Trust Accounting – Mistakes That Can Become Disciplinary Action

Trust accounting remains one of the most heavily regulated aspects of legal practice, and even minor errors can result in disciplinary action, regulatory investigations, financial penalties and reputational damage. While many breaches arise from oversight rather than dishonesty, legal practitioners are ultimately responsible for ensuring client money is managed in accordance with their professional and statutory obligations. 

This seminar will cover: 

• The trust accounting errors most commonly identified by regulators.  
• Understanding a practitioner's professional responsibilities for handling and disbursement of trust money. 
• Common compliance failures involving trust receipts, withdrawals, reconciliations, record keeping and authorisations. 
• Supervision obligations, delegation risks and maintaining effective internal controls within legal practices. 
• Recognising red flags for trust account fraud, cyber scams and misappropriation of client funds. 
• Lessons from recent disciplinary decisions - including professional and regulatory consequences of trust accounting breaches.