Requisite Fees

I've reached that time of the year when things seem to slow down considerably for me.  Many people call the lead up to Christmas the Silly Season because of the frenetic gift buying and organizing of family functions.  I guess as someone who doesn't have any real familial obligations in Australia, I just find myself with a lot of free time.  Most of Fenner Hall has emptied out and so there aren't many people around.  Also, as I don't have to worry about exam marks, the only thing I have to do now is wait for graduation.  I do still find ways to keep busy, though.

I still have my job at ACTTAB which gives me a few shifts every week and I'm still studying for those Canadian law exams.  I also took a job at Fenner over the Summer as a Summer Duty Warden.  This is sort of a caretaker position on evenings and weekends, which is when the front office is closed.  SDWs just keep an eye on things and make sure there are no problems.  If any issues do come up, we're trained to handle them.  It's not a very hard job and it does give you a bit of extra money.

Just yesterday there was a very intense line of storms that passed over the Canberra region.  I've never seen lightning and wind of such intensity.  There were multiple lightning flashes per minute and some peels of thunder were deafening.  I find storms so fascinating and exciting to watch.  There are few things I like more than going on the roof balcony and watching an approaching storm front as the lightning bolts light up the night sky.  Such things happen as spring draws to a close and raises the curtain on summer.

I was going over my admission to practice and I realized that assuming all goes well at my admissions ceremony on December 9th, I will very shortly be eligible to practice law in several jurisdictions and in multiple countries.  Under Australian law, once a person is admitted in one jurisdiction (a state or territory) then they are entitled to practice in any Australian state and/or territory, provided they file some minimal paperwork and pay the requisite fee.  What will happen is I will be admitted to practice (I hope) in the Australian Capital Territory.  Now, this doesn't mean that I can just go out and do lawyering things, that requires a practising certificate, but admission to practice is the necessary step to get a practising certificate.  To get a practising certificate, you have to produce a Certificate of Admission which is what you get when you're admitted and then pay the requisite fee to the Law Society.  In my case, because I will be working in the Northern Territory, I will not get a practising certificate in the ACT but my admission here will entitle me to a practising certificate there.

The journey doesn't end there either.  In order to be eligible to practice in federal jurisdictions, like the Federal Court or the High Court of Australia, you have to be admitted in the High Court.  Luckily, that's pretty easy and if you have a practising certificate from a state or territory, you just send the High Court Registry a copy and they admit you onto the roll, as it's called.  If you want an official certificate, you send them the requisite fee.  I plan to do this very soon after being admitted.

There is also a great little international agreement called the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Agreement (TTMRA) between Australia and New Zealand.  It allows people who are qualified in most jobs in one country to have those qualifications recognized in the other.  For lawyers, you first register for recognition in the state or territory you have a practising certificate in, in my case, the Northern Territory by filing some paperwork and paying the requisite fee.  From there, you make an application for admission as a barrister and solicitor in the High Court of New Zealand by filing some paperwork and paying the requisite fee.  I think I'll do that sometime after admission as well.  It's not expensive and if for some reason I ever had to practice in New Zealand, I would be eligible to get a practising certificate without much issue.  I wonder how many Australian lawyers do this?

So, the total comes out to that I'd be eligible to practice law in the ACT, the Northern Territory, Australia's federal jurisdiction and New Zealand.  Not too a bad tally for a few months after admission.  Also, if I pass all my Canadian law exams, I'll have a Certificate of Qualification which means that I could apply to a Canadian law society to do their barrister and solicitor exams to be admitted there too.  I may one day be eligible to practice in no fewer than 5 jurisdictions spread over 3 countries on 2 continents in 2 hemispheres. That's quite an exciting prospect assuming I can cope with all of the requisite fees.