What is a lawyer’s duty to maintain a trust account for a client who has had his own funds frozen by a court or tribunal?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from McCandless (Re), 2010 LSBC 3 (CanLII):

A lawyer’s underlying duty is laid out in Law Society of Upper Canada v. McKerrow, [2002] L.S.D.D. No. 61. That panel wrote: The professional misconduct in this case is a serious matter. Lawyers who operate trust accounts undertake concomitant duties. They must be vigilant to ensure that they do not use their trust accounts to assist unscrupulous clients. They must exercise great caution and skepticism. It should be obvious to any lawyer that it is inappropriate to use his or her trust account as a means to facilitate transactions for a client whose own accounts have been frozen by the order of a court or tribunal. …

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