Becoming a lawyer: from admission to practice under the Legal Profession Act 2004 (Qld)

Abstract

[Introduction]: The Legal Profession Act 2004 (Qld) ('the Act') brings together Queensland's new law, processes and institutions relevant for entry to the legal profession and for securing the right to practise as a barrister or solicitor. In some respects, these changes have potential to realise either flexibility or fossilisation in the profession. On significant questions, the Act left the detail of these changes to new entry rules and, a new creature, administration rules made by the Bar Association and Law Society.' The new entry rules - the Supreme Court (Legal Practitioner Admission) Rules 2004 (Qld) - are astonishingly incomplete, and parts of the Act that they were meant to trigger are left halfcocked. [ therefore aim to inform as to what changes have been made to the law for becoming a lawyer, and to suggest what can be done still to realise the philosophy of the Act. My central proposition is that, if the Act is to bring any practical improvements to the structure of the profession, the entry standards that must be met before the court admits a person to practise law should, to the greatest possible degree, be appropriate for practice in either branch. A critical means of realising this will be the requirements that will be set for education and practical legal training (PLT), and the extent to which these have to be completed before and after admission.