National Legal Profession Reform
We are committed to keeping you up-to-date on the National Legal Profession Reform process currently underway.
This national reform of the legal profession forms part of COAG’s micro-economic and regulatory reform across Australia. On 30 April 2009, the Prime Minister announced the appointment of a National Legal Profession Taskforce, chaired by Roger Wilkins AO, Secretary of the Federal Attorney-General’s Department.
The Taskforce produced draft national legislation for uniform laws to regulate the legal profession and released it for a period of public consultation, ending 13 August 2010.
The Taskforce also produced draft national conduct rules for lawyers. These rules, known as the Australian Solicitors’ Conduct Rules, relate to the honesty and integrity of lawyers, how they conduct themselves with clients, courts and other lawyers, and their duties to the community.
The Queensland Law Society conducted the public consultation process on the rules in Queensland and all feedback was considered by the Society and the Law Council of Australia.
The consultation process closed on 13 August 2010.
This reform has potentially wide-ranging impacts across the nation and certainly for the Queensland legal profession, and so there are many issues to consider.
You can download the Queensland Law Society’s submission in response to the draft Bill and Rules and accompanying letter from President Peter Eardley.
For your reference, we are providing relevant discussion papers and information sources to keep you informed about activities in the legal reform process. This includes the following:
