logo

Law Firm Registration

A "law firm" is a legal entity or a combination of legal entities carrying on the practice of law. 

A law firm that was engaged in the practice of law on May 1, 2018, or commences or resumes the practice of law after that date must deliver a registration form to the Law Society within 30 days. In addition, law firms must inform the Executive Director immediately of any changes to the information provided in the registration form (refer to the “Changes to law firm” section for more information).

Lawyers carrying on the practice of law and providing legal services as a group or as sole practitioners may be required to register a law firm with the Law Society. For example:

  • Lawyers applying for a sole proprietorship or general partnership with BC Registry
  • Law corporation permit holders that will be practicing through that law corporation and carrying on the practice of law
  • Lawyers that are independent contractors and provide legal services to more than one entity/organization 
  • Lawyers that are licensed in BC and another jurisdiction(s), and are employed at a law firm outside of BC that is not known to the Law Society (see FAQ for more information)*

However, if you are considered one or more of the following, you are not required to register a law firm and may instead register your employment through the Member Portal by submitting an Address/Employment Change request:

  • employed by or provide legal services exclusively to a government body;
  • in-house counsel at an organization that is not a law firm
  • provide legal services exclusively* as part of another law firm as a partner, associate or employee of the firm

*Exclusive legal services mean that you, or your law corporation, provide legal services to only one entity/organization and do not operate your own accounting books and/or trust account(s)

If your new law firm is a new Limited Liability Partnership in BC, refer to this webpage for the registration process: Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Registration

How to register a law firm 

Registering a law firm is done online through the Member Portal. 

There is no registration fee. However, a late delivery fee will apply if you fail to deliver the registration form within 30 days of commencing or resuming the practice of law through your firm. A second late delivery fee will apply if the registration form is more than 60 days overdue.

Note: If you are registering your law firm with BC Registry as a sole proprietorship and/or a business (i.e. Doing Business as (DBA)), complete the steps under both Phase 1 and 2.

If you will not be registering your law firm with BC Registry, complete the steps under Phase 2 only.

PHASE 1: LAW FIRM NAME

Step 1.1 – Reserve the proposed business name of the law firm with BC Registry

Apply to the Registrar of Companies through BC Registries and Online Services to reserve the proposed business name, which must comply with the Code of Professional Conduct, Section 4.2 Marketing.

Step 1.2 – Obtain name approval from the Law Society

Submit a copy of the Results of Name Request issued by BC Registry to Registration & Licensee Services at: registration@lsbc.org.

Allow up to 10 business days for processing. 

Once your proposed name is reviewed and approved, the Law Society will provide a written consent. This letter may then be provided to BC Registries to complete its registration process. At the same time, you may proceed to Phase 2.

 PHASE 2: LAW FIRM REGISTRATION

Apply online to register your law firm:

  1. Log in to the Member Portal
  2. Scroll down to the “Law firm information” heading
  3. Click “Register new law firm”
  4. Follow the prompts and complete the online form. Note that your firm address must be the physical location of your law firm (i.e. a PO Box may not be accepted).
  5. Click ‘Submit’ at the bottom of the summary page to submit your application. 

We recommend that you review the FAQ section below before completing the online form.

Allow 10 business days for processing. 

You will receive a confirmation email once your law firm has been registered with the Law Society. You must submit payment for any late registration delivery fee(s) (if applicable) before your law firm registration will be approved.

Once registration is complete, your law firm is required to file a trust report each year. More information about trust reports can be found on our website: Trust Reports. Please note that in order for the Designated Representative to file a trust report, all lawyers practising at the firm must have completed their Annual Practice Declaration first. Therefore, it is important to maintain the list of practising lawyers at your law firm with the Law Society. If you need to update this information, refer to the Updating lawyers list section for more information.

Changes to a law firm

Pursuant to Rule 2-12.2(2), all law firms must immediately report any changes to the law firm information outlined below, which is originally reported in the registration form.  

The Designated Representative(s) of the firm must report these changes by taking the following steps:

  1. Log in to the Member Portal
  2. Scroll down to the “Law firm information” heading
  3. Click on the link with your law firm name to be redirected to your law firm profile
  4. Submit change request(s) under the respective tab in your law firm profile. See below for more information about reporting respective law firm changes.
Changing Designated Representative(s) 

Each firm must have at least one Designated Representative (DR), who must hold practising status in BC. A DR must be readily available for receiving and responding to official correspondence from the Law Society, including but not limited to, general administrative matters, and registration and conduct matters. They will also have the following functions available to them through the Member Portal:

  1. Firm invoice package (more information including setting up for EFT payments can be found on this webpage: Annual Fee)
  2. Trust assurance filings

The “Designated Representative(s)” tab displays a list of active DR’s for a law firm.

