The Law Society of New South Wales is a professional association for solicitors in Australia.[1][2] The Society has statutory powers and regulates the practice of law in New South Wales.[3] The Society reported a membership of 21,000 members as of October 2010.[4]
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The Law Society was informally started in 1842.[5] In 1844, the society was formalized as "The Incorporated Law Institute of New South Wales", and had its first annual meeting the following year.
In 1960, the institute was renamed to "The Law Society of New South Wales". In 1963, the Society started publishing "The Law Society Journal". The society also established The College of Law in 1973, the Legal Practitioners Act in 1987, Law Industry Superannuation Trust (LIST) and LawCare in 1989, Office of the Legal Services Commissioner in 1992, and the Lawyers Assistance Program (LAP) in 2001.
The Law Society is governed by an internal Council, the Legal Profession Act of 2004 and the Corporations Act of 2001. The Council has 21 elected members. The Council has 2 country councilors, 2 suburban councilors, 2 city councilors, 2 corporate councilors, 2 government councilors, 2 large firm councilors, 1 Young Lawyers councilor, and 8 other councilors.[6]
The Law Society has 23 committees devoted to different aspects of law.
The society started a voluntary "Pro Bono Scheme" in 1992.[7]