Legalwise Seminars – Not As Wise As They Think!

by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B Real Estate Lawyer and Qualified Practising Conveyancer Victoria Lawyers Real Estate

What is going on at Legalwise Seminars? They now have an unqualified non-lawyer conveyancer as Chairperson of their upcoming conveyancing seminar. What’s more, they expect lawyers to pay to attend! We received this brochure from Legalwise seminars, inviting us to part with $300 to participate in a seminar chaired by Ms. Pauline Barrow in her capacity as President of the Australian Institute of Conveyancers (Victoria Division)(AICVIC).

Now, in our opinion, AICVIC is a strange organisation. Its membership is restricted to non-lawyers, when only lawyers are permitted to provide legal advice and to perform the legal work associated with conveyancing matters in Victoria.

As AICVIC members are prohibited from involvement in the legal work associated with conveyancing transactions, they appear to have little to offer the legal profession.

AICVIC also asserts that there is no need for consumers to use a lawyer in conveyancing transactions.

So, what we have is a situation where the President of an organisation, which suggests to consumers that the lawyer should be displaced from the conveyancing transaction by an unqualified conveyancer, is to chair a lawyer’s training seminar.

Does this mean that we can expect Enzo Raimondo of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV), whose organisation encourages its members to displace lawyers at the contract stage of a real estate transaction, to chair seminars on real estate contacts? Will Legalwise have the publishers of Australian Legal Will Kits chair the seminars on Wills & Estates?

Legalwise, what were you thinking?

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