What transitional provisions are in place for costs disclosure and costs agreements?
Due to the fact that the Act, Rules and Regulations all came into operation on 1 March 2009, and in the case of the Rules and Regulations, the profession had little time to become familiar with and comply with the same, the Government decided to defer the operation of provisions relating to trust money and accounts, and costs disclosure and cost agreements. The trust account obligations under the 2003 Act will continue to apply until 30 June 2009: regulation 120. The transitional provisions, amended by the Legal Profession Amendment Regulations 2009, provide that a practice does not have to comply with sections 260, 261 or 264 of the Act (dealing with costs disclosure requirements) when retained by a client during the period 1 March to 30 June 2009 or when settling a matter during this period: regulation 122(1) or (2). As a consequence, section 268 (dealing with the effect of a failure to make the necessary disclosures) does not apply if regulation 122(1) or (2) applies. However, if du
