Law Practice Trust Account
Our law practice maintains a trust account that’s available for your use upon request. Once you’ve made a deposit, we’ll send you the payment details and provide you with an official trust account receipt.
Law practice trust accounting
All funds entrusted to our law practice during the course of providing legal services must be paid into our general trust account. Our trust account undergoes yearly audits and occasional deep audits. We retain all records for a minimum of seven years. Confidence in our trust account arrangements are backed by The Legal Practitioners’ Fidelity Guarantee Fund, which is administered by the Queensland Law Society.
Hacker warning
Computer hackers are known to impersonate lawyers (and their websites) to fraudulently intercept electronic funds transfers. You might want to telephone us or otherwise independently verify our trust account details. Please follow our ‘6 rules to avoid being hacked’.
If you’re transferring money to our trust account for the first time, or if you’re transferring a large amount (particularly over $10,000), then you absolutely must not rely on any website or communication from us (or anyone else) without independently verifying the details first. How can you do this? You might telephone us on a number you know separately, ensuring you recognise our voice, or by asking questions only we would know the answers to. Another effective way to verify our authenticity is to search online for ‘find a solicitor in Queensland’ or check directly with the e Queensland Law Society.
Practical Banking Tip: After making an electronic funds transfer to our trust account, save us as a payee with your bank. This simple step will make any future transfers much easier and more secure..
Clearance delays
Funds must ‘clear’ in the trust account before they can be drawn upon. The time it takes for funds to clear depends on the banks involved and the type of deposit payment. Most cheques clear within 3 working days but they can take up to a week. In Queensland, where it is common for ‘time to be of the essence’, even minor transaction delays caused by late clearance of funds are a relatively high risk cause of unexpected contract terminations and damages claims.
Verification of identity
Before you put money into our trust account, please examine whether you are able to prove your identity. If you are unable to prove your identity problems may arise for you as a result of ethical or legal obligations we have not to facilitate money laundering and the like. To quickly check you are able to prove your identity please complete our short Verification of Identity questionnaire.