FINAL NATIONAL LEGAL PROFESSION REFORM DISCUSSION PAPER
16 December 2009
Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, today released the final discussion paper by the National Legal Profession Reform Taskforce on the issue of fidelity cover.
“The Taskforce has been charged with developing uniform legislation to regulate the legal profession across Australia and I am pleased that this final paper has focussed on ensuring adequate protection for consumers while aiming to reduce the compliance burden on lawyers,”
Mr McClelland said.
Each State and Territory has a ‘fidelity’ or guarantee fund to protect their clients against losses caused by negligence or wrongdoing which is administered by the law society or regulator in each jurisdiction.
This regime has led to differences between jurisdictions in the level of protection that consumers and other parties may be afforded.
The Taskforce recommends that an appropriate long-term goal would be the establishment of a single, national fund with uniform cover. The Discussion Paper also proposes that:
- determinations of claims against fidelity funds be made independently and at arm’s length from the profession to avoid any conflict of interest; and
- multi-jurisdictional law practices be allowed to hold a single trust account in one jurisdiction, rather than one account in each jurisdiction in which it operates.
“I thank the Taskforce for their work in developing papers on this and a range of other issues including, regulatory frameworks, costs, professional standards, complaints and discipline procedures over the course of this year.”
This work will now form the basis of a draft National Legal Services Bill and Regulation Impact Statement which the Taskforce will release for discussion early next year before presenting draft uniform legislation to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) at the end of April 2010.
“I encourage all those with an interest in these issues to provide submissions to the Taskforce as we seek to achieve national regulation of the legal profession that will benefit consumers, lawyers and firms alike.”
The Discussion Paper is attached and also available at www.ag.gov.au
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