New South Wales Consolidated Acts

LEGAL PROFESSION ACT 2004 - SECT 14

14 Prohibition on engaging in legal practice when not entitled

(1) A person must not engage in legal practice in this jurisdiction unless the person is an Australian legal practitioner.

Maximum penalty: 200 penalty units.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to engaging in legal practice of the following kinds:

(a) legal practice engaged in under the authority of a law of this jurisdiction or of the Commonwealth,

(b) legal practice engaged in by an incorporated legal practice in accordance with Part 2.6 (Incorporated legal practices and multi-disciplinary partnerships),

(c) the practice of foreign law by an Australian-registered foreign lawyer in accordance with Part 2.7 (Legal practice by foreign lawyers),

(d) legal practice engaged in by a complying community legal centre,

(e) conveyancing work carried out in accordance with a licence in force under the Conveyancers Licensing Act 2003 ,

(g) the drawing of instruments by an officer or employee in the service of the Crown (including the Public Service) in the course of his or her duty,

(h) legal practice of a kind prescribed by the regulations.

(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to:

(a) a person who as an employee provides legal services to his or her employer or a related entity if he or she:

(i) so acts in the ordinary course of his or her employment, and

(ii) receives no fee, gain or reward for so acting other than his or her ordinary remuneration as an employee, or

(b) a person or class of persons declared by the regulations to be exempt from the operation of subsection (1).

(4) A person is not entitled to recover any amount in respect of anything the person did in contravention of subsection (1) and must repay any amount so received to the person from whom it was received.

(5) A person may recover from another person, as a debt due to the person, any amount the person paid to the other person in respect of anything the other person did in contravention of subsection (1).

(6) The regulations may make provision for or with respect to the application (with or without specified modifications) of provisions of this Act to persons engaged in legal practice of a kind referred to in subsection (2) (other than subsection (2) (b)-(f)) or persons referred to in subsection (3).