Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) In this
section —
lay associate of a law practice has the meaning
given in section 6(2)(b) and includes a consultant to the law practice
(however described) who —
(a) is
not an Australian legal practitioner; and
(b)
provides legal or related services to the law practice, other than services of
a kind prescribed by the regulations.
(2) A law practice
must not have a lay associate whom any principal or other legal practitioner
associate of the practice knows to be —
(a) an
Australian lawyer; or
(b) a
disqualified person; or
(c) a
person who has been convicted of a serious offence,
unless the lay
associate is approved by the Board under subsection (3).
(3) The Board may, on
application by a law practice or the lay associate, approve a lay associate
for the purposes of this section.
(4) An approval under
this section may be subject to specified conditions.
(5) If the Board
decides to refuse an application for approval, or to grant the approval
subject to conditions, the applicant may apply to the State Administrative
Tribunal for a review of the decision.
(6) A disqualified
person, or a person convicted of a serious offence, must not become or seek to
become a lay associate of a law practice unless the person first informs the
law practice of the disqualification or conviction.
(7) Proceedings for an
offence under subsection (6) may only be brought within 6 months
after discovery of the offence by the Board.
(8) This section does
not apply in circumstances prescribed by the regulations.