Recorded Webinar: 3 CPD Compulsory Topics for Lawyers – a national webinar

This webinar comprises 3 one-hour sessions covering each of the compulsory CPD subjects for lawyers for the CPD year ending 31 March 2024.

Session 1: Practice Management & Business Skills

Cost Management - Cost Management in Legal Practice: From Surviving to Thriving

The increasing compression of margins in legal practice makes cost management even more imperative, particularly during these trying times. With clients expecting flexibility and choice when it comes to costing, practitioners are feeling pressures on all fronts. This practical session examines how to best manage cash flow, billing and spending to ensure your legal practice performs at its best. This session covers:

• Communicating costs to your client: getting the estimates right
• Revisiting costing models: is it time for a revamp?
• Automated document production and workflows
• When clients complain about costs - how should you respond?
• Technology and cost - understanding a dynamic duo
• Factors that contribute to financial sustainability - the cash flow imperative

Session 2: Ethics

Avoiding a Repeat of the Darkest Chapter: The Ethical Lessons to be Learned from Banksia

In 2021, The Honourable Justice Dixon handed down his decision in the Banksia case with what some have described as the most scathing descriptions of unethical conduct of lawyers in living memory. The conduct of the lawyers in question was described as one of the darkest chapters in legal history. The case will, no doubt, serve as a reminder of the ethical obligations lawyers in civil litigation owe and how dire the consequences of failing to discharge those obligations can be. This session will dissect the Banksia decision from an ethics perspective and focus on the key ethical lessons to be learned from the decision including:

• Discussion of the ethical obligations stemming from the Civil Procedure Act and consequences of breaching those duties;
• Exploring the roles and actions of each individual lawyer in the case (including conduct identified as ‘egregious’) and how each lawyer should have acted/responded at key pivotal moments to avoid breaching their duty;
• Discuss at what point the unethical conduct of the lawyers concerned may have crossed into realm of criminal behaviour, when the conduct should have been picked up and what to do if you suspect such conduct in a matter; and
• Flag potential ethical issues which can arise for firms of any size when dealing with litigation lending funds and tips for implementing safeguards.

Session 3: Professional Skills

Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word…… Dealing with (and preventing) Mistakes

It is inevitable that even with the most robust processes mistakes will inevitably be made. How one deals with the mistake, and learns from the experience, is what matters. This session shall look at the practicalities of what happens when a mistake is identified including:

• Tips for reviewing internal processes to identify the cause of the mistake (e.g. human error, systemic issue etc) and who should bear/share responsibility for the mistake and its repercussions;
• How to proceed when a mistake is identified (including communication of the mistake to courts, stakeholders and broader profession);
• Understanding the matter from the insurer’s perspective, what they will require and how to manage that relationship; and
• Identifying lessons learned from mistakes of others, how to share such lessons and insight and tips for review and updating systems to avoid repetition of mistake).