Law Society of New South Wales

"LSNSW" redirects here. For the natural history organisation, see Linnean Society of New South Wales.
Law Society of New South Wales
Location
Official language
 English
Staff
 23,000
Website www.lawsociety.com.au

The Law Society of New South Wales is a professional association which represents over 23,000 solicitors in Australia.[1][2] The Law Society has statutory powers and regulates the practice of law in New South Wales.[3]

The Law Society of NSW encourages debate and actively drives law reform issues through policy submissions [4] and open dialogue with Governments, parliamentary bodies, the Courts and the Attorney General's Department. It ensures the general public has appropriate access to justice and can be easily connected to members of the profession when they require legal advice.

Along with the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner, the Law Society sets and enforces professional standards,[5] licenses solicitors to practise, investigates complaints and administers discipline to ensure both the community and the profession are properly served by ethical and responsible solicitors.

History

The Law Society was informally started in 1842.[6] In 1884, the society was formalized as "The Incorporated Law Institute of New South Wales", and had its first annual meeting the following year.

In 1960, the institute was renamed to "The Law Society of New South Wales". In 1963, the Society started publishing "The Law Society Journal". The society also established The College of Law in 1973, the Legal Practitioners Act in 1987, Law Industry Superannuation Trust (LIST) and LawCare in 1989, Office of the Legal Services Commissioner in 1992, and the Lawyers Assistance Program (LAP) in 2001.

Structure and organisation

The Law Society is governed by an internal Council, the Legal Profession Act of 2004 and the Corporations Act of 2001. The Council has 21 elected members. The Council has 2 country councilors, 2 suburban councilors, 2 city councilors, 2 corporate councilors, 2 government councilors, 2 large firm councilors, 1 Young Lawyers councilor, and 8 other councilors.[7]

The Law Society has 23 committees devoted to different aspects of law.

Pro-bono work

The society started a voluntary "Pro Bono Scheme" in 1992.[8]

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ "The Law Society of New South Wales Homepage". The Law Society of New South Wales. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  2. ↑ "Professional Standards Council Home". New South Wales Professional Standards Council. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  3. ↑ http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/psc/ll_psc.nsf/vwFiles/Scheme_LawSociety_Summary_nsw_20062011.pdf/$file/Scheme_LawSociety_Summary_nsw_20062011.pdf retrieved 2010-10-27 Archived October 30, 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ http://www.lawsociety.com.au/resources/policypapersandsubmissions/index.htm retrieved 2013-09-24
  5. ↑ http://www.lawsociety.com.au/ForSolictors/professionalstandards/index.htm retrieved 2013-09-24
  6. ↑ "Law Society of NSW - History". Lawsociety.com.au. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
  7. ↑ "Law Society of NSW - Council". Lawsociety.com.au. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
  8. ↑ "Law Society of NSW - Pro Bono Scheme". Lawsociety.com.au. Retrieved 2010-12-28.
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