I have recently visited a number of law firm throughout NSW and have noticed that they currently do not operate a trust account. As they do not operate a fund account the practitioners are not preparing the necessary report to meet the requirements of the Uniform General Rules and Uniform Law.
If the law firm has a computerised practice management system, they are required under the Legal Profession Uniform General Rules 2015 and the Legal Profession Uniform Law (Part 4.6 section 93) to produce a register of files opened. Most computerised system approved by the Law Society of NSW have this report available, but you need to end an end of month processing to produce this report.
The Register of Files Opened must contain the following information:
- The full name and address of the person
- The date of receipt of the instructions
- A short description of the services which the law practice has agreed to provide (description of the matter)
- An identifier (matter number)
For users of the LEAP product, you would be required to run an end of month processing via the trust account (please note – If you do not have a trust account you still need to produce this report)
- Select Reports from the main LEAP screen
- Select Open report window
- Select Trust Account Reports
- Select Trust End of Month
- Select Trust General
- Run the end of month.
If you have any questions or require assistance or training on LEAP please contact Caroline Kessler from Legal Practice Management Consultants via email – Caroline@lpmc.net.au or visit www.lpmc.net.au.