Message from the President

This is my first time writing in the Law Letter…this time around anyway. It really doesn’t seem that 7 years has passed since I last was Law Society President. I am reliably informed (mainly by my daughters) that that is a sign of advancing age.

As I have outlined previously, my main and overwhelming focus this year is the retention and attraction of practitioners in Tasmania. The situation has deteriorated since last time I was President. At that time there was a pressing need for more practitioners mainly in Launceston and the North West Coast, with a shortage statewide of appropriate support staff. The shortage of lawyers in regional Tasmania is certainly more acute, and that concern has now spread to the south. There are many reasons for that. I don’t wish to trivialise any of them and therefore don’t intend to write about them here. However I do look forward to meeting with as many practitioners in the new year to discuss the issues and possible ways forward, and how the Law Society can be of assistance. We can also share our learnings. The Council of the Law Society are universally focused on working on this issue. To be clear, this will not be resolved in my term, or even that of my successor. This is a long term project which will require commitment by not only the Law Society but all members individually. We have already met with a local advertising firm with experience working with professions in similar situations. I look forward to providing an update as to our plans in that regard in the new year.

I recently attended a meeting in Canberra with other Law Society Presidents. The issues we face are often similar. A recurring theme of conversation is the introduction of anti-money laundering legislation and what that will mean for lawyers. It is quite clear from the speech given by Commonwealth Attorney General at a gala dinner, that the Federal Government has not listened to the submissions of lawyers, particularly through the robust advocacy of the Law Council of Australia. There are significant ethical, practical and cost issues that arise. Whilst we await the detail of the regulations, it is already clear that there will be major changes in the way we take on and relate with our clients. For instance, we will be required to report suspicious transactions, but not be able to tell our clients that we have done so. Just how many practitioners feel that they would continue to be able to act in those circumstances? And of course, if we don’t feel that we should continue to act ,we cannot tell our client why we are no longer acting. What will the effect of that be? And would you wish to take on a client from another firm who has indicated that they will no longer act but not tell the client why? There will also be significant regulatory burdens in performing a form of due diligence (the details of which we are not aware of at this stage) on clients and determining sources of wealth etc. I can indicate though that the Law Council of Australia and Law Societies are already working on the issue, for which we are grateful. The Law Society will provide all support and education required by the Tasmanian profession by the time the law comes into effect in mid-2026. It may be somewhat of a saving grace, especially for those of us that practice in conveyancing, that the changes that we have experienced since the beginning of 2025 in readiness for the introduction of PEXA has probably (completely coincidentally) helped get us into somewhat of the right mindset to think about the questions that we may be required to ask our clients.

By now many of you will have received correspondence from Tasmania Legal Aid regarding cuts to funding for various family and criminal matters. Obviously this is alarming and I would like to assure all of our members that we will work with Legal Aid where necessary and will be advocating strongly to both the Federal and State Governments to provide a much needed and urgent boost to funding to hopefully restore those services.

I would also like to congratulate all new appointments to Tribunals, the Magistrates Court and to the Supreme Court, in particular to Magistrate Mackey, Justice Kate Cuthbertson SC and Chris Shanahan SC. Obviously Justice Cuthbertson is no stranger to the local profession. I do note that our incoming Chief Justice is not entirely a stranger to Tasmania either, having written in the Autumn edition of the Law Letter about expert evidence and speaking at last year’s Litigation Convention in Orford. I wish both the best and of course also a happy and relaxing retirement to Chief Justice Blow.

Finally, I would like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a very relaxing break over the Christmas holidays. As always, my door is open to all of you to discuss your concerns and ideas.

Will Justo
President of the Law Society of Tasmania 2024-2025