Unqualified legal practice

Engaging in unqualified legal practice, or falsely claiming that you are qualified to engage in legal practice, is a criminal offence in Victoria. Each year, we investigate instances of unqualified legal practice by individuals and/or businesses.

Generally, three things may be unqualified legal practice:

A person with no legal qualifications who doesn’t hold a practising certificate, but engages or represents that they can engage in legal practice
Non-lawyer professionals (like conveyancers, accountants and registered migration agents) who can carry out some legal work, but exceed the limitations of their authority
Lawyers who do not hold a valid practising certificate, who engage in or represent that they can engage in legal practice.

To understand who can engage in legal practice, see the Who can practise page of our website.

Last updated on 02 August 2022

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