Lawyers or advocates

One of the unique characteristics of employment law is that you don’t need to be a lawyer to call yourself an employment expert.

Employment advocates in New Zealand offer advice and representation, and some of them do a great job.

Allan Halse is an employment advocate who ran a (now liquidated) company called Culture Safe. He has featured regularly in the media, fighting various battles.
What he is most well-known for are his attacks on anyone who disagrees with him, including opposing employers and their lawyers, the Employment Relations Authority and the Employment Court.

Some years ago, he signed up to a record of settlement that included the usual terms of full, final, and confidential. Apparently those terms didn’t apply to Allan, who then went on social media criticising the employer. Unsurprisingly the employer took enforcement action, which started a long-running legal battle in the Employment Relations Authority, the Employment Court, the Court of Appeal, and finally the Supreme Court.

Unfortunately, due to what Allan would likely call a biased and corrupt judicial system, the Courts upheld the various penalties against him. But Allan’s Facebook followers raised $67,000 to stop him being bankrupted. Had he behaved like this as a lawyer, he would have been ‘struck off’ by the Law Society.

As an advocate, he formed a new company, and is no doubt is carrying on fighting for those perceived as the underdog. This is the key difference between lawyers and advocates – advocates can largely do what they like, at least until a Court intervenes. However Lawyers are highly regulated – choose carefully.