KEY POINTS:
The Auckland District Law Society has voted itself out of existence as an autonomous body to become a branch of a national New Zealand Law Society. In a postal ballot, members voted 1406 in favour to 279 against to support the One Society proposal.
Other district societies that have just voted to become branches of a national society are Otago, Christchurch, Wanganui, Gisborne and Hawkes Bay. The Auckland society has 4500 of New Zealand's 10,500 lawyers.
The Lawyers & Conveyancers Act 2006, delegating responsibility for all the profession's regulatory and disciplinary functions to the New Zealand Law Society, comes into force next July.
