First to know

We ensure our members are the first to know about changes in the law. Knowing first helps you to identify opportunities, manage risks and provide better advice for your clients.

You can choose from the various channels that we use to keep you abreast of topical issues and changes in the law.

• Free and discounted face-to-face, livecast and on-demand informative events
• Practitioner resources on our website
• Facebook Live events
• ECL News (e-newsletter for early career lawyers)
• Weekly QLS Update (e-newsletter)
• Monthly Proctor (QLS magazine)
• QLS blogs LawTalk and First Reading.

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Support

Being a lawyer can present unique challenges and pressures. QLS understands these profound challenges. Our services help you to find balance, manage workplace challenges and lead a healthy life.

Your access to LawCare for financial advice support, wellbeing and nutritional support, and personal counselling (including individual counselling for your family members) helps you to proactively manage your wellbeing or get help when you need it. QLS provides you with up to six hours of counselling sessions and additional support if more is required. Our other wellbeing offerings include:

• Annual touch football competition
• Wellbeing events including LawWeek, Queensland Mental Health Week and early career lawyer activities
• Minds Count – a complimentary event
• LawCare seminars (up to three per annum).

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Education

Whether you are an early career lawyer who is wanting skills to use immediately or a leader who is ready to take the leap into a business management role, we offer programs that are specifically designed to suit your career-stage circumstances.

Choose how you want to learn and when you want to learn with options including:

• Bespoke practice support and firm-based ethics workshops
• Conferences and events such as QLS Symposium, QLS Legal Profession Dinner and Awards, QLS Legal Careers Expo and our Succession and Elder Law Conference
• Face-to-face continuing professional development (CPD) programs, livecast sessions and on-demand resources
• Modern Advocate Lecture Series: Practical advocacy and collegiality
• Practice Management Course
• Specialist Accreditation – accreditation that recognises your legal expertise in your area of practice.

Our educational events help to ensure you achieve all of your annual CPD points.

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Guidance

QLS offers ethical guidance, practice support and information for the profession and the public. Whatever the issue, we’re here to help our members navigate their way to a solution.

Rest assured you will be supported with an array of guidance. Members have access to:

• Phone hotline – a first point of contact to help you understand and address ethical concerns
• Guidance statements – discrete wisdom on ethical issues
• Non-binding ethics rulings – to help you to reduce ethics disputes with other members
• QLS Senior Counsellors – confidential, free advice and support service
• QLF services – up to six hours of representation on disciplinary and conduct matters and, if you are insured with Lexon, a maximum of $10,000 worth of representation for these matters
• A large suite of legal profession forms and legislation
• Supreme Court Library of Queensland’s free* online resources (LexisNexis, Thomas Reuters, Oxford University Press, Federation Press and CCH), training and education and sentencing information.

* If your firm holds five or less practising certificates.

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Connection

The Society offers plenty of opportunities to network and connect within the industry throughout the year. These opportunities help members to socialise, stay anchored to the industry, build their practice and learn from others.

You can choose from an array of opportunities to connect:

• Professional development events
• Member New Year celebration
• Regional roadshows, workshops and events
• QLS annual ball
• Sponsored regional networking events
• QLS Open Day
• International Women’s Day
• Minds Count lectures
• Wellbeing breakfasts
• Cybersecurity events.

These and many more networking opportunities allow you to connect with specialist accredited practitioners, mediators, arbitrators and young professionals.

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A voice for all

With an ever-changing political, social and legal landscape, QLS offers a professional voice in the media, the community and with government when matters of legal policy and reform arise. We also champion diversity and reconciliation.

Some of the ways we work for good law and the public good are through:

• 24 policy committees
• Working groups
• Delayed judgments service
• QLS submissions on draft legislation (incorporating the views of practitioners across Queensland)
• QLS advocacy campaigns and ‘Call to Parties’ during election cycles
• Law Council of Australia (LCA) representation.

We also support diversity-promoting associations and other initiatives, such as Reconciliation Action Plans and Pride in Law.

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Protection

Members, their practices and the profession in general are protected with legal profession insurance and QLS regulation of the profession.

Through setting standards and regulating the legal profession in Queensland, QLS protects not only the profession but also the profession’s reputation. We protect you through:

• providing a limited liability scheme that helps you limit your losses and protect your business with capped liability
• providing a professional indemnity insurance scheme that gives members reliable access to stable, affordable insurance
• offering advisory services to support the profession in meeting required standards
• issuing PCs to set standards and auditing practices to ensure those standards are met
• ensuring our regulatory standards continue to maintain the reputation and independence of the profession.

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Recognition

QLS recognises hard work, sacrifice and commitment – both in our members and in the community through:

• Membership: 25 and 50 year pin ceremonies and honorary membership
• Awards: President’s medal, Agnes McWhinney award, innovation, diversity awards, First Nations awards
• Events: Legal profession dinner and awards and committee member appreciation night
• Member profiles: Proctor features, social media focus, judiciary appointments.
• QLS Member Logo
• Member Rewards program

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