The Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson has said they are looking at whether solicitors still need to have client accounts and what other options could be available.
Speaking at the Solicitors’ Association of Higher Court Advocates annual conference on Saturday he said: “We’ll have to look at whether solicitors need to have client accounts”.
Holding client money adds to regulatory risk and therefore increases the cost of regulation.
Mr Hudson said he acknowledged that these costs need to be reduced to allow solicitors to compete in the changing legal and regulatory marketplace.
He said that in the past the client account was needed due to the lack of sophisticated banking systems but that times had changed.
The Bar Council has developed a scheme to allow barristers to hold client money through a third-party escrow account, allowing barristers to offer a full range of legal services without breaching their code of conduct.
Hudson praised the scheme, which he said would give the bar an advantage, but warned it may not be a simple fix.
