Recorded Webinar: 3 CPD Compulsory Topics for Lawyers – a national webinar
Date/Time
About the Webinar
This webinar comprises 3 one-hour sessions covering each of the compulsory CPD subjects for lawyers for the CPD year ending 31 March 2024.
Session 1: Practice Management & Business Skills
Cost Management - Cost Management in Legal Practice: From Surviving to Thriving
The increasing compression of margins in legal practice makes cost management even more imperative, particularly during these trying times. With clients expecting flexibility and choice when it comes to costing, practitioners are feeling pressures on all fronts. This practical session examines how to best manage cash flow, billing and spending to ensure your legal practice performs at its best. This session covers:
- Communicating costs to your client: getting the estimates right
- Revisiting costing models: is it time for a revamp?
- Automated document production and workflows
- When clients complain about costs - how should you respond?
- Technology and cost - understanding a dynamic duo
- Factors that contribute to financial sustainability - the cash flow imperative
Session 2: Ethics
Avoiding a Repeat of the Darkest Chapter: The Ethical Lessons to be Learned from Banksia
In 2021, The Honourable Justice Dixon handed down his decision in the Banksia case with what some have described as the most scathing descriptions of unethical conduct of lawyers in living memory. The conduct of the lawyers in question was described as one of the darkest chapters in legal history. The case will, no doubt, serve as a reminder of the ethical obligations lawyers in civil litigation owe and how dire the consequences of failing to discharge those obligations can be. This session will dissect the Banksia decision from an ethics perspective and focus on the key ethical lessons to be learned from the decision including:
- Discussion of the ethical obligations stemming from the Civil Procedure Act and consequences of breaching those duties;
- Exploring the roles and actions of each individual lawyer in the case (including conduct identified as ‘egregious’) and how each lawyer should have acted/responded at key pivotal moments to avoid breaching their duty;
- Discuss at what point the unethical conduct of the lawyers concerned may have crossed into realm of criminal behaviour, when the conduct should have been picked up and what to do if you suspect such conduct in a matter; and
- Flag potential ethical issues which can arise for firms of any size when dealing with litigation lending funds and tips for implementing safeguards.
Session 3: Professional Skills
Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word…… Dealing with (and preventing) Mistakes
It is inevitable that even with the most robust processes mistakes will inevitably be made. How one deals with the mistake, and learns from the experience, is what matters. This session shall look at the practicalities of what happens when a mistake is identified including:
- Tips for reviewing internal processes to identify the cause of the mistake (e.g. human error, systemic issue etc) and who should bear/share responsibility for the mistake and its repercussions;
- How to proceed when a mistake is identified (including communication of the mistake to courts, stakeholders and broader profession);
- Understanding the matter from the insurer’s perspective, what they will require and how to manage that relationship; and
- Identifying lessons learned from mistakes of others, how to share such lessons and insight and tips for review and updating systems to avoid repetition of mistake).
Presented By
Paul Averill
Senior Costs Consultant, The Australian Legal Costing Group Melbourne, VicNola Pearce
Barrister, Brisbane, QLDJen McMillan
Manager, Practice Support Services, Lawcover Sydney, NSWWho Should Attend?
This webinar is suitable for lawyers - Australia wide and it has been designed to deliver the 3 compulsory subject CPD units for the CPD year ending 31st March 2024.
CPD Information
Lawyers can claim 3 CPD units – 1 unit each for Practice Management & Business Skills, Ethics & Professional Skills.
WA lawyers – Please note that TEN is unable to verify your completion of recorded webinars to the Legal Practice Board of WA. TEN is an accredited provider.
Enquiries/Assistance
If you need assistance or have an enquiry, please do not hesitate to contact our Webinar Coordinator, Lisa Tran on (03) 8601 7709 or email: [email protected]