Rule 9 Legal Practitioners’ Accounts Rules 1964

Rule 9 of the Legal Practitioners’ Accounts Rules 1964 is under Part II (Client accounts). It provides as follows:

(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of these Rules, a legal practitioner shall not be under obligation to pay into a client account client’s money held or received by him:

(a) which is received by him in the from of cash and is without delay paid in cash in the ordinary course of business to the client or a third party; or

(b) which is received by him in the form of a cheque or draft which is endorsed over in the ordinary course of business to the client or a third party and is not passed by the legal practitioner through a bank account; or
(c) which he pays into a separate banking account opened or to be opened in the name of the client or of some person named by the client.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of these Rules, a legal practitioner shall not pay into a client account client’s money held or received by him:

(a) which the client for his own convenience by notification in writing requests the legal practitioner to withhold from such account; or
(b) which is received by him for or towards payment of a debt due to the legal practitioner from the client which debt the client has acknowledged in writing or in reimbursement of money expended by the legal practitioner on behalf of the client particulars of which have been notified in writing to the client; or

(c) which is paid to him expressly on account of costs incurred, in respect of which a bill of costs or other written intimation of the amount of the costs has been delivered, or as an agreed fee, or an account of an agreed fee, for business undertaken or to be undertaken.

(3) Where a cheque or draft includes other client’s money as well as client’s money of the nature described in sub-rule (2) of this Rule such cheque or draft shall be dealt with in accordance with Rule 5 of these Rules.

(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of these Rules the Bar Council may upon an application made to them by a legal practitioner specifically authorise him in writing to withhold any client’s money from a client account.