What does it mean to be an Accredited Specialist in Immigration Law?

Law Professor

1. How are the best lawyers distinguishable?

In Australia, lawyers can choose to practice as a solicitor or barrister. In some jurisdictions we are admitted to the roll as both but we only practice as one or the other (usually barristers begin as solicitors but not always).

Barristers:

For a barrister, the highest level of recognition (other than being promoted to the bench) is to be made a “silk”. This process is shrouded in mystery and is often considered to be a “boy’s club”. Those elevated to this status are given the title of Queen’s Counsel (Q.C) or Senior Counsel (S.C).

Recognition is obtained through a period of professional practice and experience of several decades. Silks are required to make a substantial contribution to the tutoring of young barristers and the formation of jurisprudence through their submissions in particular cases.

Silks are also entitled to charge significantly higher fees and are often supported in court by “junior counsel” – those who have yet to be elevated.

Being a QC or SC carries great honour and respect within the profession.

Solicitors:

Solicitors don’t have the same ranking system, but experienced solicitors will sometimes “go to the bar” - a process which involves reading for (ie studying) the bar exams. These are brutal and the pass rate is about 20%. Most people need to sit the exams a couple of times before they pass. If solicitors don’t want to become barristers (not all lawyers want to do court work which is generally adversarial and can be incredibly boring!) they might want to specialise and be recognized as an expert in their field. This process is called accreditation.

Once a solicitor has practiced almost exclusively in one area of law for at least five years (three of which are in their area of speciality) they can apply to sit the accreditation assessments which consist of extremely difficult tests in problem solving, client relations and, of course, their specialist area of law. I, for example failed this process twice, and I have been practicing and teaching law for over a decade.

What also makes this process more arduous is that, depending on your area of specialisation, the assessments are only held every two years! There is also a 3 month wait from sitting the process to finding out your results so there are a lot of sleepless nights leading into the process and waiting for the outcome.

To maintain their status as an Accredited Specialist solicitors must renew their accreditation annually, and to ensure currency they must complete additional professional development training above and beyond the normal requirements placed on practitioners.

2. As a law professor, would you regard Accredited Specialists in Immigration Law as the best immigration practitioners in the world?

Well I couldn’t comment on that, but what I can say is that it is exceptionally difficult to pass the examinations to be an Accredited Specialist in Immigration Law. I’m told that out of the 72,000 lawyers in Australia only 97 are Accredited Specialists in Immigration Law. The assessment process is as intense as the bar exam is for barristers. The failure rate is high.

To put this into perspective, the 2020 Specialist Accreditation results revealed only 4 out of 24 candidates passed the exam – that’s an 84% failure rate! In 2018, 5 out of 35 people passed (again an 84% failure rate).

So for those lucky enough to pass, it is a great honour (and a great relief) to be amongst the rare few who have made it.

3. Who are some of the well-known Accredited Specialists in Immigration Law?

Immigration accredited specialists are not known for “big noting” themselves. All of the puffer fish in our industry tend to be wannabes. There are a few people who have given a lot to the profession. Notably:

Chris Levingston – a 25 yr specialist and President of Migration Alliance, a peak body association for immigration practitioners
Peter Papadopoulos – Advisory Committee Chair – the Migration Agents Capstone Assessment (an examination migration agents are required to pass before being able to practice)
David Prince – KP Law and Immigration Law Review
Mary Crock – Professor of Law (University of Sydney)
Peter Bollard – Author of the Immigration Kit, trainer and author of the premier newsletter for registered migration agents
Rodger Fernandez – President of Law Council Victoria, Victoria University Professor and author of the Australian Migration Legislation Collection

4. When a migration agent is sanctioned, why are they required to undertake private tuition with an Accredited Specialist in Immigration Law?

As experts in their field, and lawyers of the highest calibre, they are often tasked to teach and assist other legal practitioners. It therefore makes sense to have them assist other migration professionals in areas of weakness (typically related to ethical breaches and lack of understanding of the code of conduct.