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Proctor : May 2017
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7 PROCTOR | May 2017 It is very rare to find a chief executive officer’s column written by an acting, acting CEO, particularly for a body such as Queensland Law Society. However, with acting CEO Matt Dunn on a long-planned holiday, I have found myself in this position and so have prepared this month’s executive report. Ordinarily I am the Society’s general manager of Professional Leadership, which means I am responsible for our regulatory responsibilities. I could use this space to preach about how valuable regulation is to our profession; to discuss the niceties of the advertising rules at Rule 36 of the Australian Solicitors Conduct Rules, or to advise of forthcoming amendments to the Legal Profession Act 2007 which make it a show cause event for an incorporated legal practitioner director if their incorporated legal practice is placed in liquidation. However, I have chosen to write about two lesser-known benefits of Queensland Law Society membership – the assistance available from the Law Foundation-Queensland and eligibility under the Limitation of Liability Scheme. Law Foundation-Queensland The foundation is a trust fund of which each member of the Society is a beneficiary. It provides three programs to assist members: • Solicitor Hotline. Two experienced solicitors, each with more than 30 years’ experience in practice, are available to provide confidential advice to members on any matter of practice. • Solicitor Helping Hand. The foundation has established a panel of professionals to provide confidential assistance in specialised areas. They can attend the office of the member practitioner and work through any problem in their practice – management difficulties, accounting problems in connection with the practice, difficulty with particular files or dealing with workload because of illness or other cause. Locum services can be provided if required. The foundation can also provide assistance with personal problems such as alcohol and drug dependency or gambling. The assistance is confidential and free. • Benevolent Fund. The foundation can provide financial assistance to a member, their family and dependents who may be experiencing difficulty. That difficulty may arise from any cause and need not be practice or work-related. See qlf.com.au. Limitation of Liability Scheme This scheme, established under the Professional Standards Act 2004, provides a cap on the damages that can be awarded against a practice or practitioner. While professional indemnity insurance pays any damages awarded, the scheme caps the amount of damages that can be awarded so that, in effect, the total of damages plus costs should be covered by the insurance. The scheme will not prevent the subsequent application of excesses or penalties in the event of a claim. To participate in the scheme you must be a full member of Queensland Law Society, hold a current Australian practising certificate and be covered by professional indemnity insurance in accordance with Legal Profession Act 2007. At present, the scheme does not cover corporate entities. To gain the full benefit of a cap, all solicitors within the traditional law firm should be members of both the Society and the scheme. Clearly, it is to the benefit of individual solicitors employed by an ILP to have this cap. It is likely that incorporated legal practices per se will soon be able to participate in the scheme. The scheme cost for the 17/18 year is $122.85 per practitioner. The caps it provides are as follows: • $1.5 million to participating members of a law practice consisting of up to and including 20 principals where the law practice generates income for the financial year up to and including $10 million. • $10 million for participating members who are in a law practice consisting of greater than 20 principles or a law practice that generates an income for the financial year greater than $10 million. QLS can approve higher caps, either in all cases or any specified class or case. Requirements for that approval are generally proof of an insurance cover over and above the liability limitation sought. Given that a benefit of the cap is to ensure that the defence costs are met within the professional indemnity insurance, it may be necessary to consider top-up insurance. The scheme does not apply to all matters. It does not apply to personal injury claims or to matters which arise because of fraud, dishonesty or breach of trust by a practitioner. It does not apply to matters that fall within the ambit of claims under the Queensland State Government Fidelity Fund for title fraud (Part 9, Division 2, subdivision C of the Land Titles Act 1994). Practising certificates and membership renewals Finally, I need to mention that it is the time of year for practising certificate and QLS membership renewal. The processes for paying fees and the rules around late fees have changed this year, so please visit qls.com.au/renewals and read the information to understand how these changes may affect you. All renewals must be successfully lodged before 31 May to avoid a late fee. Practising certificate fees paid after the due date will also attract a late fee. All law practices must also ensure their professional indemnity insurance is renewed and that it accurately reflects their circumstances. Thank you to those who have updated their details in preparation. Craig Smiley Acting Acting Queensland Law Society CEO Our executive report Acting for the benefit of members Law Foundation-Queensland and the Limitation of Liability Scheme
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