The Law Society would like to assist lawyers and law firms during this uncertain time by extending the Trust Safety annual filing deadline. Firms will now have until April 30 to submit their annual reports to Trust Safety.

A reminder that opportunities for fraud/theft historically have arisen in times like this. It is more important than ever before to provide rigorous and consistent oversight of the trust funds in your care. We encourage all firms to review their processes to ensure that the appropriate amount of oversight is taking place. For example: performing bank reconciliations pursuant to Rule 119.36 more frequently helps identify mistakes, track problematic transactions and identify fraud or accounting errors

As a Responsible Lawyer, a commitment to embracing, implementing and practicing strong internal controls is integral to ensuring the protection of trust funds in your care. Fraud risk assessment, management and response, continue to be a high priority for Trust Safety and we will be reviewing our risk assessment tools regularly to ensure that there are no gaps in our risk assessment procedures. Click here for proactive measures and tips you can take now to reduce the risk of theft in your practice.

Questions? Please contact Trust Safety via email. We are here to help.