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26 February 2020

Five things you might not know qualify as CPD


Published on 26 February 2020

CPD season is upon us again. Too often, this means a last minute scramble to get your 10 points in, minutes before 31 March.

Insights has compiled a list of five activities you might know qualify as CPD, so you can make the most out of upskilling this CPD season.

Complete a Practice Management Course

The start of the year is always a popular time to break out on your own. However, would-be principals must complete a recognised legal practice management course prior to starting their own firm. These courses are best suited to sole practitioners, partners, supervisors of a community legal centre or directors of an incorporate legal practice. Covering practical topics ranging from effective management, finance, practice management systems and ethics, these courses bridge the gap between practising law and knowing how to run a law firm as a business.

Successful completion of a practice management course can count towards CPD, including your mandatories areas.

Preparing or presenting CPD

In addition to studying CPD, you can also claim points for preparing and presenting CPD activities for fellow lawyers. This could provide credibility and establish your expertise in novel or complex areas of practice, so you could get future work referred to you by lawyers who attend. If you present through a national CPD provider like the College of Law, you could also enjoy a reputational boost and list the experience on your LinkedIn profile or firm website.

You can claim up to 5 CPD units for preparing or presenting CPD.

Research, prepare or edit legal articles

A related way to accrue CPD is by drafting legal articles. In fact, you could consider drafting a legal article on the same or similar topic to one you might present as a CPD. This would maximise your research efforts and widen the reputational reach of your work. Alternatively, if you are part of the editorial committee for a legal journal, you can accrue CPD for editing legal articles.

You can claim 1 CPD unit per 1000 words researched, prepared or edited, up to a total value of 5 CPD units.

Join a law committee, taskforce or practice section

Committees are a fruitful way to connect with like-minded legal professionals on a shared area of legal interest, and develop ways to advance this area. In New South Wales, there are 27 standing law committees open to members, covering policy issues, liaison with other professions, or regulatory duties under the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW). This does require a degree of preparation, however, as committee membership often opens late in the year - in New South Wales, membership opens in September.

You can claim 1 CPD unit per 2 hours spent as a member of a legal committee, taskforce or practice section, up to a total value of 3 CPD units.

Undertake postgraduate study

Postgraduate study is one of the more valued aspects of upskilling from a CPD perspective, as no cap is generally imposed to the number of units you can claim for postgraduate study. Have you been putting off an LLM? This could be a good incentive to refine your area of expertise or update your knowledge.

Generally speaking, there is no limit to how many CPD units you can claim as postgraduate study.