Legal Practice Manager

A legal practice manager runs the business side of a law firm or legal practice, so the lawyers can focus on legal work. They organise and control the practice's administrative systems, staff, finances and office resources. The role often covers recruiting and supervising support staff, managing billing and budgets, overseeing trust account records, and helping the practice meet the rules set by its state or territory legal regulator.

Assign work to support staff and keep track of deadlines across the practice. Recruit, train and review the performance of legal support and administrative staff. Manage budgets, billing and cash flow, and prepare financial reports for the partners or principals. Oversee time recording, invoicing and the follow-up of unpaid client accounts. Keep trust account records in order and support the annual trust account audit. Make sure file management, conflict checks and record keeping follow the practice's policies. Manage the practice's IT systems, office space, suppliers and contracts. Help put in place policies on client service, complaints and staff conduct.

The standard entry pathway requires a diploma, advanced diploma or associate degree (ABS skill level 2). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.

You carry responsibility for running the business while the partners own the legal decisions, so you can feel caught between lawyers, staff and clients. Mistakes in billing, trust account records or record keeping can have serious professional consequences for the practice. Deadlines are constant, and some law firms have a demanding culture with long hours.

Most roles are in capital cities, where law firms are concentrated, with fewer positions in regional centres. Larger firms may have a dedicated practice manager, while in smaller practices the role may be combined with office management or bookkeeping. The work is mostly on-site, though some firms may allow hybrid work.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 5122, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.

This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.

Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.

• Act discreetlycore
• Apply information security policiescore
• Company policiescore
• Information confidentialitycore
• Manage budgetscore
• Manage staffcore
• Recruit employeescore
• Risk managementcore
• Train employeescore
• Analyse staff capacity
• Create solutions to problems
• Forecast workload
• Manage contracts
• Perform data analysis
• Present reports

• ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
• ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
• ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.

Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.

Where our numbers come from.

Last updated: 10 October 2026