Insert name of Law Practice form compliance... · Section H – Records Management 16. Does the law practice have a library of precedent documents? If yes, describe where those precedent

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[Insert name of Law Practice]

[Insert date]

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1. Law Practice Details

Name of Law Practice:

Address:

Telephone:

Partner(s)/Principal(s):

OLSC representatives:

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2. General Notes for Compliance Audit Questionnaire

Section 670 of the Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW) (the Act) provides that the

Commissioner or his appointed representatives may undertake a compliance audit of

a law practice to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Act, the Legal

Profession Regulation 2005 (the Regulations) and the New South Wales

Professional Conduct and Practice Rules 2013 (the Solicitors’ Rules).

To assist in determining whether your law practice should be audited, you are

requested to complete the Compliance Audit Questionnaire. The information you

provide in your responses is strictly confidential.

Please provide your responses in the boxes provided. Where appropriate you may

attach relevant documents.

Once your responses have been received and reviewed, you will be contacted to

inform you whether it will be necessary to conduct a compliance audit.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Practice Review Officer on

(02) 9377 1800.

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Section A – About the law practice

1. In which areas of law does the law practice provide legal services?

2. Are the partner(s)/principal(s) or any employed solicitors accredited

specialists in that/those areas of law?

3. How many staff (including administrative staff) does the law practice employ?

Please categorise by, for example, partner/principal, employed solicitor,

paralegal, managerial staff, IT specialists.

4. Please set out the organisational structure of the law practice (by attaching a

diagram if that is easiest).

5. Who are the clients of the law practice?

6. What is the main source of work for the law practice?

7. Does the law practice advertise? If yes, please state the media by which it

advertises.

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8. Which other law practices does the law practice consider to be its

competition?

9. How many files are currently open/active within the law practice?

10. How many files were opened in the last financial year? How many files were

closed last financial year?

11. How many files/matters does each legal practitioner manage?

12. What are your plans for the law practice over the next 2 – 5 years? Please

attach copies of business plans or marketing plans if they are available.

13. Does the law practice have an operations or office manual?

14. Does the law practice have a computer based practice management system?

If yes, what is it called?

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15. Is that system backed up?

Section B – Negligence

1. How does the law practice decide whether or not to accept instructions from a

new client?

2. How does the law practice decide whether or not to accept instructions in a

new matter?

3. Are the partner(s)/principal(s) at the law practice technically sound and up to

date in the areas of law in which they practise?

4. How does the law practice ensure that the legal practitioners it employs are

technically sound and up to date in the areas of law in which they practise?

5. Does the law practice maintain a record of staff CLE attendances? If not, how

is that information recorded?

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6. Does the law practice encourage attendance at risk management or practice

management programs? How are these attendances recorded?

7. Does the law practice employ paralegals, non-legally qualified and/or junior

staff? If so, how are those staff members supervised?

8. How are employed solicitors supervised? Is there a mentoring program for

employed solicitors?

9. Is there a mentoring program for paralegals, non-legally qualified and/or junior

staff?

10. Who allocates work at the law practice and how is work allocated?

11. How is work delegated at the law practice? Is there a formal procedure for

delegating work? If yes, please describe it.

12. Are staff meetings held to discuss workloads? If so, how often are staff

meetings held?

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13. Which legal research resources does the law practice use?

14. How are these resources maintained and kept up to date?

15. Who within the law practice is authorised to take new instructions?

16. Are those new instructions then confirmed in writing to the client?

17. When confirming new instructions in writing, or writing to the client at the

beginning of a new matter, does the legal practitioner explain the steps to be

undertaken in the matter?

18. At the beginning of a new matter, does the legal practitioner explain

timeframes within which the law practice will respond to telephone

calls/emails/letters from the client?

19. At the beginning of a new matter, does the law practice explain to the client

who will be the legal practitioner responsible for the conduct of their matter?

Does the law practice also give contact details for other more junior or

administrative staff who may be able to assist with queries?

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20. At the beginning of a new matter with a new client, does the law practice

complete a “new matter form”? What information is recorded on this form?

21. If the law practice does not use a new matter form, how and where are client

details recorded?

