SOLICITORS' TRUST ACCOUNTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 1, 20 May 1914, Page 4

SOLICITORS' TRUST ACCOUNTS.

, The number oi members of the legal profession that have "gone wrong'" during fc'lie past year or so is little short of remarkable, and it is not surprising, therefore, to find the question of safeguarding the funds placed in trust with solicitors exercising the minds of a good many people. ]t has been suggested that all solicitors' trust accounts shoilhl be subjected to regular audit by a Government official in the same way as are the accounts of local bodies, but fin annual audit would, in our opinion, not I prevent a dishonest lawyer' from victimising a client, any more than it prevents a dishonest loc;il body official from enriching himself at the expense of rate-

payors. It is also suggested wiat .the difficulty could be overcome hy the creation of an insurance fund by the solicitors practising in the Dominion. Dis- V cussing this suggestion, the Feilding Star offers the following comment:— There are, in round numbers, 1000 members of the legal profession at work in tiho Dominion, and if .these were asked to contribute £lO each per annum to suoh a fund, it would soon reach sufficiently largo proportions to safeguard clients against all possible defaulters. In favour of this scheme, which is already in operation in banking institutions and in Government departments, it is pointed out that it would not encourage lawyers' to wink at questionable practices on the part of brother members of the profession, but would, on the other hand, tend to keep them all up to right methods. Of course, suoh a scheme would not prevent dishonesty; but, then, neither would any system of audit. Any proposal made is bound to have weak points about it, and the task before thoso who have the matter in hand is to find the best means of p'rottectuig clients against the dishonest and disgraceful practitioner. If an annual fee of £lO were imposed, in less than a decade the accumulated fund, with interest accruing, would total £IOO,OOO. This would be sufficiently large to cover any losses which a defaulting solicitor might make, and the payments could then bo reduced. •