Lawyers: Qualifications

28 Jan

People wanting to practise law in Victoria must complete an approved degree – either a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) or a Juris Doctor (JD).

Before a law graduate can be admitted to practise law, they need to complete practical legal training, either by completing supervised workplace training or a practical legal training course.

After being admitted, all lawyers must hold a current practising certificate and professional indemnity insurance to lawfully provide legal services. A lawyer is granted a practising certificate if they are eligible to apply and a fit and proper person to hold the certificate.

A newly admitted lawyer’s first practising certificate will have a ‘supervised legal practice condition’. This means their work must be supervised for a period of time by another lawyer who is fully qualified and has an unrestricted practising certificate. At the end of this period, a lawyer can apply to the VLSB+C to have their supervision condition removed. If approved, the lawyer can then work unsupervised.