Recorded Interactive Webinar: 3 CPD Compulsory Topics for Lawyers – A National Webinar for Lawyers

This webinar comprises 3 one-hour sessions covering each of the compulsory CPD subjects for lawyers for the CPD year ending 31 March 2026.

Session 1: Ethics
When the Client Becomes the Risk: Managing Difficult Instructions, Ignored Advice, and Ending the Relationship

Clients don’t always make it easy to do the right thing — but lawyers must meet their ethical duties regardless. Whether a client is cutting corners, concealing facts, ignoring advice, or making the professional relationship untenable, your obligation to act with integrity remains constant. This session explores how to handle ethically fraught situations where the greatest risk isn’t the legal issue — it’s the client. It covers:

• Responding to misleading, unreasonable, or dishonest instructions
• Managing instructions that contradict your legal advice
• How to document your position to protect yourself from complaints or claims
• Knowing when and how to say no: declining or terminating a retainer ethically
• Dealing with client autonomy and poor decisions — without breaching duties
• Disengagement strategies that protect your interests and reputation
• Best-practice file notes, disclaimers and exit communications that withstand scrutiny

Session 2: Practice Management & Business Skills
Cybersecurity in Legal Practice – Managing Risks, Responsibilities and Responses

Cyber threats are now one of the most significant practice management risks facing the legal profession. From ransomware attacks to phishing scams and data breaches, lawyers must understand their obligations to safeguard client information and ensure business continuity. This session provides a practical framework for meeting those responsibilities, covering:

• Core professional obligations: confidentiality, data security, and regulatory compliance
• Identifying common threats targeting law practices, including phishing, ransomware, and supply-chain vulnerabilities
• Risk management strategies – policies, procedures, and staff training that reduce exposure
• Incident response planning – steps to take when a breach occurs, from containment to notification
• Lessons learned from recent breaches in the legal sector and how to strengthen resilience

Session 3: Professional Skills
Negotiation in Practice: Skills to Get to Yes Without Giving Too Much

Every lawyer negotiates — whether it’s a commercial deal, a property settlement, a litigation outcome, or an internal resource discussion. But effective negotiation is more than back-and-forth offers. This session gives lawyers practical tools to approach negotiations with structure, confidence, and strategic intent — while staying on the right  side of professional and ethical standards. It covers:

• Creating a negotiation plan: how to define goals, limits and walk-away points
• Understanding negotiation styles — yours and theirs — and adjusting accordingly
• How to manage difficult personalities, power dynamics and strong emotions
• Communicating value without making concessions too early
• Tactics for overcoming deadlock without giving ground
• Post-negotiation follow-up: how to document outcomes and avoid misunderstandings