Law practices conducted by a sole practitioner, or sole director in the case of an ILP, are particularly vulnerable to disruption if the practitioner is suddenly unable to fulfil their duties due to illness, injury or death.

If you are a sole practitioner you should put arrangements in place to ensure that another legal practitioner is able to either continue running your practice, to attempt to sell the practice or to wind up its affairs, as required in the circumstances of the case.

The overriding rationale for having a law practice contingency plan is to safeguard the interests of clients of the practice. However, these arrangements may lead to other benefits, such as minimising adverse impacts on your family and limiting the need for costly regulatory intervention such as the commencement of an external intervention by the Board. An effective risk management system can assist you to meet your overarching public interest obligations, facilitate your business continuity and protect the reputation, credibility and value of your firm.