Lawyers Weekly highlighted the issues relating to the Legal Practice Board in this article, particularly the high costs of fees and the impact on community legal services.
CLWA made a joint submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into the Legal Practice Board of Western Australia with the Piddington Society, the Law Society of WA, the Association of Corporate Counsel and Women Lawyers of Western Australia.
As the article states:
“The coalition said these fees are “particularly detrimental” to lawyers within community legal services (CLS), which rely predominantly on government funding.
“Considering there are 379 CLC lawyers, the coalition said they bring in an estimated $473,750 for the board each year, not accounting for additional hiring or staff turnover. This equates to 3.63 per cent of the total state government funding provided to CLCs in the 2025–26 financial year.
“In other jurisdictions, practising certificates are often provided at a discount for CLC lawyers in recognition of the fees taken away from the community.
“Given the board’s growing reserves, some of these funds could be returned to community legal services through fee reductions for the benefit of clients seeking legal assistance,” the coalition said in its joint submission.
Read the full article here Major bodies question huge spending by Legal Practice Board – Lawyers Weekly