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Law Society of New South Wales - Member

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Part of the NSW legal profession since 2008

Damin is a solicitor member of the Law Society of New South Wales. You can confirm his practising certificate on the public register.

Check the register

Law Society of New South Wales – Member

Anyone can call themselves a legal consultant, a contract specialist or a document adviser. The title is unregulated. Nobody checks. “Solicitor” is different: it is a protected title, and in New South Wales only a person holding a current Australian practising certificate may use it or engage in legal practice at all.

Damin Murdock holds one. It was issued by the Council of the Law Society of New South Wales under the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW), in the category of Principal of a law practice, with Leo Lawyers Pty Limited recorded as his principal place of practice. He was admitted in New South Wales on 16 May 2008.

You should not have to take our word for that. You do not. The Law Society keeps a public register, it costs nothing to search, and the whole exercise takes about a minute.

Damin is also a solicitor member of the Law Society of New South Wales. This membership is optional and separate from his practising certificate.

Leo Lawyers maintains it because the Law Society’s professional standards scheme is only open to its members.

That scheme is what allows the firm to state its liability is limited. Membership also gives Damin ongoing access to legal education, confidential ethics guidance and wellbeing support.

How to verify Damin's registration

Go to the Law Society of NSW Register of Solicitors at lawsociety.com.au/register-of-solicitors

Select the [Find a Solicitor] tab

Enter [Murdock] in Last Name and [Damin] in Other Name, then click Search

His listing confirms his current practising certificate status and the firm.

[Verify registration on the Law Society register]

You can also use the Find a Practice tab to search for Leo Lawyers Pty Limited directly.

What a practising certificate actually requires

A practising certificate is not a formality that a lawyer pays for once and keeps. It is renewed annually, and it carries conditions that a solicitor must continue to meet.

1. Admission to the legal profession

Admission comes first. The Supreme Court of New South Wales admits lawyers to the profession, and only once the prescribed academic qualifications and practical legal training are complete. No admission, no certificate.

2. A fit and proper person assessment

Every applicant must satisfy the Law Profession Admission Board that they are a fit and proper person to hold a certificate, addressing each of the matters set out in rule 13(1) of the Legal Profession Uniform General Rules 2015. Some events raise that question automatically. A bankruptcy-related event, a conviction for a serious offence, a tax offence: each is an automatic show cause event under section 87 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW), and the solicitor must then explain to the Council why, despite it, they remain fit and proper.

3. Compulsory professional indemnity insurance

Section 45 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) requires a solicitor practising as a principal to hold or be covered by an approved insurance policy before engaging in legal practice at all. In New South Wales, Lawcover is the approved insurer. If a law practice does not have that cover in place, practising certificates cannot be issued to the practice or to the solicitors working in it.

Ongoing obligations and certificate categories

1. Continuing professional development

The obligation does not end at admission. Every certificate holder must comply with the Legal Profession Uniform Continuing Professional Development (Solicitors) Rules 2015, which require ten CPD units in each practising year, every year, for as long as the certificate is held.

2. Ongoing conduct obligations

A solicitor is bound by the professional conduct rules for the whole time the certificate is held, and a failure to comply can result in disciplinary action against the certificate itself.

3. Restrictions by category

Practising certificates are issued in categories under section 47 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW). A solicitor whose certificate is subject to a supervised legal practice condition cannot practise as a sole principal of a law practice. A Principal certificate, which is the category Damin holds, permits practice as a principal of a law practice.

Why the register matters before you engage any law firm

Most people never check. It is worth two minutes of your time, for reasons that have nothing to do with us.

It confirms the person is currently entitled to practise. Being admitted as a lawyer and being entitled to practise are different things. A person can be admitted and still have no current practising certificate, in which case they are not entitled to use the title solicitor or legal practitioner, or to engage in legal practice at all.

It confirms the firm. The register records the solicitor’s principal place of practice, so you can confirm that the person you are dealing with actually practises at the firm they say they do.

It reveals conditions. Practising certificates can carry conditions, including supervision requirements. The register is where you would see the practitioner’s current status.

It protects the safeguards you are relying on. The protections described in the next section flow from the regulated status of the practitioner. If the person advising you is not on the register, none of them applies.

