Queensland Numbered Acts Queensland Numbered ActsAfter chapter 6A —
insert—
325E Definitions for chapter In this chapter—
"associate" , of a law practice, see the Legal Profession Act 2007 , section 7(1).
"claim" means—(a) an application for compensation; or(b) a claim for damages.
"law practice" see the Legal Profession Act 2007 , schedule 2.
"law practice certificate" see section 325F.
"principal" , of a law practice, see the Legal Profession Act 2007 , section 7(4).
"supervising principal" , of a law practice in relation to a claim, means—(a) the principal of the law practice who has the primary responsibility for the conduct of the claim; or(b) if section 325N applies in relation to a law practice certificate for the claim—the person who completes the certificate under that section.
325F Meaning of law practice certificate(1) A law practice certificate is a certificate in a form approved by the Regulator that states the matters mentioned in subsections (2) to (4).(2) The certificate muststate—(a) the supervising principal and each associate of the law practice have not—(i) given, agreed to give or allowed or caused someone to give consideration to another person for a claim referral or potential claim referral for the claim in contravention of section 325R(1); or(ii) received, agreed to receive or allowed or caused someone else to receive consideration from another person for a claim referral or potential claim referral for the claim in contravention of section 325R(2); or(b) if the supervising principal believes section 325R does not apply because of section 325R(3)—the reasons for the belief.(3) Also, the certificate must state—(a) the supervising principal and each associate of the law practice have not personally approached or contacted the claimant and solicited or induced the claimant to make the claim in contravention of section 325T; or(b) if the supervising principal believes section 325T does not apply because of section 325T(3)—the reasons for the belief.(4) In addition, if the claim is a speculative personal injury claim, the certificate must state the costs agreement relating to the claim complies with the Legal Profession Act 2007 , section 347.(5) The law practice certificate must be signed by the supervising principal and verified by statutory declaration.(6) To remove any doubt, it is declared that this section does not require or permit the supervising principal of a law practice to give information about communication with a claimant that is subject to legal professional privilege.(7) In this section—
"speculative personal injury claim" see the Legal Profession Act 2007 , section 346.
325G Application of part to potential claimants In this part, a reference to a claimant includes a reference to a potential claimant.
325H Law practice retained by claimant before notice of claim for damages or urgent proceeding(1) This section applies if—(a) a law practice is retained by a claimant to act in relation to a claim for damages for an injury before—(i) the claimant has given a notice of claim for damages under section 275; or(ii) an urgent proceeding for the claim for damages is started under section 276; and(b) the supervising principal of the law practice has not previously given a law practice certificate to the claimant in relation to the claim.(2) The supervising principal of the law practice must—(a) complete a law practice certificate for the claim; and(b) give the certificate to the claimant before the claimant gives notice of the claim or the urgent proceeding is started.Penalty—Maximum penalty—300 penalty units.
325I Law practice retained by claimant after notice of claim for damages given or urgent proceeding started(1) This section applies if—(a) a law practice is retained to act in relation to a claim for damages after—(i) the claimant has given a notice of claim for damages under section 275; or(ii) an urgent proceeding for the claim for damages is started under section 276; and(b) the supervising principal of the law practice has not previously given a law practice certificate to the claimant in relation to the claim.(2) The supervising principal of the law practice in relation to the claim must, within 1 month after the day the practice is retained—(a) complete a law practice certificate for the claim; and(b) give the certificate to the insurer and a copy of the certificate to the claimant.Penalty—Maximum penalty—300 penalty units.
