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LIV drops membership fee by 80%
The Law Institute of Victoria has unveiled a $4 million member subsidy package to support members and practitioners across the Garden State in the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic.
Jerome Doraisamy
In a statement to members on Tuesday morning, Law Institute of Victoria president Sam Pandya and CEO Adam Awty said the member association was “acutely aware” of the impact that coronavirus has had on practitioners and firms.
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As a result, LIV is “prepared to take extreme measures” to support those individuals and institutions, the statement noted.
“We know that many of you are doing it tough, and while we cannot assist with your obligations for practising certificate fees, fidelity fund contributions and professional indemnity insurance, we can provide membership fee relief,” the pair wrote.
As a result, LIV has reduced its annual membership fee for the 2020-21 membership year for full fee-paying members to $99, including GST, which amounts to a reduction of 80 per cent from the usual annual fee of $515 plus GST.
Fees for accredited specialists and affiliate members will also be set at $99 for the coming year.
This “one-off reduction” represents a support package of $4 million in fee subsidies, LIV said.
“The discount is to acknowledge the extraordinary times we find ourselves in and will have no impact on our ability to maintain the level of service and support offered to members and the profession,” the pair continued.
Members will still, LIV added, have access to programs including but not limited to ethics and practice support, the LIV library, bookshop, referral service, online learning and CPD.
“It is important to acknowledge that we cannot maintain our services and support and offer a drastically reduced membership fee without dipping into our reserves in the short-term, however we are confident that the council’s decision to do so will ease the financial burden on our members and allow you to concentrate on adapting to this new normal, from the current response phase through to preparedness for rebound and recovery,” the statement concluded.
The news follows recent reports from Lawyers Weekly of the Queensland Law Society launching a $9 million relief package, the Law Society of NSW dropping membership fees by 90 per cent and the Bar Association of Queensland reducing member fees by 30 per cent.
