How to Start Your Own Law Firm in Australia

Establish the Authority to Open a Practice

Confirm that your practising certificate permits your intended role in the jurisdiction where you will open. Admission, a current practising certificate and authority to run a practice are separate questions. Being admitted or authorised to work as an employee does not establish permission to open a sole practice.

For Victoria, the Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner requires a principal practising certificate to begin your own practice. Its principal eligibility guidance explains the skills and experience evidence required. An approved practice management course is the main route, with other evidence accepted in limited circumstances under its policy.

Start the opening file with a copy of your certificate and its conditions. Record your proposed role and any outstanding application. If you still have a supervised legal practice condition, resolve how that condition affects principal eligibility before proceeding. Use the practising certificate guide for the distinction between certificate types and conditions.

If your certificate comes from another jurisdiction, identify the interstate practice and local entity requirements with the receiving regulator. Do this before promising an opening date. Keep the regulator’s response beside your certificate so the opening decision rests on the proposed arrangement.

Confirm the Structure and Regulatory Notifications

Choose the structure, identify the responsible principals and complete the local professional registration or notification process in that order. A business registration alone does not complete the professional opening process.

In the Victorian example, a sole practitioner carries responsibility for the practice’s operations. A partnership requires the appropriate principal arrangements for its partners. An incorporated legal practice needs at least one legal director who holds a principal practising certificate. Incorporation adds a company structure while retaining professional responsibility for the legal work.

Use the Victorian regulator’s practice setup instructions to select the form for your structure. Its process includes entity registration, an entity ID, insurance and submission of insurance evidence to complete registration. The regulator requires at least 14 days’ notice before a new sole practice, law firm or incorporated legal practice begins legal work.

Keep a short opening sequence in your file.

1. Confirm that the chosen structure is permitted and that each responsible principal can act in that role.
2. Complete the relevant entity registration and professional notice, including company registration where required.
3. Record the entity ID and any outstanding regulator requirement.
4. Arrange the insurance evidence and complete the remaining professional registration steps before opening.

If a notice has been submitted but registration or another prerequisite remains unresolved, keep the affected work on hold. Ask the regulator to identify the outstanding requirement using your entity ID and proposed structure.

Arrange Professional Insurance and Supervision

Arrange the required professional indemnity insurance for the actual entity and work, then assign who supervises each practitioner. Confirm both before allocating the first matter.

For a new Victorian practice, the Legal Practitioners’ Liability Committee’s insurance instructions require the entity number for the insurance application. Keep the issued insurance certificate with the practice registration records. Outside Victoria, use the approved insurer and scheme applicable to the practice’s location. Resolve eligibility and cover for the intended work through that scheme.

Supervision needs an operating arrangement. Name the supervisor and a substitute for absences. Record which work a practitioner can complete independently, which documents need review before release and who can accept new instructions. Send a conflict concern to the responsible principal before anyone continues the affected work.

The Victorian regulator’s supervision guidance requires review of work undertaken by a supervised practitioner. The supervisor must be able to intervene in that work. A name in a policy does not provide oversight if the supervisor lacks access to the file or time to review it.

Establish Client-Money Controls

Decide whether the practice will receive trust money before sending payment instructions to clients. Classify the proposed receipts by their purpose, including money paid in advance for legal work.

In Victoria, a practice must not receive trust money unless a principal or legal director has the relevant trust authorisation. The regulator’s trust money guidance distinguishes advance legal costs from payments for services already billed. Calling an advance payment a fee does not settle its classification.

If the practice will receive trust money, follow the Victorian trust account opening process. Arrange the appropriate account with an authorised institution, notify the regulator and organise the required external examiner arrangements. Allocate responsibility for receipts, payments and reconciliation, with oversight by the authorised principal. Use the trust accounts guide for the operating detail.

If the practice will not receive trust money, document that decision in its intake and billing procedures. Staff must know which payments the practice can accept. Pause an unexpected advance or settlement receipt until the responsible principal resolves its treatment and the required authority.

Buying accounting software does not establish trust authorisation or complete account-opening duties. Test the chosen system and staff procedure against the applicable rules before receiving funds.

Prepare Intake, Costs and Matter Records

Set the file-opening process so a responsible lawyer approves acceptance before substantive work begins. Use the following sequence for the first matter and every later opening.

1. Collect enough party information to run the conflict check. Record who makes the acceptance decision and escalate any unresolved conflict.
2. Establish the client’s identity and the authority of the person giving instructions. Identify any additional verification required by the service or transaction.
3. Agree the retainer scope, including excluded work and who can authorise changes.
4. Provide the applicable costs disclosure and record the fee arrangements. Confirm that the client understands the work and proposed costs.
5. Open the controlled matter file. Assign the responsible lawyer, record deadlines and set access permissions before distributing documents.

For Victorian matters, the regulator’s costs disclosure guidance explains the applicable requirements and exemptions. Disclosure includes the costs estimate, charging basis and client rights. Update the disclosure when a material change requires it. The costs agreement guide explains how fee terms fit with the retainer.

Also assess whether the planned services bring the practice within anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) obligations. Coverage turns on the professional designated services, including the applicable exceptions. It does not follow solely from being a lawyer. Where covered, arrange AUSTRAC enrolment and the required compliance procedures. The legal profession program guidance requires an AML/CTF program before providing designated professional services.

Set up secure document receipt with named access responsibilities. Preserve original files and keep working copies distinguishable. Before sending bank statements to an external financial-analysis provider, record the authorised purpose, agreed scope and confidentiality arrangements. Apply the regulator’s confidentiality guidance to the disclosure decision.

For example, a new litigation practice can assign one lawyer to approve the statement bundle and receive the provider’s analysis. The handoff records which accounts and periods are supplied, the question to investigate and the required output. The lawyer retains responsibility for the matter and decisions about using the analysis.

Complete the Opening Readiness Check

Complete the opening check with evidence and a named accountable person for every prerequisite. The principal can hold several roles in a sole practice, but each responsibility still needs a record.

Run a practice opening using a fictional instruction before accepting a real matter. The expected result is a file showing who approved acceptance, what work is authorised and how costs and documents will be handled. If trust money is part of the scenario, the authorised receipt route must already exist.

An unresolved principal application pauses opening in that role. Missing insurance pauses the work requiring that cover. Missing trust authority pauses receipt of trust money. A conflict or missing client authority pauses the affected retainer. Take the specific unresolved item and supporting records to the responsible regulator or adviser, then record the resolution before releasing that hold.