To remove a DR:

  1. Click the ‘Remove’ button next to the DR’s name and contact information. 
  2. If you are the sole DR and the firm still has other lawyers, you must appoint a new DR before removing yourself as a DR. See steps below for appointing a new DR.

To appoint a new DR:

  1. Click the ‘Add’ button
  2. Follow the prompt to choose a lawyer that is currently attached to the law firm
  3. Enter the effective date of the change
Updating lawyers list

The “Lawyers” tab displays a list of all BC lawyers currently practising at the law firm by location. You can differentiate each location by the address displayed above each table. 

To remove a lawyer from the law firm:

  1. Click the ‘Remove’ button next to the Lawyer’s name
  2. Enter the effective date of the lawyer leaving the law firm. 

To add a lawyer to the law firm:

  1. Click the ‘Add’ button
  2. Follow the prompt to search and select the new lawyer. Once selected, you must check the box for the location that they will be practising at. Ensure that you review the information and address for each location before ticking the appropriate box.  
  3. Enter the effective date on which the lawyer will commence practising at the law firm. 
Changing location(s) & contact information

The “Location(s) & Contact Information” tab displays the address, phone number, fax number of the law firm by location.

Click the appropriate “change”, “add”, and/or “expire” button to make changes. If your law firm is closing the entire practice, refer to the steps under Terminating/Deregistering a law firm instead.

You may also add an additional location/office for the law firm by clicking “Add an Additional Practice Location”. This function should only be used if the law firm is opening a brand-new location/office. 

If any lawyer needs to change their practising location/office within the same law firm, follow the instructions in the above section: Changing lawyers.

Changing website domain

The “Website Domain” tab displays a list of website and/or email domains used by the firm as previously reported. Click the appropriate “Add” and/or “Remove” button to update the information.

Terminating/Deregistering a law firm

If you are a sole practitioner closing your law firm, you are required to wind up your practice by following the steps outlined on this page. 

Need more information?

Please contact the following department if you have any questions:

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Your proposed law firm name must comply with the Code of Professional Conduct, Section 4.2 Marketing i.e. it must not be false, inaccurate, unverifiable, reasonably capable of misleading or contrary to the public interest.

Please refer to the following ethics advisories: Law Firm Names and Marketing Activities. Also see the Annotations in Chapter 4 of the Code of Conduct for BC for more detailed guidance in relation to law firm names, particularly in relation to the incorporation of geographical locations and areas of law.
 

You are not required to have a valid website domain in order to register your law firm. If you do not have a website domain, you can check the box ‘No Website or Domain’ and proceed to the next step. If you later create a website, you can report the website information by following the steps outlined in the “Changing website domain” section above.
 

An apparent partnership is an expense sharing or other arrangement in which two or more members, law corporations, law firms, or a combination thereof, are held out to the public as partners whether or not the partnership in fact exists or existed. Additional information can be found on page 6 in our Practice Resource: Lawyers Sharing Space.

If you are currently in an apparent partnership that has not been reported to the Law Society, please contact the Registration and Licensee Services department at registration@lsbc.org for further assistance.
 

If you only share an office space with the other firm(s), this is considered a space sharing arrangement. However, you must ensure your signage, retainer letter, business cards, web presence and all other marketing materials make it clear to the public that your law firm is not in a partnership with the other firm(s). Please refer to Chapter 4.2-5 of the Code of Professional Conduct for further information.
 

If you are the only BC lawyer at your extraprovincial law firm, you are still required to register the firm with the Law Society of BC. You will be listed as the Designated Representative as the only BC member associated with the firm. You can read more about the responsibilities of a Designated Representative under Rule 2-12.5.

You will also have to confirm that you comply with Rule 2-37. Under Rule 2-37 [Inter-jurisdictional law firms] a lawyer who practices law as a member of an inter-jurisdictional law firm must ensure that the firm complies with Part 3, Division 7 [Trust Accounts and Other Client Property] in respect to the firm’s practice of law in BC. The interest earned on BC client matters must be remitted to the Law Foundation of BC and the Trust Administration Fee (TAF) must be paid to the Law Society of BC. For any BC client matters, it would be advisable to maintain a BC trust account and not comingle those funds with the funds of client matters in other provinces.

Once your extraprovincial firm is registered, you will be required to file a trust report each year. If you do not operate a trust account for BC clients, you can simply report that with the trust report.

Have a question? Visit our contact us page.