325J When law practice certificate must be given to insurer for claim for compensation(1) Subsection (2) applies if—(a) a law practice is retained by a claimant to act in relation to the claimant’s claim for compensation; and(b) the claimant gives the law practice a payment direction about the payment of compensation for the claim.(2) If the law practice gives a copy of the payment direction to the insurer—(a) the payment direction must be accompanied by a law practice certificate completed by the supervising principal for the claim; and(b) a copy of the certificate must be given to the claimant.Penalty—Maximum penalty—300 penalty units.(3) Subsections (4) and (5) apply if—(a) the insurer receives a payment direction from a claimant other than by receiving a copy from the law practice as mentioned in subsection (2); and(b) the payment direction is not accompanied by a law practice certificate.(4) The insurer must, as soon as practicable after receiving the payment direction, give the law practice a notice requesting a law practice certificate for the claim.(5) The law practice must, within 7 days after receiving the notice given under subsection (4)—(a) give the insurer a law practice certificate completed by the supervising principal for the claim; and(b) give a copy of the certificate to the claimant.Penalty—Maximum penalty—300 penalty units.(6) Subsection (7) applies if—(a) a law practice is retained by a claimant to act in relation to the claimant’s claim for compensation; and(b) the claimant is paid an amount of compensation under a lump sum provision; and(c) when the amount is paid, a law practice certificate has not previously been given to the insurer for the claim under this section.(7) Unless the supervising principal has a reasonable excuse, the principal must, within 7 days after the amount is paid to the claimant—(a) complete a law practice certificate for the claim; and(b) give the certificate to the insurer and a copy of the certificate to the claimant.Penalty—Maximum penalty—300 penalty units.(8) If the claimant is paid more than 1 amount of lump sum compensation for the claim, the supervising principal need only comply with subsection (7) in relation to the first amount of lump sum compensation paid.(9) In this section—
"lump sum provision" means any of the following provisions—(a) chapter 3, part 3, division 3 or 4;(b) chapter 3, part 9, division 7;(c) chapter 3, part 10;(d) chapter 3, part 11.
"payment direction" means a direction or authorisation given by a client of a law practice for the payment of compensation for the claimant’s claim to the trust account of the law practice.
325K Duty to give law practice certificate if claimant’s notice of claim does not comply with s 275(1) This section applies if—(a) a claimant gives notice of the claimant’s claim for damages that does not comply with section 275(7A); and(b) either—(i) the insurer waives compliance with the requirements for giving a complying notice of claim under section 278(2)(b) or (3); or(ii) the notice of claim is taken to be a complying notice of claim under section 278(4).(2) If the supervising principal of a law practice gave the claimant a law practice certificate for the claim under section 325H or 325I and the claimant has not given the certificate to the insurer, the principal must give a copy of the certificate to the insurer as soon as practicable.(3) Subsection (4) applies if—(a) the supervising principal of a law practice retained by the claimant in relation to the claimant’s claim did not give the claimant a law practice certificate for the claim under section 325H or 325I; and(b) the claimant has not subsequently given the insurer a law practice certificate for the claim from the supervising principal.(4) The supervising principal must, within 1 month after the claimant is notified of the waiver or the notice of claim is taken to be a complying notice of claim—(a) complete a law practice certificate for the claim; and(b) give the certificate to the insurer and a copy of the certificate to the claimant.Penalty—Maximum penalty for subsection (4)—300 penalty units.
325L Supervising principal must complete law practice certificate on finalisation of claim for damages(1) This section applies if—(a) a law practice is retained by a claimant to act in relation to the claimant’s claim for damages; and(b) either—(i) the claimant or the insurer accepts an offer, or counter offer, of settlement; or(ii) judgment is given on the claim.(2) The supervising principal of the law practice in relation to the claim for damages must—(a) complete a law practice certificate for the claim; and(b) give the certificate to the insurer and a copy of the certificate to the claimant within 7 days after the acceptance or judgment.Penalty—Maximum penalty—300 penalty units.
325M Law practice referral through sale of business(1) This section applies if—(a) a law practice (the
"current practice" ) sells all or part of the law practice’s business to another law practice (the
"new practice" ); and(b) as part of the sale, a claimant is to be referred to the new practice; and(c) the claimant has not or will not have lodged an application for compensation or given a notice of claim for damages before the referral occurs.(2) The supervising principal of the current practice must, before the referral occurs—(a) complete a law practice certificate for the claim; and(b) give the law practice certificate to the new practice and a copy of the certificate to the claimant.Penalty—Maximum penalty—300 penalty units.(3) If the new practice does not receive the law practice certificate mentioned in subsection (2), the supervising principal of the new practice must, as soon as practicable—(a) complete a notice that states the new practice has not received the certificate; and(b) give the notice to the insurer.
325N Supervising principal can not complete law practice certificate or notice(1) This section applies if the supervising principal of a law practice can not comply with a requirement under part 2 in relation to a claim.(2) Either of the following may complete and give the law practice certificate or notice mentioned in section 325M(3) to satisfy the requirement under part 2 for the supervising principal—(a) another principal of the law practice;(b) if the supervising principal is the only principal of the law practice—a lawyer nominated by the supervising principal.
