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Supervised Legal Practice

A period of supervised legal practice is required for solicitors with a restricted Practising Certificate. This basically means that a solicitor must be employed and/or supervised by a practitioner with an unrestricted Practising Certificate, usually for two years.

Generally, a solicitor with an unrestricted Practising Certificate is a sole practitioner, partner in a law firm, or the solicitor with supervisory responsibility in a corporation or government department.

Gaining an unrestricted Practising Certificate

After two years of continuous full-time supervision on a restricted Practising Certificate, you can apply to have this condition removed.

Detailed information on the application process can be found in the Supervised Legal Practice Guidelines.

Your application will be considered by the Law Society’s Licensing Committee. The Committee meets about 10 times a year and there are strict lodgment dates for the Meetings.

Why apply for an unrestricted Practising Certificate?

The Law Society of New South Wales recommends that solicitors apply as soon as they qualify, regardless of their current intentions, in order to facilitate future career development. For example, lifting condition 2 from your Practising Certificate is the first step towards gaining a certificate that allows practise as a sole practitioner, partner in a firm, or solicitor on the record.

More information can be found on the Changing your Practising Certificate section of this website.