Legal Profession Commons^™

Adopting Law Firm Management Systems To Survive And Thrive: A Study Of The Australian Approach To Management-Based Regulation, Susan Saab Fortney, Tahlia Gordon

Susan S. Fortney

In Australia, amendments to the Legal Profession Act require that incorporated legal practices (ILPs) take steps to assure compliance with provisions of the Legal Profession Act 2004. Specifically, the legislation provides that the ILP must appoint a legal practitioner director to be generally responsible for the management of the ILP. The ILP must also implement and maintain “appropriate management systems" to enable the provision of legal services in accordance with the professional obligations of legal practitioners. Because the new law did not define “appropriate management systems” (AMS) the Office of Legal Services Commissioner for New South Wales worked with representatives …