Receipt & transfer of costs

Money received or held in respect of unbilled fees or disbursements

There is a formal definition of client money. This includes money you hold or receive in respect of your fees and any unpaid disbursements if held or received before delivering a bill for the same.

The SRA expands on this definition in separate guidance: ‘client money is money of any currency that is received and held as cash, cheque, draft or electronic transfer by a firm when they are providing legal services’. Examples include money for the firm’s fees, and any unpaid expert fees, that have been received before a bill has been sent to the client for those fees.

If money held or received in respect of unpaid disbursements is client money, it follows that money held or received in respect of paid disbursements is office money.

The general rule is that client