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Legal Profession Act 2006
479Circumstances justifying external intervention
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479 Circumstances justifying external intervention
External intervention may take place in relation to a law practice in
any of the following circumstances:
(a) if a legal practitioner associate involved in the practice—
(i) has died; or
(ii) stops being an Australian legal practitioner; or
(iii) has become an insolvent under administration; or
(iv) is in prison;
(b) for a firm—if the partnership has been wound up or dissolved;
(c) for an incorporated legal practice—if the corporation
concerned—
(i) stops being an incorporated legal practice; or
(ii) is being or has been wound up; or
(iii) has been deregistered or dissolved;
(d) in any case—if the relevant council believes, on reasonable
grounds, that the practice or an associate of the practice—
(i) is not dealing adequately with trust money or trust property
or is not properly attending to the affairs of the practice or
an associate of the practice; or
(ii) has committed a serious irregularity, or a serious
irregularity has happened, in relation to trust money or trust
property or the affairs of the practice; or
(iii) has failed properly to account in a timely way to anyone
for trust money or trust property received by the practice
for or on behalf of the person; or
Initiation of external intervention Part 5.2
(iv) has failed properly to make a payment of trust money or a
transfer of trust property when required to make the
payment or transfer by a person entitled to the money or
property or entitled to give a direction for payment or
transfer; or
(v) is in breach of a regulation or the legal profession rules
with the result that the record-keeping for the practice’s
trust account is inadequate; or
(vi) has been or is likely to be convicted of an offence relating
to trust money or trust property; or
(vii) is the subject of a complaint relating to trust money or trust
property received by the practice; or
(viii) has failed to comply with any requirement of an
investigator or external examiner appointed under this Act;
or
(ix) has stopped engaging in legal practice without making
provision for properly dealing with trust money or trust
property received by the practice or for properly winding
up the affairs of the practice;
(e) if any other proper cause exists in relation to the practice.