ADMISSION AS A SOLICITOR OF THE SUPREME COURT OF NSW
To practise as a solicitor in NSW you must: 1. Apply to be admitted as a lawyer in the Supreme Court of NSW (satisfying the eligibility and suitability requirements). Admission is only required once and this application is not required if you have been admitted in another state. A successful application will require you to attend the Supreme Court of NSW to: •
Take and sign the Oath of Practice,
•
Sign the roll of Australian Lawyers, and
•
Gain an original Admission Certificate.
2. Lodge an application for a Practising Certificate in the jurisdiction in which you intend to practise. In order to continue practicing, you will need to renew your Practising Certificate every year. For NSW, applications are lodged via the Legal Profession Admission Board. Applications should be made using Form 10 and must have two character references attached in Form 3A or 3B. Before admission, the NSW Law Society usually receives a list of proposed lawyers to be admitted from the Legal Profession Admission Board and will send out to these individuals a kit which includes a Practising Certificate application form. The form needs to be completed and payment sent to the Law Society Register by the specified date. Once admitted, the Admission Certificate will need to be taken to the Law Society to receive a Practising Certificate.
PRACTICE
Newly admitted solicitors are required to complete two years of supervised practice and undertake a Practice Management Course if they wish to practise as a sole solicitor. Practising certificates are renewed each year when the requirements of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) are met. The requirements of CPD are set out in Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) s 52. A set number of hours of professional development must be completed each year (10 CPD units). To practise in a court exercising Federal jurisdiction, it is required that the lawyer is entitled to practise in State Supreme Courts. The lawyer must enter the Register of Practitioners held by the High Court of Australia per Judiciary Act 1903 (NSW) s 55B. It is possible to practise in other Australian states and New Zealand through mutual recognition schemes without re-admission.
10 | Careers Guide 2016
Macquarie University Law Society