Law Firm Partner Duties: Supervision and Controls

Identify the Partner’s Role and Authority

Identify a partner’s legal status from the partnership agreement, practising certificate and practice registration before allocating responsibility. A title on a website does not establish ownership or payment authority.

An equity partner has an ownership interest in the partnership. A non-equity partner title can describe a salaried position without an equity interest. The agreement and the actual relationship determine the person’s position. Do not assume the label removes professional obligations or personal exposure.

Junior partner and senior partner describe a firm’s internal hierarchy. Name partner describes someone whose name appears in the firm’s name. None establishes a standard national allocation of votes, ownership or supervision. Check the admission deed, agreement and written delegations for each person.

A managing partner handles the operational decisions delegated to that role. The delegation must identify its limits and the decisions reserved to the partners. The Australian Government’s partnership guidance explains the agreement’s role in allocating responsibilities and decision-making.

First confirm the business structure. In a partnership, review the partnership agreement and admission documents. In an incorporated legal practice, review the company’s constitution and appointments. The legal practitioner director role involves a different governance structure.

The Legal Practice Board of Western Australia identifies NSW, Victoria and Western Australia as Uniform Law jurisdictions. Other states and territories have their own legal profession regimes. Local application laws and practising-certificate conditions also affect who can perform a role.

Can a barrister be a partner in a law firm? It depends on the jurisdiction and the capacity in which the person practises. Rule 12 of the Uniform Barristers’ Rules requires a barrister to practise alone and prohibits practising in partnership. That rule applies to barrister practice in NSW and Victoria. Sharing chambers does not establish a partnership.

A person’s admission as a lawyer is distinct from their current practising status. Before proposing a partnership role, establish the certificate class and applicable conduct rules with the relevant regulator. For NSW, that includes the NSW Bar Association. In Victoria, it includes the Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner and the Victorian Bar.

Allocate Supervision and Professional Responsibility

Assign a responsible supervising solicitor to each matter and give that person enough time and access to supervise it. Record who covers absence and which decisions require review before the work leaves the practice.

Under section 34 of the Uniform Law, each principal must ensure reasonable steps support compliance by practitioner associates and the practice’s legal services. A managing partner’s appointment leaves those continuing responsibilities in place.

The Law Society of NSW’s supervision guidance explains that supervision depends on experience, qualifications and the work’s complexity. Delegating work does not remove the professional duties owed to the client.

Use the following allocation process for employees and contractors providing matter work:

1. Identify the work the person is competent and authorised to perform.
2. Name the supervisor and agree review points before consequential advice or action.
3. Give the supervisor access to the file and a way to inspect progress.
4. Specify the problems that require immediate escalation, including missed deadlines or doubtful payment authority.
5. Record the review and any corrective action on the matter file.

A written allocation needs follow-up. Repeated corrections, unexplained inactivity or a supervisor who cannot access a file require investigation. Reassign work where the existing arrangement cannot provide the required supervision.

Oversee Trust Money and Financial Records

Map each trust-money task to an authorised role under the regime governing the practice. Separate the person preparing a transaction from its reviewer where the practice’s staffing permits.

The Law Society of NSW’s trust-account guidance requires appropriate arrangements before receiving client money. In NSW, at least one principal must hold a certificate authorising receipt of trust money. An account’s existence alone does not establish that authority.

Record who receives money and issues receipts, who enters transactions and who can authorise payments. Identify the person preparing reconciliations, the principal reviewing exceptions and the absence cover. Reconcile the bank balance with the trust records and individual client ledger balances under the applicable rules. Keep the completed reconciliation and evidence of review.

Consider this fictional example. A reconciliation identifies an unexplained payment against a client ledger. The reviewing partner takes these steps:

1. Preserve the original bank statement, ledger entry and payment instruction, including their audit history.
2. Assign an investigator with suitable authority and independence from the payment.
3. Compare the payment with the client’s authority and supporting records. Identify any affected balance and protect client money through authorised controls.
4. Record the explanation, any correction and the principal’s decision. Assess reporting obligations promptly alongside that work.

