Do the Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules require file notes?
No, not in those words. Nothing in the ASCR says a solicitor must make a file note or an attendance note. The one rule that deals with records directly is rule 14, which covers handing client documents back and when they may be destroyed.
What the rules do is set duties, and rule 2.3 says a breach of them is capable of constituting unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct. So the practical question is how you would show, two years later, that you gave the advice, took the instructions or got the consent. For most of the rules below the only answer is a note.
| Rule | What the rule says | What the file note should show |
|---|---|---|
| 4.1.3 | Deliver legal services competently, diligently and as promptly as reasonably possible | Dates: when instructions came in, what you did next and when |
| 7.1 | Provide clear and timely advice so the client understands the legal issues and can make informed choices | The advice itself, the options and the risks you explained, and the date |
| 7.2 | Inform the client about reasonably available alternatives to a fully contested hearing | That you raised settlement, mediation or another option, and what the client said |
| 8.1 | Only accept and follow a client's lawful, proper and competent instructions | The instruction in the client's words, who gave it, and anything that bears on capacity |
| 9.2.1 | Confidential information may be disclosed if the client expressly or impliedly authorises it | What the client authorised you to disclose, to whom, and when |
| 10.2.1 | Acting against a former client's confidential information needs that former client's informed consent, or an effective information barrier | What the former client was told, their consent, or how the barrier works |
| 11.3 | Acting for two or more clients with adverse interests needs each client to be aware and to give informed consent | What each client was told about the conflict, and each client's consent |
| 12.4.3 | A commission or benefit from a third party needs disclosure, advice that the client may refuse the referral, and informed consent | The benefit disclosed, the advice that they could refuse, and the consent |
| 13.1.3 | A law practice may end an engagement for just cause and on reasonable notice | The reason, the notice given, and what the client was told about next steps and dates |
| 14.2 | Client documents may be destroyed after 7 years from completion or termination, unless client instructions or legal obligations say otherwise | Any instruction from the client about keeping or destroying documents |
| 37.1 | A solicitor responsible for a matter must exercise reasonable supervision over others working on it | Who did the work, who reviewed it, and when |
The rule text is on the NSW legislation website. For the wider picture, including costs disclosure and insurer guidance, see legal file note requirements in Australia. Retention is covered in how long to keep file notes.
The gap between the rule and the proof
Conduct rules impose duties. They rarely specify how compliance is to be evidenced. That distinction is invisible day to day and decisive in a complaint.
When a complaint reaches a legal services commissioner or a disciplinary tribunal, the question is not whether you followed the rule. It is whether you can show that you did. A practitioner who acted entirely properly but kept no record is in a materially worse position than one who acted the same way and wrote it down. The rule was satisfied in both cases; only one can prove it.
This is the same dynamic described in legal file note requirements in Australia, applied specifically to conduct obligations rather than evidence in civil proceedings.
Solicitors conduct rules where the file note is the proof
These are the recurring areas where a file note is the practical proof of compliance.
ASCR rule 7: communication of advice
Rule 7.1 requires clear and timely advice that helps the client understand the legal issues and make informed choices. Rule 7.2 requires you to tell the client about the reasonably available alternatives to a fully contested hearing, unless you reasonably believe they already understand them. Both are about what was said, and neither leaves a trace unless you write it down. A note that says 'advised re options' proves very little. A note that lists the options, the risk of each and the client's response proves the rule was met.
ASCR rule 8: client instructions
Rule 8.1 says a solicitor must only accept and follow a client's lawful, proper and competent instructions. Where a dispute arises about whether you were instructed to do something, or instructed not to, the file note of the conversation is the record. Email is better where it exists, but a great deal of instruction is given by phone, and phone instructions are the ones most often contested.
Informed consent: rules 10, 11 and 12
Several rules turn on informed consent: rule 10.2.1 for a former client's confidential information, rules 11.3 to 11.5 for acting for more than one client, and rule 12.4.3 for referral commissions. Informed consent has two limbs: the client must have been given sufficient information, and the client must have agreed. A note that records only the agreement fails on the first limb. The note needs to show what the client was actually told before they consented.
