So, the pomp and ceremony of your admission is over, the Chief Justice has spoken wise words and you are admitted, an officer of the court and a solicitor at last. You cannot call yourself a solicitor until you receive your practising certificate – in the meantime, what can you actually do? Are you technically still a law clerk? Can you do solicitor’s work and charge a solicitor’s rate?
Section 24(1) of the Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld) (‘LPA’) covers the right to practise, and specifically addresses this issue. Section 24(1) prohibits people engaging in legal practice unless they are an Australian legal practitioner, which is defined as someone admitted and holding a current practising certificate.1
However, s 24(3) provides that s 24(1) does not apply to someone who is:
- admitted;
- has applied (via a complete application, including payment) under s 49 LPA for a practising certificate;
- has not been notified that the application has been refused; and
- is employed in or by a law practice and has informed the law practice that he or she has applied for, but not yet been granted, a local practising certificate by the law society.
Presuming the application is accepted, the date of the practising certificate will be back-dated to the time a complete application is received by the Society; if further material is needed to process the application, the certificate will be dated to the date the further material was supplied. Section 24(3) operates to cover the period between the date the complete application was made, and the date it was accepted or rejected. That is, a person will not have breached s 24(1) by engaging in legal practice during this period.
NB: the exemption in s 24(3) only applies to employees of law practices. It does NOT apply to principals or volunteers, or to those working for corporations or government. The exemption is only available in relation to applications for grant of a practising certificate; it does not apply to renewals. Nor does it apply if you are a ‘disqualified person’ as defined in the LPA.
1 Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld) s 6(1).