Solicitor, Professional Support Unit

• Full time permanent role
• 35 hour working week with hybrid working model
• Located in the heart of Sydney's CBD (Martin Place)
  
  

The Law Society of New South Wales is currently looking for a full time permanent Solicitor to join our Professional Support Unit.

About The Team

The Law Society of New South Wales has a statutory obligation to maintain and improve the professional standards of the legal profession in New South Wales. The Professional Support Unit (PSU) is one branch of the Society’s Legal Regulation Department (LRD) and together with the Office of the NSW Legal Services Commissioner (OLSC) fulfils this obligation through a number of key activities. The work of the LRD encompasses six major areas: complaints, prosecution, intervention, compliance and disclosure, education and support. The PSU carries out its role in education with respect to regulatory issues by services and assistance to members and others, including the provision of general guidance, ethical guidance, costs and regulatory assistance. The LRD and the PSU maintains close professional relationships with other with professional bodies and regulatory agencies such as the OLSC.

About The Role

The Solicitor will specifically assist practitioners with understanding their regulatory and ethical obligations under the common law and Uniform Law, including the Conduct and Practice Rules; the management of their legal practice to promote compliance with the Uniform Law regime and other relevant legislation; compliance with rules and legislation relating to legal costs; and understanding their obligations under Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regime.

You will focus on regulatory compliance matters, including any compliance requirements under anti-money laundering legislation, and will also be expected to work across all three areas of the PSU (namely costs, ethics and regulatory compliance).

What You'll Be Doing

• Assist practitioners with regulatory, ethical and costs issues, including answering email and telephone enquiries.
• Create educational resources, including contributing regular articles to the Law Society’s various publications, focussing on regulatory updates, cases and emerging regulatory and ethical issues.
• Present continuing education seminars for the profession on issues in relation to regulatory compliance (including anti-money laundering). From time to time, the Solicitor may also be required to present on issues and matters related to ethics, costs and general legal practice management.
• Review standards and requirements established for legal practices to promote compliance with the Uniform Law and other relevant legislation.
• Manage the content of the Law Society’s web-based information services relating to regulatory compliance, ethics and costs.
• Provide secretariat support for the various committees managed by the PSU, such as the Costs and Ethics Committees of the Law Society as may be required.
• Undertake research on a range of matters relevant to regulatory compliance (including money laundering), ethics and costs to assist in the development of practical and educational resources for legal practitioners.
• Develop seminars and information resources to respond to emerging trends in relation to regulatory issues, and supports for new principals of legal practices.
• Liaise with other teams within the Law Society, including Licensing and Registry, Investigations, External Interventions and Access to Justice, to ensure guidance provided to practitioners is consistent across the Law Society.
• Liaise with other external stakeholders, including, Lawcover and other regulators, and the Designated Local Regulatory Authorities, on wider policy issues to promote consistency, particularly among the Uniform jurisdictions.
• Assist the Team Leader, Professional Support Unit and Head of Regulatory Policy and Strategy with ad hoc project work and initiatives as required, particularly with regard to policy issues relating to the Uniform Law and other regulatory changes affecting the legal profession.
• Provide the Head of Regulatory Policy and Strategy and Director of Legal Regulation with legal advice as required, in the areas of regulatory compliance, costs and ethics.
  
  

About You

• Tertiary qualifications in law and a current NSW practising certificate
• Practice experience and a sound knowledge in regulatory compliance.
• Demonstrated high level of professional and technical knowledge of the legislative procedures and the legal profession and regularly keeps abreast of recent developments in this area.
• Working knowledge of all relevant legislation.
• Familiarity with anti-money laundering legislation and regulatory frameworks (desirable).
• Sound understanding of legal practice management (including legal costs or ethics) and compliance auditing and/or of Quality and ‘Best Practice’ management principles (based upon training or experience) or relevant practice experience (desirable).
• Demonstrated ability to provide effective, clear and concise communication.
• Ability to create a suite of educational resources, including articles, checklists, alerts, presentations and workshops.
• Highly developed interpersonal, presentation and influencing skills.
• The ability to work as part of a small team of solicitors.
• Strong prioritising and organisational skills.
• Computer skills including Microsoft Office, and internet applications.
• Displays initiative.
  
  

To apply

The Law Society of New South Wales is committed to building and maintaining a respectful and inclusive workplace, appointing the best person for the role and supporting diversity.

Applications should contain a CV and cover letter that outlines your key experience and motivations for this role.