Section 192(1) of the Legal Profession Act 1987 (NSW) is mandatory: a solicitor must deliver a bill of costs at least 30 days before commencing recovery proceedings, and an order under s 209C to deliver a bill does not operate retrospectively to cure non-compliance. Non-compliance with s 192(1) is a defence to be raised and determined in the recovery proceedings themselves, not by separate application in the Supreme Court. A judgment obtained in defiance of s 192(1) does not constitute a debt for the purposes of s 44 of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth).
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