In April every year, solicitors in NSW are invited to renew their practising certificate. While it is a routine process, it is nonetheless an important cog in the regulatory system through which the integrity of the legal profession is maintained. It is an annual process through which your ongoing fitness to hold a practising certificate is considered and your regulatory information updated.
Section 45 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) (Uniform Law) provides that the Council of the Law Society of New South Wales (Council) must not grant or renew a practising certificate if it considers, inter alia, that a solicitor is not a fit and proper person to hold a certificate.
These are some of the things you need to consider when renewing your practising certificate.
Renew your 2025 practising certificate in time
Pursuant to the NSW legal profession legislation, all applications to renew a practising certificate must be submitted by 15 May 2025 (the standard renewal period), and the Law Society cannot accept any applications submitted after 30 June 2025.
If you do not renew your practising certificate by 30 June 2025, you will not be authorised to engage in legal practice from 1 July 2025. You will need to make a fresh application for the grant of your practising certificate. This may take some time to consider, and while the application is under consideration, you are not entitled to engage in legal practice. In some cases, Council may need to appoint a manager to take over your law practice at your expense while your fresh application is being considered.
Think about what you need to disclose
When you renew your practising certificate, you will be asked to declare the accuracy of certain events or information. This is required under section 87 of the Uniform Law and rule 12 of the Legal Profession Uniform General Rules 2015 (General Rules), which contemplates all the matters referred to in rule 13 of the General Rules. The question you need to ask yourself is – is there anything which has occurred in the last 12 months that might be relevant to your fitness to practice?
You will be asked to declare that any information you provide is true and correct.
It is important to turn your mind to this question and think carefully before you answer. The matters relevant to whether an applicant is a fit and proper person to hold a certificate are set out in rule 13 of the General Rules. A failure to disclose certain information can have significant consequences, including refusal to issue your practising certificate or disciplinary action for unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct – see for example, Tangsilsat v Council of the Law Society of New South Wales [2019] NSWCA 144.
Update your details
It is important to keep your practice and contact details up to date.
In fact, you are required to notify the Law Society Registry of any changes to your particulars within 7 days after a change occurs (refer to regulation 61 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Regulation 2015).
If your details change, and you have not notified the Law Society Registry of that change, the Law Society may not be able to contact you if a regulatory matter arises during the year and this could have consequences for how the matter is handled.
Complete your CPD requirements
It is a statutory condition of your practising certificate that you complete your CPD requirements. You will be asked to confirm whether you have complied with your CPD requirements when you renew your practising certificate.
The CPD year ended on 31 March 2025.
If you have not complied with your CPD requirements, you will need to either:
- Apply for an exemption from your CPD requirements; or
- Submit a rectification of non-compliance CPD plan.
What if I am a principal of a law practice?
There are two additional requirements if you are a principal of a law practice.
First, every principal solicitor must ensure they have professional indemnity insurance in place for their law practice. This is a pre-requisite for the issuance of your practising certificate.
If this has not been arranged, Council may be left with no option but to refuse to issue your practising certificate. The Council has previously refused to issue a practising certificate because of a failure to have insurance in place.
Second, every principal solicitor must complete various trust account declarations in relation to handling trust money.
The first of these declarations is known as the ‘Part A’ declaration, which is due every year on You must declare whether or not you have held trust money for the year ending 31 March.
If you answer yes, you must then complete a ‘Part B’ declaration by 31 May and have an External Examiner appointed to your law practice to prepare an External Examiners Report which must be lodged with the Trust Account Department by the same date. Click here for more information: https://www.lawsociety.com.au/practising-law-in-NSW/trust-money-and-fidelity-fund/external-examiners.
The External Examination process is critical in ensuring the integrity and reputation of the legal profession is maintained when handling trust money. Accordingly, failure to submit either the Part A or Part B declaration, or the External Examiners Report, is viewed very seriously by Council.
Council has previously refused to issue a practising certificate where a solicitor failed to comply with their trust account obligations or failed to respond to correspondence from the Law Society.
Smooth sailing
Each year the Law Society processes more than 42,000 practising certificates.
The Law Society encourages you to consider the matters above to ensure your application is dealt with as quickly and as smoothly as possible. If you have any questions, we are here to help! Contact the Professional Support Unit’s regulatory compliance line for a free and confidential chat on (02) 9926 0115 or email regulatory.compliance@lawsociety.com.au.
