Recorded Webinar: 3 CPD Compulsory Topics for Lawyers – a national webinar

This webinar comprises 3 one-hour sessions covering each of the compulsory CPD subjects for lawyers for the CPD year ending 31 March 2025.

Session 1: Ethics

Learning from the Mistakes of Others: A Lesson In Ethics for Busy Practitioners

When work gets busy, it is all too easy to fall into the routine of everyday life. It is often not until we hear of the publicised mistakes of others that we get the big wake-up call and take the time to reflect on our practices to consider whether we have developed any bad, risky or unethical habits. To help lawyers avoid repeating mistakes made by others, this session shall:

• Examine the facts and identify the takeaway lessons for practitioners from recent cases in which a practitioner was found guilty of professional misconduct or unsatisfactory professional conduct
• Share tips for identifying and managing conflicts of interest, including practical steps to minimise risk when dealing with a client of diverse parts (companies, joint client etc)
• Guide practitioners what to do when a conflict of interest is identified or divergence of interests within a client entity to limit the risk of disciplinary proceedings
• Explore cases including LSC v Cass [2023] QCAT 320 (the ethical issues which can arise when taking instructions from joint clients) and Council of the Law Society of NSW v Ip [2023] NSWCATOD 157 (dealing with mistakes in a legal document and as to execution and witnessing of document)

Session 2: Practice Management & Business Skills

Getting Your House in Order: Preparing for the New Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financial Laws

The Commonwealth Government recently introduced significant legislation expanding Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism laws. This round of reforms will not only expand the regime to include lawyers, but it will also create additional obligations to verify the source of money deposited into their accounts. These reforms are poised to be one of the most important changes to practice management impacting the legal profession. To help lawyers consider what these reforms will mean for their own practices, this session shall:

• Examination of the new Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Bill 2024 – overview of the changes anticipated to come into effect with respect to lawyers, along with other professional service providers
• Scope of the new obligations of lawyers and challenges for compliance in practice
• Discuss the role lawyers will be expected to play to overcome these implementation challenges and outline practical steps to prepare for the changes and where to go for further guidance

Session 3: Professional Skills

For Better or for Worse: Harnessing AI in your Skillset

More than a year since the launch of ChatGPT into mainstream use, it seems that AI is now everywhere. When it was first launched, the potential uses of AI seemed endless and the only limit was our own imaginations. However, as AI is being increasingly used to perform legal tasks and in court matters, the risks arising from its use to prepare court documents and manage aspects of legal processes are becoming evident. The new Victorian Supreme Court Guidelines are the first big step towards the regulation and management of its use in legal practice with more regulation anticipated to come. To help lawyers consider the risks and benefits to using AI, this session explore:

• Key AI concepts and tools currently available, including machine (and deep) learning
• Do you get what you pay for? Unpacking the key programs available to lawyers
• How generative AI works, how it can be used to prepare key legal documents and what steps lawyers still need to take to verify text output
• How AI applications are used in legal tasks (including review of disclosure etc), the risks associated with this (including data bias etc) and what safeguards and questions need to be asked within the firm to better understand the use and risks
• Relevant guidelines and directives currently in place in Australian courts, and likely to appear in the future