325O Law practice certificate not given(1) This section applies if—(a) the supervising principal of a law practice in relation to a claim fails to give a law practice certificate to the claimant as required under section 325H; and(b) because of the principal’s failure, the claimant—(i) can not comply with the requirements of section 275(7A) within the period that a claimant may bring a proceeding for damages under section 302; and(ii) terminates in writing the engagement of the law practice to act for the claimant in relation to the claim.(2) The principal—(a) must, within 14 days after the termination, refund to the claimant all fees and costs, including disbursements, paid by the claimant in relation to the claim; and(b) can not charge or recover from the claimant any further fees and costs in relation to the claim.(3) In this section—
"claimant" includes potential claimant.
325P False or misleading law practice certificate A supervising principal of a law practice must not sign or give to a claimant, potential claimant or insurer, a law practice certificate or copy of a law practice certificate the principal knows is false or misleading in a material particular.Penalty—Maximum penalty—300 penalty units.
325Q Meaning of claim referral(1) A
"claim referral" is a referral of a claimant to a person for the purpose of—(a) the person providing a service for the claimant; or(b) someone other than the person providing a service for the claimant.(2) However, a
"claim referral" does not include the advertisement or promotion of a service or person that results in a claimant using the service or person if the advertisement or promotion is made to the public or a group of persons.Examples of advertisement or promotion that is not a claim referral—• an advertisement of services provided by a law practice on the website or in the newsletter of an industrial organisation to its members• the distribution of promotional stationery or clothing that displays a law practice’s logo to members of an industrial organisation(3) In this section—
"claimant" includes a potential claimant.
"service" , for a claimant, means a service related to the claimant’s claim.Examples—a legal service, a medical service
325R Giving or receiving consideration for claim referrals(1) A person (a
"payer" ) must not give, agree to give or allow or cause someone else to give consideration to another person (a
"payee" ) for a claim referral or potential claim referral.Penalty—Maximum penalty—300 penalty units.(2) A person (also a
"payee" ) must not receive, agree to receive or allow or cause someone else to receive consideration from another person (also a
"payer" ) for a claim referral or potential claim referral.Penalty—Maximum penalty—300 penalty units.(3) This section does not apply if—(a) the payee is a law practice (the
"current practice" ) that is selling all or part of the law practice’s business to another law practice (the
"new practice" ); and(b) the new practice gives, agrees to give or allows or causes someone else to give the current practice an amount for the referral of a claimant to the new practice; and(c) the amount is not more than the current legal costs for the claimant; and(d) the new practice discloses payment of the amount to the claimant in a costs agreement.(4) In this section—
"claimant" includes a potential claimant.
"consideration" , for a claim referral or potential claim referral, see section 325S.
"legal costs" , for a claimant, means the fees and costs, including disbursements, a law practice is entitled to charge and recover from the claimant in relation to the claimant’s claim or potential claim.
325S Meaning of consideration for s 325R(1)
"Consideration" , for a claim referral or potential claim referral, means a fee or other benefit given for the claim referral or potential claim referral but does not include a gift, other than money, or hospitality if the gift or hospitality has a value of $200 or less.(2) To remove any doubt, it is declared that
"consideration" does not include—(a) a payment or other benefit, not for a claim referral or potential claim referral, to—(i) a community legal service; or(ii) an industrial organisation; or(iii) a registered entity within the meaning of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012 (Cwlth) ; or(iv) a school association; or(v) a sporting association; orExample—legal services provided pro bono by an associate of a law practice to a community legal service(b) an amount given by a claimant for a service provided to the claimant as part of making a claim including, for example, an amount for legal costs.(3) In this section—
"community legal service" see the Legal Profession Act 2007 , schedule 2.
"industrial organisation" means a federal organisation, or an organisation, under the Industrial Relations Act 2016 , schedule 5.
"school association" means—(a) an association under the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 ; or(b) for a non-State school under the Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Act 2017 —an association of parents and friends formed for the school.
"sporting association" means an association formed and operated on a not-for-profit basis for the purpose of conducting a sporting activity.
325T Approach or contact for the purpose of making a claim(1) A person (the
"first person" ) must not personally approach or contact another person (the
"second person" ) and solicit or induce the second person to make a claim.Penalty—Maximum penalty—300 penalty units.(2) For subsection (1), a person personally approaches or contacts another person if the person specifically contacts that person, whether in person or by mail, telephone, email or another form of electronic communication.(3) This section does not apply if—(a) the first person—(i) does not expect or intend to receive, and does not receive, consideration because of the approach or contact; and(ii) does not ask for someone else to receive, or agree to someone else receiving, consideration because of the approach or contact; or(b) both of the following apply—(i) the first person is a law practice or lawyer that is supplying, or has previously supplied, the second person, or a relative of the second person, with legal services;(ii) the first person reasonably believes the second person will not object to the approach or contact; or(c) the first person—(i) is a law practice or lawyer that has been asked by a person on behalf of a community legal service or industrial organisation (a
"representative" ) to approach or contact the second person; and(ii) has been advised by the representative that the representative reasonably believes the second person will not object to the approach or contact.(4) This section applies regardless of whether—(a) the second person is entitled to make the claim; or(b) the second person had already decided to make, or had made, the claim.(5) In this section—
"community legal service" see the Legal Profession Act 2007 , schedule 2.
