“..Lawyers can earn up to 500 per cent more if they get clients to plead guilty at their first court appearance under new legal aid rules – a top barrister claims…”

“…Auckland barrister Lapa Laubscher argues the fee structure creates a potential conflict of interest for lawyers – and something needs to change so the public can be confident the system is fair.

Laubscher, former head of the New Zealand Law Society, said he had worked out that under the new legal aid fixed fee system, introduced earlier this year -

- it was 531 per cent more lucrative for lawyers if their client pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity…”

(cont..)

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Guilty Pleas Have Cash Incentive – Lawyer | Stuff.co.nz.

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