Proceeds of crime
Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office v Allad [2008] EWCA Crim 1741, [2008] All ER (D) 407 (Jul)
The defendant had monies on account totalling £5,000. A restraint order was made against their client’s assets and the question arose as to whether or not the defendant was entitled to the £5,000 on account of the fact that at the time the restraint order was made their fees were already in excess of that amount. It was held that the defendant was entitled to the monies.
If the monies had not been held on account of costs in client account the situation would have been different and the defendant would simply have become a creditor. It is a reminder to all solicitors to ensure monies are obtained on account, but that does raise problems for some firms who do not have a client account (common for criminal firms), those firms therefore do this type of work at great risk.