"consideration" means a fee or other benefit but does not include a gift, other than money, or hospitality if the gift or hospitality has a value of $200 or less.
"industrial organisation" means a federal organisation, or an organisation, under the Industrial Relations Act 2016 , schedule 5.
"legal services" means work done, or business transacted, in the ordinary course of legal practise.
325U Responsibility for acts or omissions of representative(1) This section applies to a proceeding for an offence against section 325R(1) or (2) or 325T.(2) If it is relevant to prove a person’s state of mind about a particular act or omission, it is enough to show—(a) the act was done or omitted to be done by a representative of the person within the scope of the representative’s actual or apparent authority; and(b) the representative had the state of mind.(3) An act done or omitted to be done for a person by a representative of the person within the scope of the representative’s actual or apparent authority is taken to have been done or omitted to be done also by the person, unless the person proves the person could not, by the exercise of reasonable precautions and proper diligence, have prevented the act or omission.(4) To remove any doubt, it is declared that a representative for an individual includes an employee or agent of a partner of a partnership.(5) In this section—
"executive officer" , of a corporation, means a person who is concerned with or takes part in its management, whether or not the person is a director or secretary or the person’s position is given the name of executive officer.
"representative" means—(a) for an individual—an employee or agent of the individual; or(b) for a corporation—an executive officer, employee or agent of the corporation.
"state of mind" , of a person, includes—(a) the person’s knowledge, intention, opinion, belief or purpose; and(b) the person’s reasons for the intention, opinion, belief or purpose.
325V Additional consequences for law practice(1) This section applies if an associate of a law practice is convicted of an offence against section 325J, 325L, 325R(1) or (2) or 325T in relation to a claim or potential claim.(2) The law practice is not entitled to recover any fees or costs, including disbursements, that relate to the provision of services for the claim and must repay any amount received that relate to the services to the person from whom it was received.
325W Injunction to prevent or restrain a contravention of s 325R or 325T(1) This section applies if the Regulator reasonably believes a person (an
"offending party" ) has engaged, is engaging or is proposing to engage in conduct, whether in Queensland or elsewhere, that contravened, is contravening or would contravene section 325R(1) or (2) or 325T.(2) The Regulator may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction (the
"court" ) for an injunction restraining the offending party from engaging, or continuing to engage, in the conduct.(3) The court may grant an interim injunction restraining the offending party from engaging, or continuing to engage, in the conduct pending a decision about the application.(4) After considering the application, the court may—(a) if it is satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the offending party has engaged, or is likely to engage or continue to engage, in the conduct—grant the injunction; or(b) refuse to grant the injunction.(5) The court may grant the injunction—(a) if it is satisfied the offending party has engaged in the conduct—whether or not it considers the offending party intends to engage again, or continue to engage, in the conduct; or(b) if it is satisfied the offending party will engage in the conduct if the injunction is not granted—whether or not the offending party has previously engaged in the conduct.(6) If the court is satisfied there is a sufficient reason for doing so, it may grant an injunction under subsection (3) or (4) without notice to the offending party.(7) In this section—
"court of competent jurisdiction" includes a court of another State vested with jurisdiction under the cross-vesting laws.
"cross-vesting laws" means the Jurisdiction of Courts (Cross-vesting) Act 1987 and the corresponding laws of other States.
325X Extraterritorial application of part(1) This part applies both within and outside Queensland.(2) This part applies outside Queensland to the full extent of the extraterritorial legislative power of the Parliament.
325Y Insurer’s duty to report non-compliance(1) This section applies if an insurer reasonably believes a person is contravening any of the following provisions—(a) chapter 6B, part 2;(b) section 325P;(c) section 325R;(d) section 325T.(2) The insurer must, without delay, give the Regulator the information the insurer has in relation to the contravention.Penalty—Maximum penalty—50 penalty units.