Lawyers hone their specialist skills

There’s no slacking off for lawyers if they wish to maintain their registration to practise. Ongoing professional development is mandatory.

In NSW, all solicitors and barristers must complete 10 hours of recognised continuing legal education every year. This can include attending seminars, presenting papers, teaching and self-study. Each state jurisdiction has comparable requirements.

For solicitors aiming to get ahead of the pack there’s a program run by the law societies in each state that involves a series of exams and professional assessments. If successfully completed, it results in specialist accreditation.

The Law Society of NSW introduced its accreditation scheme in 1992 to offer members the opportunity to strengthen expertise in a particular area of practice and thereby acquire a reputation for excellence in that field.

Applicants have to devise their own course of study but guidelines for essential knowledge are provided and past exam papers are available.

Highly regarded within the profession, the scheme covers 14 areas of practice ranging from criminal law and commercial litigation to immigration and family law. Only 7 per cent of NSW’s 24,000 registered solicitors have attained specialist accreditation. With a fail rate that can reach 40 per cent, it’s not a process for the faint-hearted.

“When I did it [in criminal law in 1994] I was absolutely and utterly scared,” says Doug Humphreys, chairman of the specialist accreditation board of the Law Society of NSW. “[At the time] I was the director of the criminal law division at Legal Aid. If I had failed I would have had to resign.

“I’ve seen people who are competent solicitors turn into complete blithering messes. There’s a lot of professional pride and reputation at stake.”

To be eligible to apply, a solicitor has to have been practising for five years, with at least 25 per cent of their work during the past three years in the area in which they are seeking specialist accreditation. Should they make the grade, they must maintain the 25 per cent minimum practice in their field every year and undertake an additional 10 hours of recognised continuing legal education on top of the annual 10 required by all lawyers.

Accreditation is a peer review process with a focus on the practical issues a solicitor may face. Unlike a degree qualification that’s awarded for life, accreditation is on an annual basis. “You have to apply to be reaccredited,” Humphreys says.

Five universities in NSW recognise specialist accreditation and award it six to eight credit points towards their masters degree programs. This articulation into further study was one attraction of the scheme for Cherie Wright, a senior associate at global firm Fragomen who achieved specialist accreditation in immigration law last year.

“[Another thing] for me was peer recognition, both internally within the firm I work for, but also within the external market,” she says. “A lot of the work I do in the immigration field is referral-based from previous clients, so the fact I now have specialist accreditation does add a lot of weight, a lot more credibility to me within the marketplace. It’s all about getting that competitive edge.”

Also appealing was that the accreditation process was relatively brief. “It was tough to do [but] in my mind I knew that [it would only] be for two months,” Wright says.

Implicit within specialist accreditation is the obligation to practice ethically. “I like to call it the Law Society good housekeeping seal of approval,” Humphreys says.