Solicitors conduct rules on conflict of interest
Where a conflict is identified and managed rather than declined, the reasoning and the client communications are the record of how it was handled. A file note showing the conflict was identified, the client was informed, and consent was obtained on that basis is the difference between a defensible position and an assertion.
Costs disclosure and updates
Costs obligations arise under legal profession legislation as well as the conduct rules. Initial disclosure is usually documented properly. The failure point is the ongoing obligation to update the client when the estimate changes materially, because those conversations happen by phone. See costs disclosure and file notes.
ASCR rule 37: supervision
Rule 37.1 requires a solicitor with designated responsibility for a matter to exercise reasonable supervision over the solicitors and other employees working on it. The file is the evidence of what supervision actually occurred. Notes made by a junior practitioner and reviewed by the supervisor demonstrate the chain in a way that recollection cannot.
Communications with the other side and unrepresented parties
Rule 33 limits contact with another solicitor's client, and rule 34 covers what you may say to other people when acting for a client. Dealings with the other side and with unrepresented people are a common source of complaints. A note of what was said in a call with an unrepresented party, made at the time, is the practitioner's protection against a later characterisation of that conversation.
What a note needs to contain to actually help
| Weak note | Note that discharges the obligation |
|---|---|
| Attendance on client re settlement. | Advised client offer of $X was within the likely range, explained the two alternatives and the costs risk of proceeding. Client said she understood and instructed me to accept. |
| Conflict discussed, client consented. | Explained that the firm previously acted for Y in an unrelated matter, what that could mean for this retainer, and that she could take independent advice. Client confirmed she understood and consented to us continuing. |
| Costs update given. | Told client the revised estimate is $X, up from $Y, because of the additional interlocutory application. Explained the option of not proceeding with it. Client instructed me to proceed. |
| Call with unrepresented party. | Spoke to Mr Z, who is unrepresented. Told him I act for the applicant, that I cannot give him legal advice, and that he should obtain his own. Recorded what he said about service. |
The pattern is consistent. The weak version records that a topic was covered. The useful version records what was actually said. The second takes barely longer to write and is the only one that helps.
See what a finished legal attendance note looks like.
Pick your line of work and we'll send a sample note written from a mocked call. No account, no card, and nothing from your own client files.
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Example: a file note that shows informed consent
Here is a short note of a call where a conflict was raised under rule 11. The clients and the matter are invented.
- Why we spoke
Dana and Ravi are buying a cafe business together and have asked us to act for both of them on the purchase and on their partnership agreement.
- What we told them
- On the purchase their interests are the same. On the partnership agreement their interests can differ, for example on who puts in how much money and what happens if one of them wants to leave.
- If we act for both, we cannot keep information from one that matters to the other.
- If a real dispute comes up between them, we may have to stop acting for one or both.
- Each of them can get separate advice on the partnership agreement from another solicitor if they prefer.
- What they said
Dana asked whether separate advice would slow the purchase down. We said it should not, because only the partnership agreement would go elsewhere. Ravi said he was comfortable with one firm doing both.
- Consent
Both said they understood the points above and want us to act for both of them on both documents. Each confirmed this separately when asked.
- Next steps
- JT to email both clients today setting out the points above and asking each to reply confirming consent.
- No work on the partnership agreement until both replies are on file.
- Note made
8 October 2026, 3:30 pm, by JT.
The note records what the clients were told before it records that they agreed. That order is what makes the consent informed on paper. More worked notes are in attendance note examples, and the headings are in our attendance note template.