The protections you get when you engage a regulated solicitor

The compulsory Lawcover policy provides law practices with cover of up to $2 million for each claim, including claimant’s costs and defence costs. An unregulated adviser may carry no professional indemnity cover at all, and you would have no way of knowing.

The Fund exists to compensate clients who suffer loss through the dishonesty of a solicitor, such as misappropriation of trust money. For almost all Fidelity Fund claims there is a limit of $1,000,000 in total for all claims against a particular solicitor or firm. The Law Society may increase that total but is not obliged to. Some categories of loss are excluded, including, in some circumstances, regulated mortgages, managed investment schemes and other investment money placed with a solicitor.

Money held on your behalf by a law practice is subject to statutory trust account obligations, including audit requirements, under the Uniform Law.

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Legal and regulatory safeguards

1. Client legal privilege

Confidential communications between a client and a legal practitioner made for the dominant purpose of legal advice may attract client legal privilege. Communications with an unregulated adviser generally do not, which can matter a great deal if a dispute later goes to court.

2. A regulated complaints pathway

Complaints about a NSW solicitor’s conduct can be made to the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner, an independent statutory body. There is no equivalent oversight of a person who is not a legal practitioner.

3. A professional standards scheme

Leo Lawyers’ liability is limited by a scheme approved under professional standards legislation. Schemes of this kind are approved by regulators and are conditional on the participating practice meeting risk management, complaints handling and insurance standards. The limitation is a feature of a regulated framework rather than a disclaimer we have chosen for ourselves.

What the register does not tell you

We would rather be straight with you about the limits of it.

The register confirms entitlement to practise. It is not a quality rating, it does not record a practitioner’s experience in any particular field, and it does not tell you whether that solicitor is the right fit for your matter.

The Law Society also notes that the category of practising certificate a solicitor holds does not necessarily reflect the position they occupy at their firm, and that questions about a solicitor’s role within a practice should be directed to the practice itself.

So use the register to confirm the fundamentals, then ask the questions that actually decide the engagement. What comparable matters have you run? Who will do the work? What will this cost? And if that estimate moves, when will I hear about it?

Frequently Asked Questions

Is every lawyer in New South Wales on the Register of Solicitors?

The register lists NSW practices and solicitors who hold a current practising certificate, along with specialists accredited in NSW and, in some cases, interstate practitioners with an office here. Barristers are a separate matter. They are regulated by the NSW Bar Association and listed by it, not here.

What is the difference between a lawyer and a solicitor?

A lawyer is someone who has been admitted to the legal profession, this can be a solicitor or barrister. A solicitor is a lawyer who is offen referred to a solicitor and barrister, but has not written the bar exam to become a barrister sole Someone admitted years ago who no longer holds a current certificate is not entitled to call themselves a solicitor or a legal practitioner, and is not entitled to engage in legal practice.

Is Law Society membership the same as holding a practising certificate?

No. The practising certificate is the mandatory authorisation to engage in legal practice, issued by the Law Society

Does a practising certificate mean the solicitor is insured?

For a solicitor practising as a principal in New South Wales, yes. An approved professional indemnity policy must be in place before a practising certificate can be issued, and the practice cannot obtain certificates without it. However, a solicitor may not always be insured if they are not connected to a law firm, for instance, a solicitor working as an in-house counsel.

What if I cannot find a solicitor on the register?

Check the spelling first. Then try the Contains or Begins with options, because practitioners are listed under their full legal name and that often differs from the name they trade under or the one printed on a business card. Still nothing? Contact the Law Society of NSW before you hand over money or documents.

What does "liability limited by a scheme approved under professional standards legislation" mean?

It means the practice takes part in an approved professional standards scheme. Schemes of that kind cap occupational liability, and they do so in exchange for something: the practice must meet prescribed standards for insurance, risk management and complaints handling. You will see the same notation on the correspondence of most Australian law firms.

Speak to a regulated NSW solicitor

Leo Lawyers is a commercial, technology, construction and litigation practice with offices in Sydney and Melbourne. Damin Murdock was admitted in 2008 and has practised in New South Wales since. He holds a Principal practising certificate.

If you have a commercial or litigation matter you would like to discuss, call 02 8201 0051. Or send an enquiry, and we will come back to you.

Leo Lawyers is built on the foundation of delivering legal excellence and outcomes, hence the name LEO.

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office@leolawyers.com.au

02 8201 0051

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