Some reasons you may want to cancel your practising certificate include:

• your role has changed and you no longer provide legal advice to clients or your employer;
• you have retired, or taken up work not involving legal services;
• you’re taking an extended break from legal practice, including going on sabbatical or maternity leave;
• you gave an undertaking to VCAT, or to us, to stop practising.

Please let us know that you would like to cancel your certificate using the lawyer enquiry form. Select 'Practising certificate' and 'Apply for, modify or cancel my practising certificate' as the category. Once we cancel your certificate, you will no longer need to complete CPD or hold insurance. During practising certificate renewal period it can take several weeks for us to action these requests. 

Depending on your reasons for surrendering your certificate, you may be able to apply for a new practising certificate at a later date. 

Closing a practice

If you are a sole practitioner of a law practice and intend to close your practice, there are a number of other steps you should take. Please see our Closing a law practice page.