Which solicitors conduct rules apply in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the other states
The ASCR were developed by the Law Council of Australia and each jurisdiction adopts them through its own instrument. According to the Law Council's ASCR page, as at October 2026:
| Jurisdiction | Instrument | Applies from |
|---|---|---|
| NSW and Victoria | Legal Profession Uniform Law Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules 2015 | 1 July 2015 |
| Western Australia | The same Uniform Law rules | 1 July 2022 |
| Queensland | Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules | June 2012 |
| South Australia | South Australian Legal Practitioners Conduct Rules (Part A) | July 2011 |
| ACT | Legal Profession (Solicitors) Conduct Rules 2015 (No. 2) | 1 January 2016 |
| Tasmania | Legal Profession (Solicitors' Conduct) Rules 2020 | 1 October 2020 |
| Northern Territory | Australian Solicitors Conduct Rules (NT) | 1 September 2025 |
The duties covered in this article are common to all of them, but versions and numbering are not identical. Check the current text published by your own law society or legal services regulator before you quote a rule number in a letter or a policy.
Making it routine rather than exceptional
The obligations above are not controversial and no practitioner disputes them. The difficulty is that the notes which matter most tend to follow the calls that are longest, hardest, and most likely to run into the next appointment. The note that would have discharged the obligation is the one there was no time to write.
CallNote addresses that by generating the note from the transcript your phone or meeting system already produces. It never records the call and never joins it. The solicitor reviews the generated note, corrects it, and publishes it, at which point it is timestamped and sealed with a SHA-256 checksum, with later changes recorded as dated amendments rather than silent edits.
For conduct purposes the sealing matters as much as the content. A note whose creation date cannot be challenged removes an argument before it starts. The for law firms page covers the audit trail in detail, and the file note compliance checklist is a free way to review what your current notes actually contain.
Common questions
Do the Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules require file notes?
Not in those words. No rule in the ASCR says solicitors must keep file notes. But rule 7 (clear and timely advice), rule 8 (client instructions) and rules 10, 11 and 12 (informed consent to conflicts and commissions) set duties you can only show you met with a record made at the time. The rule is the duty and the note is the proof.
What does ASCR rule 8 say about client instructions?
Rule 8.1 of the Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules says a solicitor must only accept and follow a client's lawful, proper and competent instructions. It does not say how to record them. In practice a dated note of the instruction, in the client's words, is how a solicitor shows what they were told to do.
What does ASCR rule 7 require a solicitor to tell a client?
Rule 7.1 requires clear and timely advice that helps the client understand the relevant legal issues and make informed choices about the matter. Rule 7.2 requires the solicitor to inform the client about reasonably available alternatives to a fully contested hearing, unless the solicitor reasonably believes the client already understands them.
How long do solicitors have to keep files?
Rule 14.2 of the Uniform Law version of the ASCR says a solicitor or law practice may destroy client documents once 7 years have passed since the engagement was completed or terminated, unless there are client instructions or legal obligations to the contrary. Other laws, limitation periods and your insurer's guidance can mean keeping some files longer. See our guide on how long to keep file notes for detail.
What is the difference between a note that records consent and one that records informed consent?
Informed consent has two limbs: sufficient information was given, and the client agreed. A note saying "client consented" evidences only the second. A note that records what the client was told before they agreed evidences both. In a disciplinary context the first limb is usually the one in issue.
Are file notes relevant to disciplinary proceedings or only to civil claims?
Both, and the disciplinary context is often the more immediate risk. Complaints to a legal services commissioner frequently turn on what a client says they were told against what the practitioner says was advised. The contemporaneous note is the practitioner's primary evidence in exactly the same way it is in a civil dispute.
Does a note written by a paralegal satisfy the obligation?
A note made by someone else who was present, and reviewed by the responsible solicitor, can be perfectly good evidence. The risks are that a person who did not give the advice may not capture it accurately, and that the review step is what makes the note the solicitor's own. Unreviewed notes made by a person who was not on the call are considerably weaker.
How soon after a call should the note be made?
As close to the conversation as practicable. Contemporaneity is what gives a note its weight, and a note made the same day is materially stronger than one made a fortnight later. If you are writing late, date the note accurately for when it was written rather than backdating it, because an apparently backdated note causes more damage than a late one.