Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Legal Aid Act 1978 - SECT 16

VLA and its officers are subject to legal professional standards and duties

16. VLA and its officers are subject to legal professional standards and
duties



(1) VLA or an officer of VLA when engaging in legal practice-

   (a)  must observe the same rules and standards of professional conduct and
        ethics as those that a legal practitioner is, by law or a custom of
        the legal profession, required to observe in engaging in legal
        practice; and

   (b)  is subject to the same professional duties as those to which a legal
        practitioner is subject, by law or a custom of the legal profession,
        in engaging in legal practice.

(2) For the purpose of the application of subsection (1) in respect of a
member of staff of VLA who is providing legal services to a person-

   (a)  VLA is deemed to be a law practice retained by the person to act on
        the person's behalf; and

   (b)  the members of staff of VLA are deemed to be employed by that law
        practice.

(3) For the purposes of this section, a reference to engaging in legal
practice or providing legal services includes a reference to exercising a
right of audience in a court.

(4) VLA must indemnify an officer of VLA against any negligent act or omission
by the officer in the course of the performance of his or her duties or in
good faith in the purported performance of those duties.

(5) Parts 3.3 and 3.6 of the Legal Profession Act 2004 apply to the VLA as if
it were an incorporated legal practice.