Adopting Law Firm Management Systems to Survive and Thrive: A Study of the Australian Approach to Management-Based Regulation

Authors

Susan Saab Fortney, Texas A&M University School of LawFollow
Tahlia Gordon

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2012

Journal Title

University of St. Thomas Law Journal

ISSN

1549-2028

Abstract

In Australia, amendments to the Legal Profession Act require that incorporated legal practices (ILPs) take steps to assure compliance with provisions of the Legal Profession Act 2004. Specifically, the legislation provides that the ILP must appoint a legal practitioner director to be generally responsible for the management of the ILP. The ILP must also implement and maintain “appropriate management systems" to enable the provision of legal services in accordance with the professional obligations of legal practitioners. Because the new law did not define “appropriate management systems” (AMS) the Office of Legal Services Commissioner for New South Wales worked with representatives of other organizations and practitioners to develop guidelines and an approach for evaluating compliance with the statutory requirements. The collaboration resulted in an “education toward compliance” strategy in which a designated director for an ILP completes a self-assessment process (SAP), evaluating the ILP’s compliance with ten specific objectives of sound legal practice. To evaluate the new regulatory regime, Professor Susan Fortney conducted a mixed method empirical study of incorporated law firms in New South Wales Australia. In Phase One of the study, all incorporated law firms with two or more solicitors were surveyed. In Phase Two, legal services directors were interested. This article discusses the survey findings, focusing on the relationship between the self-assessment process and the ethics norms, systems, conduct, and culture in firms.

First Page

152

Last Page

194

Num Pages

43

Volume Number

10

Issue Number

1

Publisher

University of St. Thomas School of Law

Recommended Citation

Susan S. Fortney & Tahlia Gordon, Adopting Law Firm Management Systems to Survive and Thrive: A Study of the Australian Approach to Management-Based Regulation, 10 U. St. Thomas L.J. 152 (2012).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/facscholar/321

File Type

PDF