Members registered on the EU-list are not only subject to rules of their home bar, but also to the same ethical and professional rules as the Flemish lawyers registered on the Tableau (double deontology).
Download the compiled Codex OVB – Codex NOAB 2015-2016 here.
The Flemish ethical code (art. 130) obliges every lawyer to have at least a third party account registered in his/her own name or in the name of the law firm where he /she is practicing. This account must be used to pay and receive sums on behalf of clients other than lawyer fees and expenses.
Third party accounts can be opened at any bank that concluded an agreement therefore with the Brussels Bar or the OVB (Orde van Vlaamse Balies). The agreement provides that the accounts will not earn any interest and that the Dean of the Bar is entitled to inspect the accounts and the movements thereon.
Moreover, the number of the third party account should be mentioned among the contact details of the lawyer concerned on the website of the OVB (www.advocaat.be).
Each year in January each lawyer should file a report on his third party account.
A manual in English on third party account reporting can be found under this link.