22. What steps does the law practice take to verify the identity of the client?

23. Does the law practice have a formal complaints policy? If yes, please

describe how the policy operates.

24. Following a complaint, does the law practice conduct training/guidance as

appropriate?

25. Does the law practice analyse its complaints record?

Section C – Communication

1. What is the most frequently used method of communication with clients?

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Section C – Communication

2. What is the most frequently used method of communication with the legal

representatives of opposing parties?

3. What is the most frequently used method of communication with counsel,

experts and third parties?

4. How is communication using these (different) methods of communication

recorded for the file?

5. How does the law practice ensure compliance with s. 318(1)(a) of the Act?

6. How does the law practice ensure that it has up to date contact details for the

client? Where is this information stored?

Section D – Delay

1. How does the law practice monitor activity on all current/active files?

2. How are critical dates recorded so that they are not overlooked?

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Section D – Delay

3. How are periods of inactivity on files monitored?

4. Is there a procedure at the law practice to conduct regular file reviews? If yes,

please describe that procedure?

Section E – Liens/file transfers

1. Does the law practice have policies and procedures regarding file transfers

and liens? If yes, please describe those procedures. Do they comply with

Solicitors’ Rules 14, 15 and 16 and s. 728 of the Act?

2. How often does the law practice have to establish a lien?

3. How often does the law practice have to transfer a file to another law

practice?

4. What steps does the law practice take if it has to terminate the retainer with

the client or withdraw its services? Does this happen very often?

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Section E – Liens/file transfers

5. When a matter has been concluded what information is provided to the client?

6. What is the procedure when a file is closed? Are checklists used? If yes,

please attach a copy.

Section F – Costs Disclosure/billing

1. Is there a standard Costs Disclosure and/or Costs Agreement that the law

practice uses? Does it comply with the Act, the Regulations and the

Solicitors’ Rules?

2. Is costs disclosure routinely provided at the beginning of a matter?

3. What procedures does the law practice have in place to ensure that employed

solicitors are making costs disclosure in accordance with the Act?

4. What steps does the law practice take to ensure the client understands the

costs disclosure/costs agreement and consents to the proposed course of

action and proposed costs?

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5. How frequently does the law practice bill clients? Does the law practice

inform clients that they will be billed at certain intervals?

6. Does the law practice’s time recording and billing system reflect the frequency

at which clients are billed?

7. How does the law practice ensure compliance with s. 316 of the Act?

8. Does the law practice have a system in place to alert legal practitioners to the

fact that a previous estimate is about to be exceeded?

9. How does the law practice ensure compliance with s. 318(1)(b) of the Act?

10. How does the law practice ensure compliance with s. 332A of the Act?

11. How are bills generated?

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12. What is the procedure for bills to be checked before being sent to the client?

13. Who signs the bill? If the bill is not signed, who signs the covering letter?

14. Are some bills delivered electronically to clients? If yes, what is the

procedure?

15. If clients are billed an hourly rate, how do legal practitioners record their time

on a matter?

16. If clients are not billed an hourly rate, how is the cost of their matter

calculated?

17. Does each legal practitioner have a billing budget? If yes, how is it

calculated?

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Section G – Conflicts of Interests

1. How does the law practice conduct checks for conflicts of interests?

2. When does the law practice conduct these checks?

3. Where the law practice acts for more than one party in a matter, how does the

law practice check compliance with Solicitors’ Rule 11?

4. What policies and procedures does the law practice have in place if a conflict

of interests is discovered part way through a matter?

5. Does the law practice keep a register of organisations or companies of which

its legal practitioners are directors, shareholders, investors or otherwise

connected to that organisation or company?

Section H – Records Management

1. What are the different ways in which correspondence may arrive at the law

practice?

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2. How is incoming mail (post or DX) recorded, opened and distributed?

3. How are incoming faxes recorded, opened and distributed?

4. How are incoming emails opened and distributed (if required)?

5. What are the different ways in which correspondence may be sent from the

law practice?

6. How is each method of outgoing correspondence checked and signed?

7. How is correspondence stored on the relevant file?

8. Does the law practice keep a central record of correspondence that has been

sent/received from/to the law practice?

