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​Legal Practice Board plans more educational seminars

17 May 2023

Positive attendance, improved reporting and great feedback is encouraging the Legal Practice Board to increase its educational seminars for legal practitioners.

The Board presented nine seminars in March on trust accounting and external examination requirements. The seminars updated legal practitioners on recent changes included in the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2022, applicable in Western Australia from 1 July 2022.

More seminars and possibly workshops covering a wider range of topics and possibly with smaller groups, are now planned for later this year and for 2024. There is also the potential for greater involvement of Board expertise across more subject areas. Courses are also planned for external examiners who audit trust accounts.

“Attendance was above expectations”, course presenter and Manager Review and Audit, Stephen Ramsay, said of the March seminars.

“We had 582 registrations for the seminars from around 1100 invitations to law firms and practitioners which operate in these areas. That’s exceptionally good.”

The main objectives of the seminars were to increase a law practice’s awareness of trust account obligations, and preempt trust account questions to the Board.

“Seminars are an incredibly efficient way to reach our target audience”, Stephen said. “There are gaps in understanding trust accounts in the legal profession and we can address those as well as answer questions on the spot.”

Earlier seminars covered enough of the basics such that this year’s events could move on to more advanced topics and recent developments, including the Uniform Law. Board experts in other areas were also on hand to answer wider legal questions.

The seminars are great value for money at just $62.50, plus they earn attendees one valuable Continuing Professional Development (CPD) unit. 

The seminars were also available on Zoom video conferencing broadcasts to regional practitioners and staff, and those with mobility issues, although the participation in this service was not as great as expected.

Overall feedback has been positive, describing the seminars as clear, practical and well delivered. More and longer seminars and workshops have been requested.