183Contingency fees are prohibited

183 Contingency fees are prohibited

183 Contingency fees are prohibited

(1) A law practice must not enter into a costs agreement under which the amount payable to the law practice, or any part of that amount, is calculated by reference to the amount of any award or settlement or the value of any property that may be recovered in any proceedings to which the agreement relates.

Civil penalty: 100 penalty units.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the extent that the costs agreement adopts an applicable fixed costs legislative provision.

(3) A contravention of subsection (1) by a law practice is capable of constituting unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct on the part of any principal of the law practice or any legal practitioner associate or foreign lawyer associate involved in the contravention.