On Trust Shortages: Should a Firm Fire Its Bank?

So we get a little intense in our trust accounting class when we talk about why law firms love banks. Or not. All those mistakes they make, despite what firm staff do from writing instructions to calling in advance, trust account instructions seem to fall on deaf ears. Errors continue to occur.

A week after presenting Trust Accounting 101, I was invited by the administrator of a small firm to talk about their human resources needs (Law Courts Center has begun helping firms recruit staff.) But before we could get into that conversation. my host just had to vent. A little.

Her trust account person had gone on her holidays, and so she took over operating the trust accounts. In a span of a week, her bank made two errors. Exasperated she said: "What a huge waste of time!"

She bemoaned their inability to pick up the phone to call someone in their branch because the bank recently moved their client services to Toronto. (Years ago, a branch manager told me that the most expensive part of banking is having a branch, and long bank hours are costly.)

The law firm has been doing business with their bank for decades; and despite the continuous bank fees increases, the service levels keep declining, they just put up with it. I suggested cutting the umbilical cord. My host replied: "Our managing partner won't go for it!"

First, let me address the Division 7 matter. As trust funds are the clients money, every penny must be accounted for.
So I asked LSBC Trust Assurance Audit Team Leader Tina Kaminski , one of our co-instructors, these 3 questions.

1. What happens to all the letters that you get from a firm that reports a Division 7 error?
2. Has a firm ever been penalized because they have too much, even if a significant portion of the errors were caused by their bank?
3. Would it best in the firm's best interest to switch to another bank?

To read the rest, go here.

If you want to learn more, consider joining us for:

• Trust Accounting 101 December 15, 2016 in-person or by web.
• Human Resources for Firms November 7, 2016
• Law Office Management 101 December 12, 2016
• Business of Law 201 December 13, 2016

CPD: 7.0 including 7.0 for practice management and ethics.
Notable firm management and trust accounting resources and webinars here.

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