Commissioner Update March 2021
Commissioner update to the legal profession - March 2021
If you are a lawyer subject to a supervised legal practice condition you can be supervised remotely, however different rules apply.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we introduced a requirement for supervised lawyers to enter into an agreed remote supervision plan with their supervisor. When applying to have the supervised legal practice condition removed from their practising certificate, supervised lawyers were required to submit a copy of their supervision plan to us.
As remote working arrangements become more common, we no longer require lawyers to provide us with a copy of their remote supervision plan, when applying to have the supervised legal practice condition removed from their practising certificate.
We still encourage supervised lawyers to enter into an agreed remote supervision plan with their supervisor, however, this is not a requirement and we do not need to review a copy of the supervision plan.
If you are a lawyer subject to a supervised legal practice condition you can be supervised remotely, however different rules apply.
If you are a supervised lawyer and your supervisor is employed by a different entity, we must approve a remote supervision arrangement before you start this supervision. The onus is on the supervised lawyer to apply to us for that approval first.
When planning a remote supervision arrangement, you must consider:
We will consider whether the proposed remote supervision arrangement is adequate and in line with our policy.
If we approve your remote supervision arrangement we strongly recommend that all of your engagement letters to clients clearly state that you’re engaging in supervised legal practice and include your supervisor’s contact details.
Please provide us with a remote supervision proposal, setting out the supervision that will be provided. The proposal should confirm the supervisor will have authority in respect of all legal work performed and will be able to direct, amend, override or intervene. You should demonstrate in your application how you will address any administrative obstacles.
You can access a template remote supervision proposal here.
Please send your proposal to us via the lawyer enquiry form, selecting 'Supervised legal practice' as the category.
Information about practising certificate fee payment
Commonly asked questions about information in LSB Online