Legal Profession Uniform Continuing Professional Development (Solicitors) Rules 2015

1.1 These Rules are designated as Legal Profession Continuing Professional Development Rules and may be cited as the Legal Profession Uniform Continuing Professional Development (Solicitors) Rules 2015.

2.1 These Rules come into operation on 1 July 2015.

3.1 The objective of these Rules is to provide the minimum requirements for continuing professional development for solicitors.

4.1 These Rules were developed by the Law Council of Australia in accordance with section 427 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law and are made by the Legal Services Council under Part 9.2 of that Law.

1 In these Rules:

CPD means continuing professional development.

CPD activity means an activity which meets the requirements of rule 7 (CPD content) and rule 8 (CPD format).

CPD unit has the meaning given by rule 9 (CPD units).

CPD year means the year beginning on 1 April and ending on 31 March the following year.

Designated local regulatory authority means a person or body specified or described in jurisdictional legislation as the relevant designated local regulatory authority for the purposes of section 44 of the Uniform Law.

Uniform Law means the Legal Profession Uniform Law as applied in a participating jurisdiction.

1 Unless exempted in whole or in part by the designated local regulatory authority under rule 16 (Exemptions), or unless a pro rata calculation applies under rule 10 (Pro rata calculations), a solicitor must complete 10 CPD units in each CPD year including at least one CPD unit in each of the following fields:

6.1.1 ethics and professional responsibility,

6.1.2 practice management and business skills,

6.1.3 professional skills,

6.1.4 substantive law.

6.2 Where a part exemption under rule 16 (Exemptions) or a pro rata calculation under rule 10 (Pro rata calculations) applies the compulsory fields must be completed as part of the remaining CPD units.

1 Each CPD activity undertaken by a solicitor must be an activity:

7.1.1 of significant intellectual or practical content and must deal primarily with matters related to the solicitor’s practice of law, and

7.1.2 conducted by persons who are qualified by practical or academic experience in the subject covered, and

7.1.3 that extends the solicitor’s knowledge and skills in areas that are relevant to the solicitor’s practice needs or professional development.

1 A CPD activity may consist of:

8.1.1 a seminar, workshop, lecture, conference, discussion group, multimedia or web-based program, private study of audio/visual material or any other educational activity, or

8.1.2 the research, preparation or editing by a solicitor of:

8.1.2.1 an article published in a legal publication, or

8.1.2.2 a legal article published in a non-legal publication, or

8.1.2.3 published Law Reports or other legal services, or

8.1.3 the preparation and/or presentation by a solicitor of written or oral material to be used in a CPD activity or in other forms of education provided to solicitors and/or to other professionals and/or to other persons including those undertaking practical or supervised legal training, or

8.1.4 membership of a committee, taskforce or practice section of a professional association, designated local regulatory authority or the Law Council of Australia or of other committees, provided that the solicitor regularly attends its meetings, if the work performed on the committee, taskforce or practice section is of substantial significance to the practice of law and is reasonably likely to assist the solicitor’s professional development, or

8.1.5 postgraduate studies relevant to a solicitor’s practice needs.

8.2 Private study does not constitute CPD activity for the purpose of these Rules unless it involves the private study of audio/visual material specifically designed for the purpose of updating a solicitor’s knowledge and/or skills relevant to his/her practice needs.

1 CPD unit means:

9.1.1 in relation to a CPD activity referred to in rule 8.1.1, 8.1.3 and 8.1.5, one hour of the activity,

9.1.2 in relation to a CPD activity referred to in rule 8.1.2, 1000 words of the article,

9.1.3 in relation to a CPD activity referred to in rule 8.1.4, two hours of the activity.

9.2 In calculating the relevant CPD units of CPD activity in respect of a CPD year, the total must not include:

9.2.1 more than 5 CPD units of CPD activity referred to in rule 8.1.2,

9.2.2 more than 5 CPD units of CPD activity referred to in rule 8.1.3,

9.2.3 more than 3 CPD units of CPD activity referred to in rule 8.1.4,

9.2.4 more than 5 CPD units of CPD activity referred to in rule 8.2.

9.3 Solicitors who successfully complete a specialist accreditation assessment process will be deemed to have completed 10 CPD units in the year of their completion.

1 A solicitor who commences or recommences legal practice on or after the start of a CPD year must complete on a pro rata basis during the balance of the CPD year such CPD units as are set out below:

Renewal month

CPD units

April

10

May

9

June

8

July

7

August

6

September

5

October

4

November

3

December

2

January

1

February

0

March

0

11.1 A maximum of 3 CPD units accrued in the period 1 January to 31 March in any CPD year may be carried forward into the following CPD year but can only be counted in one CPD year.

1 A solicitor must maintain for each CPD year:

12.1.1 a record of his or her engagement in CPD activities, and

12.1.2 evidence in support of the CPD activities undertaken.

12.2 A solicitor must retain the information referred to in rule 12.1.1 and the evidence in support referred to in rule 12.1.2 for at least three years after the end of the CPD year to which the CPD record and evidence in support relate.