HR Software for Law Firms

Sentrient's HR software for law firms is an all-in-one platform that manages onboarding, credential records, legally endorsed compliance training, policy acknowledgements, performance reviews and incident reporting for lawyers and support staff. Practising certificate expiry dates and training completions sit in one record with reminders before renewals fall due, so the firm can evidence its obligations without spreadsheets.

Yes. Sentrient is built and supported in Australia, and our compliance courses are developed with Mills Oakley in Australia and Simpson Grierson in New Zealand and kept up to date with current legislation. Law firms such as Mills Oakley and Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick use Sentrient, and our support team works in Australian business hours.

Most Australian law firms run a practice management system for matters, time and billing, a payroll platform, and an HR system for people records, onboarding, training and performance. Smaller firms often replace the HR layer with spreadsheets, a certificate watchlist and email reminders. Sentrient replaces that layer with one platform that keeps records, training and policies together and reportable.

Sentrient is not a legal practice management system, so it does not handle matters, billable time, trust accounting or document assembly, and it does not run payroll, interpret awards or calculate CPD points. It sits beside tools such as LEAP, Smokeball, Clio or Actionstep and your payroll platform as the HR and compliance layer, holding people records, training, policies and performance.

Yes. Store each lawyer's practising certificate details, issuing body and expiry date, with automated reminders before the 30 June renewal in Uniform Law states or the date that applies elsewhere. CPD activity records and evidence can be kept against each lawyer for the three years the CPD rules require. Sentrient stores and reminds, and each solicitor remains responsible for renewal and CPD compliance.

Set a reminder rule on the certificate record so the lawyer, their supervising partner and the practice manager are notified in the weeks before expiry, and run a report each April of every certificate due on 30 June. Practising without a current certificate is an offence under section 10 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law, so the firm remains responsible for checking that renewals are lodged.

In NSW, Victoria and Western Australia the Legal Profession Uniform Law and its Uniform Rules govern practising certificates, CPD, supervised legal practice and conduct, administered by the Law Society of NSW, VLSB+C and the Legal Practice Board of WA. Other states have their own Legal Profession Acts. Sentrient helps you keep the records those bodies can ask for, and the firm remains responsible for compliance.

Sentrient lets you publish the firm's code of conduct, conflicts, privacy and respect at work policies, capture acknowledgements from every lawyer and staff member, and assign courses on sexual harassment prevention, workplace bullying and psychological health and safety. Under WHS laws a firm must manage psychosocial hazards such as high job demands and harassment, and Sentrient's incident reporting gives staff a way to raise them. The firm remains responsible for acting on reports.

Sentrient includes legally endorsed 15-minute courses that fit a law firm, including AML/CTF for Professional Services, Privacy, Conflicts of Interest, Anti-Bribery, Corruption and Fraud, Code of Conduct, Sexual Harassment Prevention, Workplace Bullying, Respect at Work, Psychological Health and Safety, Cyber Security and Work Health and Safety. Manager versions cover supervising partners. Courses are workplace compliance training and are not presented as accredited CPD units.

Yes. Set a course to recur every 12 months, or on the cycle your AML/CTF program or policies require, and Sentrient assigns it, sends reminders and records completion automatically. New starters receive their induction courses on day one. Reports show who is overdue by office or practice group, so the practice manager can chase before an audit rather than after. Course building for the firm’s own procedures, assessments and reporting by practice group are covered on our law firm LMS page.

Employment contracts, position descriptions, practising certificate copies and expiry dates, admission and qualification records, CPD activity records, supervised legal practice evidence, trust account authorisations, policy acknowledgements, training completions, performance reviews, incident reports and leave and attendance records. Documents are stored securely with access controls, and each record carries a date and user stamp for audit purposes. Practising certificates, memberships and CPD evidence that staff upload themselves, with validation and escalation, sit in our law firm compliance record register.

Run a report showing every lawyer's practising certificate status, CPD records, policy acknowledgements and training completions, then export it for the auditor. The Law Society of NSW gives 21 days to produce CPD records when a solicitor is selected for audit, and AUSTRAC requires most AML/CTF records, including training, to be kept for seven years. Sentrient keeps the evidence together, and the firm remains responsible for what it contains.

Yes. Staff can report incidents, hazards and near misses from a desktop or phone, including psychosocial hazards such as bullying, aggression from clients or unsafe workloads. Reports route to the right partner or manager, actions are tracked to closure, and a register is available for the firm's WHS committee. Sentrient records and tracks incidents, and the firm remains responsible for investigating and controlling them.

Most new starters complete their onboarding checklist before their first day. Sentrient sends the contract, collects practising certificate, admission and work rights details, presents the firm's policies for acknowledgement and assigns induction courses in one workflow. Mills Oakley uses Sentrient to onboard around ten new starters each month across seven offices.

Yes. Paralegals, legal secretaries, casual clerks, seasonal clerks and contractors each get a record, the policies and training that apply to their role, and the same reminders as permanent staff. Support staff covered by the Legal Services Award can have hours and leave recorded for payroll. Sentrient does not interpret the award, so pay rates stay with your payroll platform.

Yes. Set up offices and practice groups as locations and teams, give office managers and practice group leaders visibility of their own people, and report firm-wide from head office. Policy updates and training assignments go to every office at once, and dashboards show completion and credential status by location, so a Brisbane office lagging on renewals is visible in Sydney.

Turnover in law firms often follows unclear progression and uneven supervision. Sentrient gives associates documented goals, regular feedback and development plans, gives supervising partners a structured review process, and gives the firm data on where engagement is slipping by practice group. Consistent onboarding and a community wall that recognises admissions and wins also help people feel part of the firm.

Each lawyer has a supervising partner recorded in Sentrient who sets goals, gives feedback and completes reviews, and feedback from other partners can be recorded against the same review. For newly admitted lawyers, the supervision record supports the evidence needed when applying to lift the supervised legal practice condition. Development plans link to courses. The supervising partner remains responsible for the supervision itself.

Yes. Sentrient is web-based and works on desktop and mobile browsers, so a lawyer can complete a course, acknowledge a policy, submit a leave request or report an incident from a phone between hearings or from home. Managers approve requests and see reminders the same way. There is nothing to install and no separate app to maintain.

Sentrient combines HR and compliance in one platform, with courses developed with Mills Oakley, policy acknowledgement tracking, credential reminders and incident reporting alongside onboarding and performance. National firms such as Mills Oakley and specialist practices such as Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick already use it. Implementation is measured in weeks, and support is Australian.

Sentrient suits national firms with hundreds of staff across several offices, mid-sized commercial firms, boutique and specialist practices, and suburban firms with one office. Published clients include Mills Oakley, a national firm with 700+ staff across seven offices, and Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick, an intellectual property firm. Professional services firms such as E3 Advisory use it as well.

Implementation starts with importing your people, offices and practice groups, loading practising certificate and training records, and choosing the courses and policies each role receives. Our team configures reminder rules and reporting with your practice manager and supports you through onboarding. Sentrient integrates with the payroll and business platforms listed above, so existing systems stay in place.

Pricing depends on the number of people in your firm and the modules you need, such as training, policies, performance or incident reporting. We provide a tailored proposal after a short conversation about your offices, headcount and compliance requirements, so you pay for what the firm uses. Get in touch for a proposal.

Yes. Book a free 20-minute demo and we will walk through onboarding, credential reminders, compliance training and policy acknowledgements using a law firm example, and answer questions about your offices and practice groups. There is no commitment, and you can involve your practice manager or a partner in the session.