KUALA LUMPUR: Several lawyers have dismissed Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department's (CCID) recommendation for law firms to establish a trust account jointly controlled by lawyers and their clients to axe the rise of criminal breach of trust (CBT) cases.
Lawyer Dinesh Muthal described the recommendation as ridiculous, impractical and not feasible as it would only be workable for law firms with two to three clients.
"Imagine a company that is doing only property matters with multiple developments, how many accounts do you expect them to open? Same goes for the law firm and who is going to monitor all of it?
"Do you want a lawyer to be busy doing their actual work or busy managing the accounts? It does not make sense and it will be an extra burden," he said.
Dinesh said he was all for transparency and that there are better ways to curb the rise of such cases with stricter laws and stringent punishments.
"Do not consider only removing a lawyer's licence, but increase the level of punishment, and the Bar Council must have zero tolerance on the appeal.
"CBT cases occur as clients are unaware of timelines and the movement of their monies deposited in the trust accounts.
"The Bar Council should come up with proper and stringent standard operating procedures as guidance for the law firm as well as the client, who would be aware of what is happening," he added.
However, he said a client's due diligence and awareness was far more important as for property-related matters, they would go to law firms that are recommended by developers and banks.
To this, he said clients cannot rely on mere recommendations, but must check on a law firm, its years of establishment, and choose one that the firm trusts.
Echoing Dinesh was lawyer Datuk Theng Book, who said it is senseless to put a blanket recommendation on all law firms because of some bad apples.
The police, he said, should clamp down on lawyers who commit CBT and prosecute them.
"Asking lawyers and their clients to set up joint trust accounts is a very bad idea.
"If a lawyer commits a crime, it is the duty of the police to go after him or her and for the Bar Council to act against him or her ," he said.
He said it was the client's responsibility to find a trusted law firm and they should ideally avoid those with sole proprietorship for transparency.
"They should engage reputable, established law firms with two to three partners for the sake of check and balance to safeguard themselves. There is no shortcut to this," he said.
CCID director Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf had said having joint trust account could eliminate CBT cases involving lawyers and their clients.
He said this after the Association of Real Estate Lawyers advised the public to check the lawyers' background before entrusting them to handle their assets to avoid becoming a victim of fraud.