Legal Profession Uniform General Rules 2015

These Rules may be cited as the Legal Profession Uniform General Rules 2015.

These Rules come into operation on 1 July 2015.

The objective of these Rules is to set out provisions contemplated by the Uniform Law (other than provisions that are or may be included in the Admission Rules, the Legal Practice Rules, the Legal Profession Conduct Rules or the Continuing Professional Development Rules).

These Rules are made by the Legal Services Council under Part 9.2 of the Uniform Law.

In these Rules—

Australian law relating to the legal profession means—

the Uniform Law, these Rules or the Legal Profession Uniform Law Act of a participating jurisdiction, or

a corresponding law of a non-participating jurisdiction, or

a previous corresponding law of any jurisdiction.

commencement day for a participating jurisdiction means the day on which the relevant provision or provisions of the Uniform Law come into operation in that jurisdiction.

corresponding disciplinary body, in relation to a designated tribunal, has the same meaning as it has in section 461 of the Uniform Law.

itemised bill means a bill that specifies in detail how the legal costs are made up in a way so as to allow costs to be assessed.

lump sum bill means a bill that describes the legal services to which it relates and specifies the total amount of the legal costs.

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

A reference in these Rules to the designated local regulatory authority, when used expressly or impliedly in relation to a provision of the Uniform Law, is a reference to the relevant designated local regulatory authority specified or described under jurisdictional legislation for that provision.

A reference in these Rules to the designated tribunal, when used expressly or impliedly in relation to a provision of the Uniform Law, is a reference to—

the relevant designated tribunal specified or described under jurisdictional legislation for that provision, or

a member or officer so specified or described of such a court or tribunal.

For the purposes of the definition of incorporated legal practice in section 6(1) of the Uniform Law, a professional association is excluded from being an incorporated legal practice.

For the purposes of paragraph (d) of the definition of supervised legal practice in section 6(1) of the Uniform Law, supervised legal practice in the case of an Australian legal practitioner who is an employee of a law practice (or who, though not an employee of the law practice, is working under supervision in a law practice) includes supervision by an employee of the law practice who holds an Australian practising certificate authorising the holder to supervise legal practice by others.

For the purposes of paragraph (d) of the definition of supervised legal practice in section 6(1) of the Uniform Law, supervised legal practice in the case of an Australian legal practitioner who is an employee of a law practice, and who is engaged in legal work for a client of the law practice, or in legal work for a community legal service, otherwise than under the supervision of an authorised principal of the law practice, includes supervision by an Australian lawyer (the supervising lawyer), where—

the supervising lawyer—

holds an Australian practising certificate authorising the holder to supervise legal practice by others, or

is exempt from holding or otherwise not required to hold such an Australian practising certificate by or under the Uniform Law, jurisdictional legislation or legislation of the Commonwealth, and

the supervision is adequate in the circumstances and not less than the supervision that the employee would have received from an authorised principal of the law practice.

Subrule (2) applies in relation to legal work engaged in by an employee of a legal practice during the whole or any part of the period starting on 1 July 2015 and ending immediately before the date of commencement of that subrule, as well as to legal work engaged in on or after that date.

The rules in this Part are made under Part 2.1 of the Uniform Law.

For the purposes of section 12 of the Uniform Law, a person listed in column 3 of an item in the Table below is entitled to take or use the title specified in column 2 of that item in the circumstances specified in column 4 of that item.

Column 1

Column 2

Column 3

Column 4

Item

Title

Person

Circumstances

1

Legal practitioner

Australian legal practitioner

All circumstances

2

Barrister and solicitor, solicitor and barrister, solicitor, attorney, proctor

Australian legal practitioner

When the Australian legal practitioner holds an Australian practising certificate, other than an Australian practising certificate authorising the practitioner to engage in legal practice as or in the manner of a barrister only

3

Barrister

Australian legal practitioner

When the Australian legal practitioner holds an Australian practising certificate granted in a fused jurisdiction, or an Australian practising certificate granted in a non-fused jurisdiction that authorises the practitioner to engage in legal practice as or in the manner of a barrister only

4

Counsel

Australian legal practitioner

All circumstances

5

Senior Counsel or SC

Australian lawyer

When the Australian lawyer currently holds the status of Senior Counsel as recognised by the High Court or a Supreme Court of any jurisdiction

6

Queen’s Counsel or QC, King’s Counsel or KC, Her Majesty’s Counsel, His Majesty’s Counsel

Australian lawyer

When the Australian lawyer currently holds the appropriate status, as conferred by the Crown in any capacity or as recognised by the High Court or a Supreme Court of any jurisdiction

7

Attorney

Australian-registered foreign lawyer

When entitled to use the name, title or description by or under a law

8

Attorney

Patent attorney

When using the expression “patent attorney”

9

Attorney

Donee of power of attorney

When indicating that the donee holds or is acting under a power of attorney

10

Attorney

Attorney-General of any jurisdiction, the Commonwealth or a foreign country

All circumstances

11

Solicitor

Solicitor-General of any jurisdiction, the Commonwealth or a foreign country

All circumstances

12

Lawyer

Australian lawyer

All circumstances

13

Lawyer

Australian-registered foreign lawyer

All circumstances

The following persons are declared to be exempt from the operation of section 10(1) of the Uniform Law—

a person carrying out conveyancing work in accordance with a licence in force under relevant jurisdictional legislation,

a land agent performing work in respect of instruments the person is entitled to draw, fill up or prepare and to charge for, under a law of a jurisdiction or of the Commonwealth,

an officer or employee of a government authority drawing instruments in the course of the person’s duty, otherwise than as parliamentary counsel, legislative counsel or legislative drafter (however described),

an officer or employee of a government authority undertaking appearance work in courts or tribunals under the authority of a law of a jurisdiction or of the Commonwealth,

any of the following—

a public trustee (however named) of a jurisdiction,

a company that performs the functions of a public trustee of a jurisdiction,

a company performing trustee work on behalf of the government of a jurisdiction or the Commonwealth,

an officer, employee or member of staff of an entity referred to in subparagraph (i)–(iii),

to the extent that the person is performing work in the course of preparing a will or providing a related service or in the course of carrying out any other work involving or in connection with the administration of trusts, the estates of living or deceased persons or the affairs of living persons,

an industrial organisation providing legal services, but only to the extent that—

the legal services concerned are provided to members of the organisation, and

the legal services are not provided for fee, gain or reward to the organisation (other than standard membership fees), and

the legal services are provided by Australian legal practitioners, and

if any of the legal services are provided by an Australian legal practitioner whose Australian practising certificate is subject to a condition requiring the holder to engage in supervised legal practice only—those legal services are provided under the supervision of an Australian legal practitioner who is authorised to supervise legal practice by others.

In subrule (1)(f), industrial organisation means an organisation (however described) that is registered or otherwise recognised under a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory.

The rules in this Part are made under Part 3.3 of the Uniform Law.

An application by an Australian lawyer for the grant or renewal of an Australian practising certificate—

must state the participating jurisdiction that the applicant reasonably intends will be the applicant’s principal place of legal practice in Australia, and

if an automatic show cause event has occurred at any time in relation to the applicant and section 87 of the Uniform Law requires a statement as part of the application—must include such a statement, and

must address each of the matters referred to in rule 13(1), and

must address any other matter the designated local regulatory authority considers appropriate.

An application under subrule (1) must be accompanied by the fee applicable to the application.

Before determining the application, the designated local regulatory authority may seek further relevant information from the applicant.