Criminal lawyer Richard Keam has been censured for calling a client "offensive names" during a meeting. Supplied photoAn experienced criminal lawyer who berated his client and called him offensive names said he was concerned the young man was “going down a path which would inevitably lead to prison”. The client left the meeting feeling “distressed and humiliated” after a “moralising lecture” by his lawyer Richard Bernard Keam. Now, in a recently released decision, Keam has been censured and ordered to pay compensation by the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal, after admitting to misconduct. Keam is the managing director of Keam Law, an Auckland-based firm specialising in criminal law, family and trust disputes and civil litigation.

Source: Otago Daily Times March 25, 2026 07:01 UTC