Lewis & Kyrou's handy hints on legal practice / by Gordon D. Lewis and Emilios J. Kyrou and Nuwan Dias.

Sydney : Lawbook, 2018.

4th edition

87830

Lawyers -- Australia.

Law offices -- Australia.

PART 1: Relationship with your client

1. Introduction to legal practice

2. First interview with your client

3. Maintaining contact with your client

4. Nature of retainer and when it can be terminated

5. Adhering to instructions

6. Duty to the court

7. Independance from your client

8. Confidentiality

9. Client legal privilege

10. Conflict of interest

11. Costs

12. Entitlement to documents

13. Solicitor's lien

14. Destruction of documents

15. Acting for friends or relatives

16. Sexual relations with clients, judges and practitioners

PART 2: Relationships with other practitioners

17. Duty to fellow practitioners

18. Conducting negotitations

19. Alternative dispute resolution procedures

20. Use of counsel

21. Communication with another practitioner's client or witness

22. Client threats against practitioner

PART 3: Relationship with the profession and the community

23. Duty to profession and community

24. Assisting the disadvantaged (pro bono)

25. Undertakings

26. Precautions against negligence

27. Unprofessional conduct

PART 4: Relationship with the courts

28. Court conduct

29. Relationship with court officials

30. Contempt of court

31. Witnesses

32. Conducting a case

33. Preparing for and instructing in court

34. Court etiquette

PART 5: Mistakes and misapprehensions

35. Learning from mistakes

36. General mistakes and misapprehensions

37. Common mistakes in property matters

38. Common mistakes in litigous matters

39. Common mistakes in commercial matters

PART 6: Communication and drafting

40. Communication fundamentals

41. Correspondence

42. Letters of demand

43. Telephones and mobile phones

44. Email

45. Without prejudice

46. Drafting

PART 7: Practice management

47. Importance of practice management

48. Managing your workload

49. File management

50. Research

51. Technology

52. Social media

53. Outsourcing

PART 8: Leaving the law - common legal diseases

54. Legal malaise

55. Professional paralysis

56. "I can't say no" syndrome

57. "Time to quit" syndrome

58. Afterthought.

Lewis & Kyrou's Handy Hints on Legal Practice Fourth Edition, is an easy-to-read and informative guide to practicing law. It assists new practitioners to acquire vital skills and provides more experienced practitioners with succinct and practical summaries of key principles relevant to day-to-day practice. The comprehensive content in this work ranges from establishing effective client relationships and efficient office systems, to confidentiality, client legal privilege, conflict of interest, liens, costs, undertakings, precautions against negligence, court etiquette, contempt of court, without prejudice privilege and unprofessional conduct. The Fourth Edition has been updated and many chapters have been substantially rewritten. Matters considered in this edition include: client legal privilege and without prejudice privilege in the light of the uniform evidence law; a practitioner's relationship with his or her client, other practitioners, the profession, the community and the courts in the light of - Australian Solicitors Conduct Rules 2015, Legal Profession Uniform Conduct (Barristers) Rules 2015, and Legal Profession Uniform Law; contains substantially rewritten chapters on conflicts of interest, a practitioner's duty to the court and his or her duty to fellow practitioners, each of which provides examples from the case law that illuminate these areas of law; for litigation lawyers - issues such as witnesses, conducting a case, as well as preparing for and instructing in court; for transactional lawyers - issues such as precautions against negligence, and common mistakes in property and commercial matters; drafting issues such as retainers, briefs to counsel, written submissions to a court, terms of settlement, letters of demand, pleadings, affidavits, witness statements and commercial documents; the effect of technological advances on legal practice, including mobile technology, digitisation, social media, powerful internet search engines and cloud-based computing; and considerations when establishing and managing a relationship with an outsourcing provider. Lewis & Kyrou's Handy Hints on Legal Practice Fourth Edition confirms this work's position as an essential purchase for all practitioners in common law jurisdictions. - Publisher's website.

Previous edition: 2004.

Includes index.

Handy hints on legal practice

9780455233994

xlvi, 690 pages ; 22 cm