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9. Are files divided into different sections for correspondence, pleadings, original

documents etc?

10. What is the physical structure of current matter files i.e. are they manila

folders, ring binders, lever arch folders? Are only electronic files maintained?

Who has access to those file?

11. How are new files opened and created?

12. Is there a file/matter register that complies with Solicitors’ Rule 48?

13. How and where are current matter files stored? What security systems are in

place?

14. How and where are completed/closed matter files stored? Are these files

stored for at least 7 years?

15. Does the law practice store safe custody items? If yes, where are they stored

and is there a register that complies with Solicitors’ Rule 49?

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16. Does the law practice have a library of precedent documents? If yes,

describe where those precedent documents are stored and how they are kept

up to date.

17. What type of filing system does the law practice use – i.e. is it electronic or

manual, other?

18. Does the law practice use file checklists?

19. Are file notes typed or handwritten? Does the law practice have a precedent

file note document or standard file note pad to be used consistently by

everyone at the law practice?

Section I – Undertakings

1. Do legal practitioners at the law practice provide undertakings? Are employed

solicitors authorised to provide undertakings on behalf of the law practice? If

yes, how are those undertakings recorded?

2. Does the law practice provide timely responses to regulatory bodies such as

the Law Society or the OLSC or to cost assessors, LawCover or the Courts?

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Section J – Supervision of Practice and Staff

1. Does the law practice keep the original or copy practising certificate for each

legal practitioner employed by the law practice?

2. Does the law practice arrange for practising certificates to be renewed each

year?

3. Do all of the partners at the law practice have job descriptions?

4. Do all of the employed legal practitioners and administrative staff have

employment agreements and job descriptions?

5. Does the law practice have a formal written induction procedure? If yes,

please provide a copy.

6. Does the law practice have a formal training policy for its employees? If yes,


7. Does the law practice conduct formal performance reviews? If yes, please

describe the process.

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8. Do the partner(s)/principal(s) of the law practice have regular meetings? If

yes, how often and what is discussed?

9. Does the law practice have regular general staff meetings? If yes, how often

and what is discussed?

10. Does the law practice have a written, formal grievance procedure? If yes,


11. When recruiting, how does the law practice ensure compliance with the

prohibitions regarding employment of disqualified or convicted persons

pursuant to the Act?

12. How many days per week do the partner(s)/principal(s) spend in the office?

13. How many hours per day do the partner(s)/principal(s) spend in the office?

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14. What percentage of the day do partner(s)/principal(s) spend on each of the

following activities: billable work, marketing/practice development, supervising

other fee earners, supervising administrative staff and other business?

15. How many files does each partner/principal manage?

16. How many files does each partner/principal supervise?

Section K - Trust accounts

1. Does the law practice deal with either of the following: trust money, controlled

money, transit money?

2. When was the last Law Society trust account inspection at the law practice?

When is the next Law Society trust account inspection?

3. What issues were raised in the last Law Society trust account inspection?

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4. Does the law practice use a computer program to manage its accounts? If

yes, what is it called?

5. Are the law practice’s accounts accurate, regularly monitored and kept up to

date?

6. Are the accounts managed so that the law practice complies with its

obligations under the Act, particularly in relation to trust money, controlled

money and transit money?

7. What policies and procedures are in place for signing trust account cheques?

8. Who maintains the trust accounts? Is that employee full-time or part-time?

What qualifications does that employee have?

9. Does the law practice keep trust account records for 7 years as required by

cl. 89 of the Regulations?

10. Does the law practice hold a register of powers and estates in relation to trust

money as required by cl. 86 of the Regulations?

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11. Does Solicitors’ Rule 50 apply to the law practice? If yes, how and where is

the register maintained?

12. Is the law practice up to date with its tax obligations?

13. Does the law practice meet your financial expectations? Are you satisfied

with its financial position? Please give reasons for your answer.

Documents

Insert name of Law Practice form compliance... · Section H – Records Management 16. Does the law practice have a library of precedent documents? If yes, describe where those precedent