firm¡¦s licence. That will allow the attorney to access and sign dealings remotely if necessary. When e-dealing becomes mandatory this will be even more important. 

Duncan Terris
NZLS e-dealing Consultant
The Property Lawyer
Volume 7, Issue 3, October 2006