Conditional admission guideline

Guideline – procedure for the making of a section 20 conditional admission application

The Legal Practice Board (Board) is now accepting applications for conditional admission pursuant to section 20 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (WA) (Uniform Law).

Work is being undertaken in respect to an updated application form as there are no current guidelines as to how conditional admission applications are to be assessed and what information is necessary.

In the interim, applications for conditional admission, particularly for a foreign lawyer proposing to undertake work on a limited basis including practising in a discrete area, for example, oil and gas, should follow this guideline:

  1. Lodge a standard ‘application for admission’ with the Board, accessible through the Online Admission Portal on the Board’s website (current cost: $360). This involves all of the usual requirements that are undertaken for admission purposes including a request for a ‘certificate of good standing’ from the jurisdiction in which a foreign applicant has practised, requests for character references, ‘disclosure statements’ etc. This application must be made within 2 days of filing a motion paper with the Supreme Court of Western Australia (see paragraph 2 below).
  2. As noted in paragraph 1, applicants are required to file a motion paper with the Supreme Court of Western Australia at least 2 months prior to the proposed admission date. Further information, including a proforma motion paper, admission ceremony dates, and latest filing dates are published in the Admissions section in accordance with the Practice and Procedure of the Supreme Court of Western Australia website.
  3. An applicant must lodge, with the normal application to the Board, by way of letter (until new forms are developed), a request for admission under section 20 Uniform Law conditions, and also for an exemption under section 18 of the Uniform Law.
  4. The applicant must specify to the Board the conditions that the applicant seeks to be admitted upon. Section 20 outlines the general categories of conditions that the Board can impose.
  5. The applicant must also specify to the Board why the conditions are appropriate. An applicant must address their qualifications, training and experience as they relate to the proposed conditions for admission so that the Board can form an assessment as to the appropriateness of the conditions.
  6. The applicant must also specify the reason why the Board should dispense with, under section 18 of the Uniform Law, any omission from the applicant’s qualifications or practical legal training requirements to be admitted unconditionally as a legal practitioner in Western Australia.

Information to be provided in respect of section 20 conditional admission proposal.

It is also important for the applicant to provide information as follows:

  • the nature and scope of the legal practice in which the foreign lawyer proposes to engage in Australia
  • any proposed employment, supervisory and professional support arrangements which the foreign lawyer has already made in Australia
  • the nature, scope and purpose of any conditions of the following type as specified in section 20(1) of the Uniform Law, which the foreign lawyer considers might appropriately be attached to the certificate of compliance, for example:
    • a condition limiting the period of the conditional admission (see section 20(1)a).
    • a condition requiring the foreign lawyer to complete any particular academic or practical legal training or both, within a specified period (see section 20(1)(b)).
    • a condition requiring the foreign lawyer to engage in supervised legal practice (see section 20(1)(c).
    • a condition limiting the area of law in which the foreign lawyer may engage in legal practice (see section 20(1)(d).

A primary consideration for the Board in considering an application for section 20 admission is whether the proposal will ensure that the foreign lawyer provides legal services of an appropriate professional quality and standard to clients in Australia.

Information to be provided in respect of a section 18 request for exemption from having to satisfy the specified academic qualifications prerequisite or the specified practical legal training prerequisite or both

In respect to an application for a section 18 exemption request, the letter to the Board should to address how the applicant’s ‘legal skills and relevant experience’ meet the Academic Areas of Knowledge (or eleven (11) Priestley subjects) listed in Schedule 1, Part 2 of the Legal Profession Uniform Admission Rules 2015 and the ‘competencies’ (skills, compulsory practice areas, optional practice areas (of which only two have to be selected) and values) listed in Part 2, Schedule 4 of the Legal Profession Uniform Admission Rules 2015.

Timing of the Board’s consideration of section 20 applications

The time for the processing of the application will be the same as for other ‘complex’ applications for admission to the Australian legal profession that need to be considered at meetings of the Board’s Admissions and Registration Committee, which meets once a month.

Applicants will be contacted if there are deficiencies in the application or if the Board requires further information to determine whether the applicant is eligible and suitable to be admitted. An applicant may be required to defer admission to the Australian legal profession to a later ceremony by filing an amended motion paper with the Supreme Court of Western Australia, if the Board requires more time to consider eligibility or suitability for admission to the Australian legal profession.

Variation or revocation of conditions imposed on admission

It is important for prospective applicants to note that at present, it is only possible to vary or revoke any conditions imposed on a person’s ‘conditional admission’, by way of an application to the Supreme Court of Western Australia, pursuant to section 20(3) of the Uniform Law.

The fees will be payable to the Supreme Court of Western Australia, in relation to an application for variation or revocation, including at a minimum, a filing fee, and possibly also a hearing allocation fee when a hearing date is set, and may require other applicable fees, for example, if interlocutory proceedings are required. Please refer to the Supreme Court of Western Australia website for current fees.