An internal investigation must not delay a required regulatory report. The Law Society’s ethics guidance identifies section 154 as requiring reporting of possible trust-account irregularities. Apply its statutory trigger to the facts. An unexplained entry calls for investigation without an advance finding of dishonesty.

The Legal Practitioners’ Liability Committee’s trust-money guide explains the authority needed for Victorian trust payments. A partner’s internal delegation does not supply missing client authority.

Control Conflicts, Costs and Client Decisions

Check whether the practice’s controls work on actual matters, including matters accepted by senior partners. Allocate someone with authority to stop work or resolve an exception when a check fails.

Run conflict checks before accepting instructions and repeat them when parties or circumstances change. Keep the result and the decision about any potential conflict. A permitted information barrier needs controlled access and ongoing supervision. It cannot be treated as a universal cure for a conflict. The Law Society of NSW’s information barrier guidelines describe documented implementation and review by a compliance officer.

For costs, sample files for required disclosure and updated estimates when the scope changes. Check that the client receives the information in time to decide whether to proceed. The Victorian regulator’s Risk Outlook identifies poor costs-disclosure systems as a recurring concern.

Give complaints an owner outside the disputed work where practicable. Record the concern, the response due and the person who can approve a remedy. Preserve any applicable external complaint rights and deadlines.

During file sampling, follow one flagged exception through to its resolution. A completed conflict form proves little if the objection it records never reaches the person authorised to decide it.

Keep Evidence of Oversight and Follow-Up

Keep an oversight record that connects each issue with its source and evidence of closure. Use it to distinguish work assigned from work completed.

The following fictional record shows the fields needed for follow-up. Its intervals are internal targets, subject to any earlier legal obligation.

Issue and source	Responsible person	Action and due interval	Closure evidence
Unexplained trust payment in reconciliation	Authorised reviewing principal	Preserve records and assess reporting immediately	Investigation record, reporting decision and reconciled correction where required
Costs estimate exceeded in sampled file	Matter supervisor	Review scope and required disclosure before further affected work	Updated disclosure and recorded client communication
Supervisor absent with urgent work pending	Practice partner	Appoint competent cover before the next deadline	Handover and completed review
Conflict check flags a former client	Conflicts partner	Decide whether the practice can act before work proceeds	Recorded decision and any permitted protection implemented

Keep the original issue open until the reviewer can identify what resolved it. If the action is overdue, record the reason and escalate it. If the appointed person is implicated, direct the issue to another authorised person.

Policy on paper: the practice says it reviews every reconciliation. Evidence of performance: the completed reconciliation identifies its preparer and reviewer, with an explanation for each exception. Use the same distinction for supervision decisions and conflict controls.

Review Liability and Changes in Partnership

Review contractual allocation, professional obligations and insurance separately when a partner’s responsibilities change. A partnership agreement can allocate internal responsibility while a statute imposes obligations on a principal directly.

Section 35 of the Uniform Law can make a principal liable for a practice contravention in specified circumstances. These include knowingly authorising it or failing to take reasonable preventive steps when positioned to influence the conduct. Personal exposure also depends on the applicable partnership law and the facts. Obtain individual legal advice about admission terms, indemnities and liability for earlier events.

Check professional indemnity arrangements with the insurer, including who is covered and what notification obligations apply. Do not infer coverage from the firm’s name or a partner’s title.

When a partner joins, leaves or changes authority, review the agreement and admission or retirement documents. Check practising certificates, regulator records and bank mandates. Update supervision allocations and access permissions, then transfer outstanding oversight issues to a named person.

Where the problem is already an unresolved disagreement between partners, partnership disputes require their own investigation and advice. For an ordinary change of responsibility, verify the handover against open matters and trust exceptions. The receiving partner must be able to identify the next action and the evidence needed to close each issue.