Trust Accounting & Safety - Law Society of Alberta

Home
Resource Centre
Key Resources
Trust Accounting & Safety

Ensuring your trust accounting and safety practices are in accordance with the Law Society's Rules and best practices is important in ensuring the public's confidence in the security of their trust funds.

Resource	Summary
Disbursing the Undisbursable: What to Do with Unclaimed Trust Funds	Law firms occasionally hold trust funds for extended periods of time when they cannot locate the clients or other parties to whom the funds belong. What can you do in this case?
Employee Theft on the Rise: Are You At Risk?	Employee theft exposes lawyers and law firms to personal financial risk.
Trust Bank Reconciliations	How to review a trust bank reconciliation: trust bank balances, client trust listings and trust journals.
Prescribed Financial Records	This resource is meant to assist lawyers to understand their obligations in relation to prescribed financial records.
Top Ten Tips: Financial Records Management	You must do a reconciliation of your trust and general accounts by the end of the following month even if you have no balance in either account.
Trust Misappropriation: Your Ounce of Prevention	The bad news is that anyone can be a victim of fraud or theft. The good news is that there is much we can do to minimize the severity, duration and impact of loss.
Trust Safety Rules Modernization Cross Reference Tables	Guide Cross-Referencing the old Trust Safety rules with the rules adopted as of Jan. 1, 2022.
Trust Shortage and Reporting	The Rules, how to report a shortage and next steps.
Your Role as a Responsible Lawyer	As a Responsible Lawyer, you are responsible for all trust money and property received from a client. This document outlines some of your trust safety responsibilities, at a glance.

*Educational resources in this section are intended for the legal profession as an aid and are not intended to constitute legal or other professional advice. Readers must exercise their professional judgment about the accuracy, utility and applicability of the material. The Law Society of Alberta and Alberta Lawyers Indemnity Association (ALIA) accept no responsibility for any errors or omissions in any resource. If you find any information that is unclear, inaccurate or outdated, please send an email with details to Education.

Any information pertaining to the ALIA Group Policy contained in any resource is provided for information purposes only. The Group Policy contains other terms and conditions that may affect coverage. Subscribers to the Group Policy should always review the Group Policy, to confirm their obligations in any circumstance.

Any third-party resources are suggested for information and reference only. The Law Society and ALIA are not responsible for the accuracy, content or information contained in these sites. Views expressed in these resources are the views of the authors individually and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Law Society or ALIA.