The Hamilton and Waitākere District Courts were among those impacted
The ongoing Microsoft 365 outage has hampered court proceedings and property settlements, reported the NZ Herald.
Gul Law junior barrister Anya Khalid told the Herald that a teleconference scheduled at the Hamilton District Court this morning could not push through. Moreover, Waitākere District Court staff were struggling to handle set appearances.
“If everything gets bumped to Monday, it's just going to be the biggest backlog and courts are already struggling”, Khalid said in a statement published by the Herald.
She highlighted email services’ key role in lawyers’ ability to submit bail applications and disclosure requests, and flagged the need for independent systems.
“We should have things like hospitals and courts on a separate system so that at least those can run essential services”, Khalid said in a statement published by the Herald.
Courts of NZ posted on its site that courts would remain “open and operational”, with remote hearings “still going ahead”.
“Courts remain available to accept urgent applications over the counter or via courier. 0800 COURTS remains available to support participants with any queries regarding urgent applications”, Courts of NZ wrote in its advisory.
The outage occurs just days after the justice ministry announced that it would be sending Notices of Fines and/or Reparation via email where possible.
Kristine King, chair of the New Zealand Law Society’s property law section, added that the outage has had a major negative impact on property settlements throughout the country, with firms unable to issue undertakings and receive bank drawdown information.
Melissa Choppin, director at Rotorua firm MAC Legal Limited, outlined to the Herald the crucial role emails played in facilitating settlements.
“Settlement relies on the same-day cleared payment system, but email helps join the dots: advice from the bank that loan funds have been paid, solicitors exchanging settlement undertakings, and confirmation that settlement is complete and the keys can be released”, she said in a statement published by the Herald. “The money might still be moving, but if the messages aren’t, everyone can be left wondering where things stand. Meanwhile, the buyers have a moving truck in the driveway, the sellers are ready to go, and someone’s asking whether they can collect the keys yet”.
Choppin explained that a single delayed settlement could affect subsequent purchases.
In a letter to Law Society members, a snippet of which was published by the Herald, King said the organisation was “urgently liaising” with banks on workarounds.
She recommended that lawyers touch base with their banks on communicating during the down period, particularly with regard to confirmations on drawdown information and payments. She advised lawyers to explore their own alternatives as well, such creating new email addresses or using communications apps like WhatsApp to facilitate the encrypted exchange of undertakings, payment confirmations and screenshots.
King also suggested that lawyers conduct video calls and send text messages.
“Agree how you will communicate and confirm receipt of important documents. Verify any alternative contact details directly with the other lawyer using a known phone number, and continue your usual checks before releasing funds”, she wrote in the letter, a snippet of which was published by the Herald.
King told members that the Law Society was moving to launch backup emergency communication channels like SMS alerts in preparation for future outages.
“Today is going to be a tough day for many practitioners, bank staff and clients. Please be kind, patient and collegial. A friendly phone call and a willingness to work through the options together will make a real difference”, she wrote in the letter.
Real Estate Authority (REA) chief executive and registrar Belinda Moffat said in a statement published by the Herald that the organisation was working with the Law Society’s property law section “to support a joined-up response”.
She noted that the REA’s Licensee Portal and Register of Licensees was still running, but could not receive emails. Moffat encouraged consumers to discuss with their lawyers or real estate agents as to how Microsoft-reliant processes can be completed despite the outage.
