Legal Practitioners (Miscellaneous) Amendment Act 2019 (SA)

South Australia

Legal Practitioners (Miscellaneous) Amendment Act 2019

An Act to amend the Legal Practitioners Act 1981.

The Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows:

Part 1Preliminary1Short title

This Act may be cited as the Legal Practitioners (Miscellaneous) Amendment Act 2019.

2Commencement

This Act will come into operation on a day to be fixed by proclamation.

3Amendment provisions

In this Act, a provision under a heading referring to the amendment of a specified Act amends the Act so specified.

Part 2Amendment of Legal Practitioners Act 1981

4Amendment of section 14AB – Certain matters to be reported by Society

Section 14AB(1)(a)—delete "Schedule 3" and substitute:

Schedule 2

5Amendment of section 57A – Payment of interest accruing on trust accounts

1. (1)

   Section 57A(2)—delete "Subject to subsection (3), the" and substitute:

   The

2. (2)

   Section 57A(2)(c)—delete paragraph (c) and substitute:

   1. (c)

      10% of the money must be paid to the Law Foundation of South Australia Incorporated subject to such conditions as the Attorney‑General directs.

3. (3)

   Section 57A(3)—delete "and may, from time to time, with the approval of the Society, vary the portion of the money allocated for payment pursuant to each paragraph of that subsection"

4. (4)

   Section 57A(5)—delete subsection (5) and substitute:

   1. (5)

      At least 50% of the money paid to the Law Foundation of South Australia Incorporated pursuant to subsection (2)(c) must be applied in, or in relation to, the provision of legal services to the community.

6Amendment of section 72 – Functions

Section 72(2)—delete subsection (2) and substitute:

1. (2)

   The Commissioner may—

   1. (a)

      with the approval of the Attorney‑General, fix, and require the payment of, fees in connection with the performance of functions of the Commissioner under this Act; and

   2. (b)

      waive the payment of, or refund, the whole or part of a fee fixed under paragraph (a).

7Amendment of section 77N – Investigation of allegation of overcharging

1. (1)

   Section 77N—after subsection (4) insert:

   1. (4a)

      The Commissioner—

      1. (a)

         may require a complainant to pay the reasonable costs of an assessment by a legal practitioner arranged under subsection (4)(b); and

      2. (b)

         may, if the complaint is upheld, refund those costs to the complainant.

2. (2)

   Section 77N(7)(a)—delete "$10 000" and substitute:

   $50 000

8Amendment of section 80 – Constitution and proceedings of Tribunal

1. (1)

   Section 80(1b)—after "interlocutory matter" insert:

   or an application for an extension of time

2. (2)

   Section 80—after subsection (1b) insert:

   1. (1ba)

      The Tribunal may, if it thinks fit, hear and determine an application for an extension of time for the laying of a charge when it hears and determines proceedings in relation to the charge.

9Amendment of section 82 – Inquiries

Section 82(2a)—delete subsection (2a) and substitute:

1. (2a)

   A charge may not be laid before the Tribunal more than 5 years after the day on which the person laying the charge became aware of the conduct to which the charge relates unless—

   1. (a)

      the charge is laid by the Attorney‑General; or

   2. (b)

      the Tribunal allows an extension of time.

10Insertion of section 95E

After section 95D insert:

95E—Wills register

If a register of wills made in this State is maintained by the Society, a legal practitioner does not breach a duty of confidentiality owed by the practitioner to a client for whom the practitioner has prepared a will merely by publishing on the register, without the client's consent, the name and date of birth of the client or the date of the will, provided that—

1. (a)

   the will was made before the commencement of this section; and

2. (b)

   the practitioner has been unable to contact the client despite having taken reasonable steps to do so for the purpose of obtaining the client's consent to publication of the information.

11Amendment of Schedule 1 – Incorporated legal practices

Schedule 1—before clause 1 insert:

A1—Interpretation

In this Schedule—

approved form means a form approved by the Supreme Court.

Schedule 1—Transitional provisions

1—Transitional provisions

1. (1)

   Section 77N of the Legal Practitioners Act 1981 as amended by section 7 of this Act applies in relation to a complaint of overcharging received by the Legal Profession Conduct Commissioner after the commencement of the amendment irrespective of whether the final bill to which the complaint relates was delivered to the client before or after that commencement.

2. (2)

   Section 80 of the Legal Practitioners Act 1981, as in force immediately before the commencement of section 8 of this Act, applies in relation to an application for an extension of time heard by the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal after the commencement of the amendments made by that section if the charge or charges in relation to which the application is being made arise from a complaint made, or a direction from the Attorney‑General or the Society received, or from an investigation by the Commissioner commenced on the Commissioner's own initiative, before that commencement.

3. (3)

   Section 82(2a) of the Legal Practitioners Act 1981, as in force immediately before the commencement of section 9 of this Act, applies in relation to the laying of a charge before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal after the commencement of the amendment made by that section if the charge arises from a complaint made, or a direction from the Attorney‑General or the Society received, or from an investigation by the Commissioner commenced on the Commissioner's own initiative, before that commencement.