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Have you ever confused the terms legal practise and legal practice? Or are you concerned that you have been using the terms incorrectly? In this insight, we explore the distinction between these terms and define the scope of their application.

Ordinary Definition

Macquarie Dictionary states that “practice” is a noun, and defines it as ‘the exercise of a profession or occupation, especially law or medicine.’

Meanwhile, in accordance with the dictionary, “practise” is a verb and defined as ‘to pursue a profession, especially law or medicine.’

This clarification indicates that there is clear distinction between the terms. A team of lawyers can run a “legal practice”, where they can be “practising” the law, but they cannot run a “legal practise”.

Industry Context

References in the legal industry to “legal practice” and “legal practise” seem to follow the same definitions as the ordinary meanings conveyed by Macquarie Dictionary.

Section 6 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law 2014 (NSW) (LPUL) defines ‘engage in legal practice’ as, ‘includes practise law or provide legal services…’

This section also defines ‘supervised legal practice’ as,

‘legal practice by a person who is an Australian legal practitioner–

(a) as an employee of…a law practice
(b) as a principal of a law practice…where the person engages in legal practice.’

Here “legal practice” means the thing (noun) that is done within the legal profession.
LPUL defines law practice as (amongst other things):

‘(b) a law firm; or…
(d) an incorporated legal practice.’

Here we see that “legal practice” also means the physical location where the legal work is carried out.

From these definitions, we can derive that legal practice refers to:

  • the act of applying, interpreting, and analysing the law in a professional capacity i.e. as a lawyer; and
  • the physical location where these activities are undertaken i.e. a law firm.

“Legal practice” is the accepted term because reference is made to it in the LPUL 39
times. In contrast, there is no reference to “legal practise” in the LPUL, with references only to “practise” as a standard verb e.g. practising law.

Avoiding Mistakes – “Legal Practise”

Using “legal practise” as a noun is a mistake that has even been made in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

In Montenegro v Law Society of NSW [2015], a judgement made by Justice Campbell makes multiple references to “legal practise”, including in the judgement, where it states, ‘the plaintiff [to] undertake and complete a period of supervised legal practise’ [95].

Interestingly, the judgement also refers to “practise” in its correct verb format:

“[H]e had previously practised as a solicitor…” [75]; and
“…he must comply if he is to practise at all” [94].

The judgement also makes references to the correct noun format “legal practice”, mostly when it is citing legislation.

Justice Campbell cites section 14 of the Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW), which makes it an offence for a person who is not an Australian legal practitioner to “engage in legal practice” in New South Wales [16].

These correct uses of the term “legal practice” call into question why “legal practise” was used in the judgement instead, and whether it could be the result of an error made when typing up the Court transcript.

Which Term to Use?

In Australia, the correct term to use when referring to the legal profession and the law firms where this profession is carried out is “legal practice”, and not “legal practise”.

When referring to the act of “legal practice” in its verb format, however, it may be appropriate to refer to “practising” or “practised”.