LEGAL SERVICES COMMISSIONER ANNUAL REPORT 2012

Educating the legal professionand consumers of legal servicesAs previously stated, two of the LSC’s statutory objectives are to:• educate the legal profession about issues of concern to theprofession and to consumers of legal services, and• educate the community about legal issues and the rightsand obligations that flow from the client-lawyer relationship.The LSC meets and delivers uponthese objectives through its Educationand Outreach Program. The LSCeducates, and engages with, membersof the legal profession and a diverserange of consumers of legal services,in both rural and metropolitan areasof Victoria.Educating the legalprofessionThe LSC engages with and providesfeedback to members of the legalprofession, other legal professionals,law students and trainee lawyersthrough a variety of means includingethics workshops, seminars andconferences. During the yearthe LSC delivered 30 seminars,conference papers and facilitatedworkshops to more than 1,600 lawyersacross metropolitan Melbourne andregional Victoria.Seminars and ConferencesThe LSC also engages with the legalprofession through seminar andconference presentations. During theyear several topics were discussed,including:• complaint handling processesand alternative dispute resolutiontechniques• the proposed national legalprofession reforms• mental health disclosurerequirements• online renewal of practisingcertificates• consumer concerns with solicitorexecutors• trends in complaints about lawyers,and how to avoid them, and• ethical issues for in-house andcorporate lawyers.The presentations were made to adiverse range of legal professionals,including:• lawyers from Melbourne-based lawfirms• members of suburban and regionallaw associations• audiences attending commercialprofessional development seminars• lawyers from both State andCommonwealth Governmentorganisations• audiences attending events held bythe LIV• barristers attending seminars heldby the Bar• an informal association of businesslawyers• members of the AustralianCorporate Lawyers’ Association, and• barristers attending the Greens ListBarristers Breakfast Series.Ethics workshopsThe LSC conducts ethics workshopswhich aim to educate lawyersabout ethical conduct and theirprofessional responsibilities.The workshops present lawyers witha range of scenarios that they mayencounter in everyday legal practice.The participants discuss and considerthe appropriate course of action.The scenarios are based on commonissues which feature in complaintsto the LSC and issues identifiedthrough discussions with communitysupport groups.LSC staff guide the discussions andadvise the workshop participants onthe appropriate responses in eachscenario. Lawyers can claim theseworkshops as continuing professionaldevelopment units. During theyear, the LSC delivered two ethicsworkshops for the legal profession.The reduced amount of ethicsworkshops conducted this year is dueto the increased amount of requests forseminar and conference presentationsto legal professionals.University students andtrainee lawyersThe LSC presents to undergraduateand postgraduate students enrolled inlaw courses at Victorian universities.In 2011-12, the LSC delivered 10presentations to over 600 law andlegal studies students across fiveinstitutions – Monash University,Deakin University, La Trobe University,Victoria University and the Universityof Melbourne.The presentations covered topicsrelevant to both the LSC and theLSB, including the structure of thelegal profession regulatory regime,common complaint issues, disclosureof mental health issues, admissionrequirements, regulation of foreignlawyers, and practising law in thepublic sector.LSC staff also presented to legalpractice trainees and mentordiscussion groups through the LeoCussen Centre for Law. A furtherpresentation was made to a group oftrainee youth counsellors through theAustralian College of Youth Training,which focussed on the rights of youngpeople when working with lawyers,and where to locate legal informationand resources in Victoria.Legal Services COMMISSIONER Annual Report 2012 25