New South Wales Consolidated Acts

LEGAL PROFESSION ACT 2004 - SECT 302

302 Definitions

(1) In this Part:
"bill" means a bill of costs for providing legal services.
"business day" means a day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a bank or public holiday.
"conditional costs agreement" means a costs agreement that provides that the payment of some or all of the legal costs is conditional on the successful outcome of the matter to which those costs relate, as referred to in section 323 (Conditional costs agreements), but does not include a costs agreement to the extent to which section 324 (Conditional costs agreement involving uplift fees) or section 325 (Contingency fees are prohibited) applies.
"costs" includes fees, charges, disbursements, expenses and remuneration.
"costs agreement" means an agreement about the payment of legal costs.
"costs assessment" means an assessment of legal costs under Division 11.
"costs assessor" means a person appointed as a costs assessor under Division 11.
"disbursements" includes outlays.
"fixed costs provision" means a determination, scale, arrangement or other provision fixing the costs or maximum costs of any legal services that is made by or under legislation.
"itemised bill" means a bill that specifies in detail how the legal costs are made up in a way that would allow them to be assessed under Division 11.
"litigious matter" means a matter that involves, or is likely to involve, the issue of proceedings in a court or tribunal.

Note: A matter is a litigious matter when proceedings are initiated or at any stage when proceedings are reasonably likely.

"lump sum bill" means a bill that describes the legal services to which it relates and specifies the total amount of the legal costs.
"public authority" means an authority or body (whether a body corporate or not) established or incorporated for a public purpose by a law of a jurisdiction or of the Commonwealth, and includes a body corporate incorporated under a law of a jurisdiction or of the Commonwealth in which a jurisdiction or the Commonwealth has a controlling interest.
"sophisticated client" means a client to whom, because of section 312 (1) (c) or (d), disclosure under section 309 or 310 (1) is not or was not required.
"third party payer" -see section 302A (Terms relating to third party payers).
"uplift fee" means additional legal costs (excluding disbursements) payable under a costs agreement on the successful outcome of the matter to which the agreement relates.

(2) In this Part, a reference to a law practice includes a reference to:

(a) in the case of a person who was a sole practitioner when the legal services concerned were provided:

(i) the former sole practitioner, or

(ii) the executor of the will of the former sole practitioner, or

(iii) the trustee or administrator of the estate of the former sole practitioner, and

(b) subject to any other applicable arrangements:

(i) the persons who were the partners of a former law firm or multi-disciplinary partnership when the legal services concerned were provided, and

(ii) in the case of a law firm or multi-disciplinary partnership where there has been a change of partners since the legal services concerned were provided-subject to any other applicable arrangements, the firm or partnership as currently constituted, and

(iii) the assignee of a law practice or former law practice, and

(iv) the receiver of a law practice or former law practice appointed under this Act, and

(c) any person of a class prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this subsection.