Rule 10 Legal Practitioners’ Accounts Rules 1964

Rule 10 of the Legal Practitioners’ Accounts Rules 1964 is under Part II (Client accounts). It provides as follows:

(1) Every legal practitioner shall at all time keep properly written up such books and accounts as may by necessary:

(a) To show all his dealings with:
(i) Client’s money held, received or paid by him, and
(ii) Any other money dealt with by him through a client account, and

(b) To distinguish such money held, received or paid by him on account of such separate client and to distinguish such money from other money held, received or paid by him on any other account.

(2) (a) All dealings referred to in paragraph (1) of this Rule shall be recorded in:
(i) a clients’ cash book, or a clients’ column on the credit or debit side (as may be appropriate) of a cash book, and

(ii) a clients’ ledger, or a clients’ column on the credit side or debit side (as may be appropriate) of a ledger, and no other dealings shall be recorded in such clients’ cash book and ledger. or, as the case may be, in such clients’ columns, and

(b) all dealings of the legal practitioner relating to his practice as a solicitor other than those referred to in paragraph (I) (a) of this Rule shall (subject to compliance with the provisions of Part III of these Rules) he recorded (as may be appropriate) in such (if any) other columns of a cash book and ledger as the legal practitioner may choose to maintain.

(3) In addition to the books and accounts referred to in paragraph (2) of this Rule, every legal practitioner shall keep a record of all bills of costs (distinguishing between profit costs and disbursements) and of all written intimations under Rule 7 (a) (iv) of these Rules delivered by the legal practitioner to his clients, which record shall be contained in a bills delivered book or a file of copies of such bills and intimations.

(4) In this Rule each of the expressions ‘book’, ‘ledger’ and ‘record’ shall be deemed to include a loose-leaf book and such cards or other permanent documents as are necessary for the operation of a mechanical system of book-keeping.

(5) Every legal practitioner shall preserve for at least six years from the date of the last entry therein all books, accounts and records kept by him under this Rule.