(1)

A lawyer seeking leave to cease to provide legal assistance to a party may apply to the Registrar in writing briefly stating the reasons.

(2)

A copy of the application must be served on the party.

(3) In deciding whether to grant leave, the Registrar must consider:

(a)

any practice rules governing professional conduct that apply to the lawyer; and

(b)

any conflict of interest; and

(c)

whether there is a substantial disagreement between the lawyer and the party in relation to the conduct of the proceeding; and

(d)

any view of the lawyer that the party's case is not well founded in fact or law or that the prosecution of the proceeding is an abuse of process; and

(e)

whether the lawyer lacks the time to provide adequate legal assistance to the party because of other professional commitments; and

(f)

whether the party has refused or failed to pay any disbursements requested by the lawyer; and

(g)

any other matter that the Registrar thinks relevant.

(4) An application for leave and any related correspondence:

(a)

is confidential; and

(b)

is not part of the proceeding in relation to which the referral was made; and

(c)

does not form part of the Court file in relation to the proceeding.