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A protracted legal battle has prompted the trustees of a charity to donate $1 million to Otago University in the hope of improving the country's legal system.
Gama Foundation trustees Grant and Marilyn Nelson have donated the sum to establish a research centre dedicated to improving the system.
The centre will undertake research on how to develop a more accessible, affordable and efficient legal system.
Mr Nelson said the idea for the centre had its roots in a five-year legal wrangle the foundation fought with a fertiliser company that had leased one of its buildings.
When the company left the building, the Nelsons found the fertiliser products had caused about $900,000 of damage to walls, floors and the roof.
Mr Nelson said the company's lawyers found a loophole that would exempt them from paying for the damage and the foundation had to fight for five years to get compensation.
He said the lawyers might have thought a charitable trust would not have had the resources to fight the case, and perhaps expected to force the foundation into giving up or accepting a low settlement.
The Nelsons finally won the case and were awarded 80 per cent of their costs.
The impression was of a flawed and unfair system that favoured lawyers rather than the public, Mr Nelson said.
He and his wife hoped the research findings would help influence changes that would develop a legal system that served "the best interests of citizens, rather than serving the best interests of lawyers and the law".
Otago faculty of law dean Professor Mark Henaghan said the centre would act as a "critic and conscience" of the legal profession and system.
- NZPA
