Resources and information

The lead up to the holiday season is demanding for practitioners with meeting client and court deadlines, as well as managing an increase in commitments outside of work. In the last-minute rush to the end of year closedown, important risk management measures can be overlooked. To help avoid unwelcome surprises when coming back to work, we’ve put together our top 5 actions to take before you close the door on 2020.

From midnight Wednesday 5 August 2020, most law firms in the Melbourne metropolitan area will be required to close their office and work remotely in accordance with Stage 4 COVID-19 restrictions. This article outlines the key actions you should take now to ensure commitments are met and any employees effectively supervised during this period.

Sending money overseas is a common action for law practices today and we receive claims when the money is sent in the wrong currency.

When a person loses capacity it is usually a lot simpler to deal with any financial and legal decisions where that person has appointed an attorney via an enduring power of attorney (financial). This is part of the advice often given by practitioners to clients. It is not clear how many practitioners have taken their own advice.

Sending money overseas to a client can be risky. It may expose a practitioner to a claim or even personal liability for money owed by the client to the Federal Government.

2010 saw several notifications where the conversion of Australian dollars into foreign currency before sending it overseas has led to complaints by the recipient.