Solicitors Accounts Rule 2

• the period for which the accounts of the solicitor are ordinarily made up, except that it must:
• (a) begin at the end of the previous accounting period; and
• (b) cover twelve months.

one that is fixed - not a fee that can be varied upwards, nor a fee that is dependent on the transaction being completed

Any body listed as an approved regulator in paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 to the Legal Services Act 2007 (whether or not that paragraph has been brought into force), or designated as an approved regulator by an order under paragraph 17 of that Schedule

a firm which is not authorised to practise by the SRA but is authorised to practise by another approved regulator

meaning given in section 87(1) of the Solicitors Act 1974

a building society within the meaning of the Building Societies Act 1986

The person for whom a solicitor acts

an account of a practice kept at a bank or building society for holding client money

A client account must be at a bank or building society's branch in England and Wales - note ii

See rule 13

A solicitors fees and disbursements

includes a deputy who was appointed by the Court of Protection as a receiver under the Mental Health Act 1983 before the commencement day of the Mental Capacity Act 2005;

Any sum spent or to be spent by a solicitor on behalf of the client or trust (including any VAT element);

the solicitor's own charges or profit costs (including any VAT element)

a sole practitioner, partnership, LLP or company operating as a legal practice

includes a barrister, notary, legal executive, licensed conveyancer, patent agent, trade mark agent or costs draftsman

limited liability partnership incorporated under the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000

• a partner in a partnership;
• a member of an LLP; or
• a director of a company

• a sole practitioner;
• a partner in a partnership;
• in the case of a recognised body which is an LLP or company, the recognised body itself;
• the principal solicitor of the Supreme Court or registered European lawyer (or any one of them employed by a non-solicitor employer (for example, in a law centre or in commerce and industry);

the fees of counsel or other lawyer, or of a professional or other agent or expert instructed by the solicitor;

The fees of interpreters, translators, process servers, surveyors,estate agents, etc., instructed by the solicitor are professionaldisbursements (see rule 2(2)(s)). Travel agents' charges are not professional disbursements - note v

a partnership, company or LLP recognised by the SRA under section 9 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985

a solicitor of the Supreme Court or registered European lawyer authorised by the SRA under section 1B of the Solicitors Act 1974 to practise as a sole practitioner

a person registered by the SRA under regulation 17 of the European Communities (Lawyer’s Practice) Regulations 2000

a person registered by the SRA under section 89 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990

• includes a personal representative (i.e. an executor or an
• administrator), and "trust" includes the duties of a personal
• representative

either on the day of receipt or on the next working day