The Law Society is now receiving telephone calls and emails from solicitors on a daily basis expressing concern about the situation at Ulster Bank.

Many solicitors are concerned that their inability to access their accounts is infringing on their ability to act for their clients and to manage their bank accounts. The Law Society calls on Ulster Bank to act quickly to resolve this situation which is of increasing concern to the profession and to the public. 

Solicitors are reminded that whilst withdrawing money against an uncleared cheque is not recommended by the Law Society, to do so is not a breach of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations. The Law Society is on notice that, subject to conditions, Ulster Bank will undertake to reimburse solicitors in the event that moneys are paid out from the client account to complete residential conveyancing transactions and other client account transactions if it subsequently emerges that the funds against which the payment has been made have not been received into the client account. Among the conditions are a requirement that the solicitor confirms that other than not being able to check the bank’s systems, the solicitor is satisfied that the moneys have been paid to the solicitor. Solicitors are advised to consider carefully all the conditions attaching to that undertaking and to obtain as much documentary evidence as they can obtain from other parties to the transaction that the funds have been paid into the client account, in particular copies of cheques or drafts lodged and, if possible, confirmation from the third party that their bank account has been debited with the amounts drawn.

If a solicitor does withdraw monies from the client account, and the cheque against which the withdrawal was made is not honoured, and the amount drawn is in excess of the amount held for that particular client, then the solicitor will have used other clients’ moneys to make that payment. If such circumstances occur the solicitor must repay the client account from his or her own resources. The Law Society cannot allow a solicitor to continue in practice if there is a deficit on the client account.

A solicitor should be able to maintain proper books of account to the standard required by the Solicitors Accounts Regulations without reference to the bank statements. However, the Law Society recognises that many solicitors use the bank statements to identify electronic transfers and other transactions. Solicitors should continue to reconcile their bank accounts regularly by reference to the most recent reliable statement received from Ulster Bank. Cheques and lodgements which cannot be reconciled to the bank statement should be recorded as outstanding until such time as the Ulster Bank provides an up-to-date reliable bank statement.

It is open to a solicitor to open client accounts with another bank pending resolution of the problems at Ulster Bank.

Where a solicitor continues to lodge moneys to an Ulster Bank account, it is recommended that the solicitor obtain documentary evidence from Ulster Bank of the lodgement of those moneys in order that any query that may arise in the future can be resolved. 

Enquiries to:

Law Society Regulation Department, Financial Regulation Section

Tel: 01 879 8700, email: regulation@lawsociety.ie