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SCMP Reporter

DISGRACED Hong Kong Government lawyer Warwick Reid wants to return to the legal profession after his release from prison and has pleaded with his former employers in New Zealand for his old job back.

  Despite being convicted and jailed for eight years for taking more than $10 million in bribes to fix trials, the former acting director of prosecutions has not been struck off the roll of the New Zealand Law Society.

  Legal sources revealed yesterday that Reid, 46, who is due to be released from Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre at Castle Peak on November 29, has asked to be taken on by the Tauranga law firm he worked for as a young man.

  Reid's wife, Judith, who lives in Tauranga on New Zealand's North Island, has written to the firm on Reid's behalf, but the partners have not yet replied.

  Reid, who vowed to avenge his 1989 capture by 'getting' his brother as well as an immigration official in the Philippines, worked for the firm Holland, Beckett and Maltby about 20 years ago.

  'I knew him reasonably well because he worked here 18 months and was very capable.

  'It's just that he has a fairly large blot on his copy-book,' one of the partners, John Patterson, said from New Zealand yesterday.

  'I cannot say whether I will employ him. It's not my decision, it would be a decision of all seven partners.

  'I am not an expert on criminology, but I think everyone deserves another chance,' he said.

  Mr Patterson, who declined to confirm or deny the job application, said Reid's biggest hitch would be obtaining a practising certificate, compulsory for lawyers in New Zealand.

  Reid's certificate has lapsed and he would need to apply through a Tauranga district Law Society for another, but at that point the disciplinary tribunal would have to assess if he was a fit character.

  Mr Patterson said Reid's best hope would be to seek a job as a law clerk for which he could command between NZ$50,000 (HK$233,250) to $70,000 a year because of his vast legal background.

  'It's nothing like what he earned in Hong Kong, of course,' he said.

  Aidan Lynch, secretary to the New Zealand Law Society's Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal, confirmed that Reid had not been struck off the roll because he had not been practising in the country recently.

  'But I would say his chances of being a lawyer again are pretty remote. I doubt there is much sympathy for him,' said Mr Lynch.

  'However, there would be nothing stopping him from being employed in the capacity of a law clerk.

  'I cannot presume what the attitude of the tribunal will be, but I'm sure they will view the evidence and eschew any preconceived ideas they might have,' he said.



Jailed lawyer pleads for old job