How to start a law firm in Victoria, Australia
Renew Legal specialises in renewables, construction, engineering and technology projects
February 2025
I get asked this a bit and thought it might be useful (for lawyers) (in Victoria) to set out what I had to do to set up my firm (this is not legal advice about your plans). The LIV/LPLC websites do not explain it very well.
I have an incorporated legal practice (ILP), which is a company. You could also be a sole practitioner, or partnership etc, but this is about ILP. You should speak to an accountant first anyway.
Obviously I am not affiliated with any of the suppliers or vendors below, this is just my example.
Steps I took
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Practice Management Course 3 days online (e.g Leo Cussen, LIV, College of Law).
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ASIC incorporate company (you can buy off the shelf through a third party or do it yourself if you are comfortable filling out Form 201). You can also register a business name if it is different to your company name.
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Website and email domain (just search for buy domain). You might not want a website, and you can get a business email address from Google, if you are satisfied that client data security (and file formats like Google Docs) will be sufficient.
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Microsoft365 Business Standard, and set up email client.
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Business bank account.
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Give the VLSB notice of intention to start providing legal services. Then VLSB gives you an entity number, which you need for the other things below.
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VSLB+C Principal practising certificate with trust or no trust (I don’t have a trust account).
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LIV incorporated legal practice membership (call them, I can’t find the form online).
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LIV Professional Standards Scheme membership to limit your liability for advice given in the course of your work x 2 (lawyer and firm).
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If you are working from home to start, notify your home insurer that you are running a no-customer business from there (or the insurance may be void) and don't hold client meetings at your dining table. Apparently this shouldn’t increase your premium, but it would depend on your insurer.
I also got:
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Laptop, monitor etc. I have a MacBook Air and LG DualUp (check it out, it’s such a good idea for those of us who read and write long contracts).
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Microsoft 365 Business Standard.
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PDF software (I have PDF Expert which has OCR etc, it doesn’t run slow to give you AI assistant prompts), antivirus, cloud backup, website editor, domain registration.
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IT consultant.
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Bookkeeping software (or use a spreadsheet).
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Accountant.
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Personal insurance. Speak to a broker.
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Swanky new clothes - but not a suit because you don’t work in a firm anymore.
You might want to get legal practice management software if you will have lots of matter files and it can link in with billing software. I don't have this but I hear that it is useful from other consultants. You can expect that those vendors will be reaching out to you 5 mins after updating your LinkedIn, to sell you their product, so I'll let them fill you in on the details.
Timing
Think about timing of commencing practice on your own, because if it is before 1 July, LPLC and LIV will make you pay for that financial year, and then again in June for the next financial year - only your practising certificate is quarterly pro rata. But if you have work ready to go, you might want to get started straight away.
I hope the 15 steps don’t seem like a lot, it was actually really easy.
This article is a summary and general overview of matters of interest. It is not comprehensive and does not constitute legal advice. You should also get accounting advice if you are thinking about this.
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation