Opening a New Law Firm

Ensure that your Law Society membership status and indemnity and excess insurance coverage are appropriate for your current working situation. Depending on the nature of your practice and your life circumstances, there are different status options that may be suitable. You can learn more about different membership status on the Law Society website.

All law firms are required to have a Responsible Lawyer. If you decide to open your own office, you or another lawyer will need to apply to the Law Society’s Trust Safety department for this designation and be approved before you begin to operate your practice. If you are going to accept funds for advanced fees, costs, or funds that belong to someone else other than yourself, you will need approval to be a Responsible Lawyer and to operate a trust account. If you will not need to hold client trust funds, you will need to obtain an exemption from approval to operate a trust account from the Law Society’s Trust Safety department.

There may be a time delay in obtaining the necessary approvals prior to taking on your first client. It is also important to understand the qualifications to meet if you want to operate a trust account. Specifically, the Law Society, in conjunction with the Legal Education Society of Alberta (LESA), has developed three online courses (Trust Safety online courses) that a Responsible Lawyer must complete before being approved. The courses are available to take free of charge. See the Law Business Essentials course for supplemental information on Trust Account Essentials.

No matter your practice area, you will hold important and confidential client information. You have a professional obligation to protect this information (Code of Conduct Rule 3.3).You have an ethical obligation to report a privacy breach to any affected clients. You must also notify the Alberta Lawyers Indemnity Association (ALIA) or other insurer of any circumstances that could give rise to a claim (Rule 7.7-2).

In addition to your obligations under the Code of Conduct, you have to comply with privacy laws regarding the collection, use and disclosure of information. The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta website has a number of resources to help you understand your obligations under the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) and other related legislation.

You will also need to consider occupational health and safety requirements, which can vary based on the size and location of your business. The Government of Alberta has resources for small business owners which can help you understand your obligations with respect to health and safety. There may be other regulatory requirements relevant to your geographic location and practice context.

Finally, you will need to determine whether you need to register and collect GST. The Law Business Essentials course contains a module on GST to familiarize you with some of the important taxation and business issues related to GST.