Notice · Trust accounting & handling client money
Client notice: our bank details will never change by email (payment fraud and deepfake warning)
A short, plain-English notice for clients that the firm's bank details will never change by email, how to verify before paying, how the firm will verify the client's details before paying them, a warning about AI-cloned voices and fake video calls, and what to do if something goes wrong.
- Kind
- Notice. A formal notice to serve or publish.
- Where it applies
- Australia
- AI use
- Yellow AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at
- 17 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 17 October 2026 against the 3 authorities it cites, for Australia.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Send with the engagement letter, repeat before any large payment (deposits, settlements, distributions), and use the short versions in email footers and text messages. It reduces risk but does not replace the firm's own verification protocol.
How AI may be used
AI may help adapt the notice to the matter type, plain-English level or language. A lawyer checks the bank details, phone numbers and processes described are correct before it is sent.
AI may
- Adapt the wording to the client's matter type and reading level.
- Produce translations for review by a qualified translator.
AI must not
- Must not insert or alter bank details or phone numbers; these are copied from the verified firm record by a person.
- Must not send the notice or personalise it with client data in an unapproved tool.
The lawyer checks
- Bank details and phone numbers match the firm's verified records.
- The process described matches the firm's payment verification protocol.
- Translations were checked by a qualified translator.
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
The full text is for signed-in accounts. It is free. When you sign in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Trust accounting & handling client money
- Client authority to withdraw trust money for legal costs, with notice of withdrawal and pre-transfer checklist (Uniform Law)
- Payment-redirection and deepfake call-back verification protocol for trust disbursements
- Review checklist for AI-assisted monthly trust reconciliation (Uniform General Rules r 48)
- Controls standard: AI tools and trust records (read-only access, no payment functions, audit trail)
All precedents for Trust accounting & handling client money · Tasks and AI use in this area