The Queensland legal profession has shrunk according to the latest law society annual report. In the 2010/11 financial year there were 1 1,351 members of the Queensland Law Society (QLS), while this most recent financial year recorded only 10,638 members. In contrast, NSW saw an increase in legal practitioners of 569 to 24,585. Of those Queensland members 8,761 were full members, 541 were associate members and 1,259 were students. More than half the society’s full members are under 39 years; 1,668 of all members are between 25 and 29 years of age.

The QLS investigated 362 complaints during the financial year, down from 399 the previous financial year. Of these, 222 were finalised. The LSC made decisions on 205 complaints investigated and on all but 12 occasions (less than six percent), the Commissioner agreed with the society’s recommendation as to whether disciplinary action should be taken.

The society has introduced trust account compliance reviews to support trust account investigations. These half day reviews aim to assist law practices comply with the legislative record keeping requirements and good trust account management practices. 407 of these reviews were completed in 2012 while 113 trust account investigations were also completed.

During the year the QLS opened 37 files for potential Fidelity Guarantee Fund Claims. After applying the statutory cap limits of A$200,000 per claim, they estimated that payments totalling A$1.3 million would be made in respect of these claims. The total income of the fund was A$4 million, approximately A$3 million of that came from contributions by practitioners and A$64,000 from recoveries.

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