business.gov.au

Registration as a Foreign Lawyer - New South Wales

Description

You will need this registration if you are a registered legal practitioner in a country other than Australia and want to work within the legal services industry in New South Wales.

This registration allows you to provide the following legal services in Australia:

  • doing work, or transacting business, concerning the law of a foreign country where you are registered or authorised by the foreign registration authority for that country
  • legal services (including appearances) in relation to proceedings before bodies other than courts
  • legal services in relation to arbitration proceedings or conciliation, mediation and other forms of consensual dispute resolution
  • legal services of a kind specified in the Uniform Rules.

Overseas lawyers may not work as a lawyer or legal practitioner providing legal services directly to clients, or appear in court.

Please be aware that there are circumstances where you can practice foreign law without this registration certificate (for example, during one or more periods that do not aggregate exceed 90 days in any period of 12 months).

Service type

Licence

A licence defines the need to obtain recognition / certification and registration to undertake a certain business activity.

Eligibility requirements

To be eligible for this registration you must:

  • be 18 years of age or older
  • be a foreign-registered legal practitioner
  • demonstrate an intention to engage in legal practice in Australia within a reasonable period after registration
  • not be subject to any special conditions concerning engagement in criminal, civil or discipline proceedings
  • not hold a cancelled or suspended registration as a result of disciplinary action
  • be residing and intending to work in New South Wales
  • fulfil any other obligations and expectations required by the Agency
  • hold a current professional indemnity insurance policy.

Your qualifications and knowledge will be assessed to ensure that they meet the standards and conditions of a local lawyer.

Duration

Up to 1 year

Expiry

30 June

Fees

Fees Details for this service in table format.

Task Type Business Structure Amount Description
Apply Application All $600.00

Fees for 2024-25

Act(s) name

Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) 2014 New South Wales

Regulation(s) name

Legal Profession Uniform General Rules 2015 New South Wales

Legal Profession Uniform Regulations 2015 New South Wales (Opens in new window)

Approval time

Applications are normally processed in 2 to 3 weeks.

Administering agency

Law Society of NSW

Contact details

Contact Email, Phone and Address Details for this service in simple two column table format, header then data.