The duty in context
Account for interest on client money money
The lawyer must account to the client (or third party) for a fair sum of interest earned on client money held, above any regulatory threshold.
How the codes express this duty
E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code SAR Rule 7.1 strong 69 cases
7.1 You account to clients or third parties for a fair sum of interest on any client money held by you on their behalf.
Solicitors Accounts Rules · 2019 · archived copy · official source ↗
E&W Barristers BSB Handbook no clear equivalent
Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 no clear equivalent
AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules no clear equivalent
AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules no clear equivalent
IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch10 — Interest on client monies strong 21 cases
A solicitor must account to a client for interest earned and/or charged on the client's monies where the amount of interest earned exceeds the amount specified by regulation.
Solicitor's Guide to Professional Conduct (Law Society of Ireland) · 4th ed. (2022) · archived copy · official source ↗
IE Barristers Bar Code of Conduct no clear equivalent
JM Attorneys Canons of Professional Ethics no clear equivalent
JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code no clear equivalent
ON Lawyers LSO Rules of Prof. Conduct no clear equivalent
BC Lawyers BC Code no clear equivalent
NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules no clear equivalent
SCO Solicitors LSS Standards of Conduct no clear equivalent
SG Lawyers Professional Conduct Rules 2015 no clear equivalent
HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide Principle 7.04 Commentary partial
This Principle also applies to the receipt by a solicitor of, for example, interest on client accounts, commissions received from insurance companies and agents and from stock brokers and from estate agents.
Hong Kong Solicitors' Guide to Professional Conduct (Volume 1) · current · archived copy · official source ↗
HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct no clear equivalent
Cases dealing with this duty
94 decisions · link basis: found breached = a tribunal finding; rule cited = the mapped provision is cited in the decision; text match = high-precision text pattern
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Elizabeth Jane Radcliffe
Breaches, Client Money, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2019, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Respondent AM
Code of Conduct 2011, Code of Conduct for Firms 2019, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2011, SRA Authorisation Rules, SRA Principles 2019
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Amir Nazir Butt
Breaches, Client Money, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Lack of Integrity, Misappropriation of Client Account, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2011, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Law and Lawyers Limited; Francis Mathew
Breaches, Code of Conduct 2011, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2019
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Paul Michael Ireland
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Firms 2019, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2011, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2019, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Bhavani Rajaya Laxmi Hogarty, Maeve Teresa Vickery
Breaches, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
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Guy Andrew Adams
Code of Conduct 2011, Dishonesty, Lack of Integrity, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2011, SRA Principles 2011
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Michael Shane Dugas
Rule 3-7.1 Consent Agreement
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Samantha Anne Lee
Lack of Integrity, Misappropriation of Client Account, Recklessness, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2011, SRA Authorisation Rules, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Henry Charles Adrian Syms
Lack of Integrity, Misappropriation of Client Account, Recklessness, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2011, SRA Authorisation Rules, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Respondent AD
Breaches, Client Money, Failures, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
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Christopher James Fry
Breaches, Failures
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Andrew Stevenson & Janet Stevenson
Breaches, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
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Christopher Michael Bilmes
Breaches, Client Money, Failures, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
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Ian Caunt Wilson
Breaches, Failures
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Edward Richard Foster & Robert James Newman & Rashpal Kaur
Breaches, Client Money, Failures, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
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Patrick McGonagle
In the matter of Patrick McGonagle, a solicitor previously practising as McGonagle Solicitors, 1 Main Street, Dundrum, Dublin 14, and in the matter of the Solicitors Acts 1954-2015 [2020/DT03 and High Court record 2022 …
strike_off View decision -
Robyn Moira Lynch
Breaches, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
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Mohammed Arshad Amin
Breaches, Failures, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
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David Johnson
Breaches, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
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Sam Themis
Breaches, Client Money, Failures, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
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Kathleen Doocey
In the matter of Kathleen Doocey, a solicitor practising as KM Doocey Solicitors at American Street, Belmullet, Co Mayo, and in the matter of the Solicitors Acts 1954-2015 [2018/DT83 and High Court 2020 no 40 SA] Law So…
strike_off View decision -
Roger Brian Allanson
Breaches, Failures, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
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Karamjeet Kaur
Breaches, Client Money, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
Duty classification does not yet cover every jurisdiction (Ontario, New Zealand and Singapore decisions are indexed but not yet duty-classified), so counts here understate those corpora.