legal trust account care and feeding with dan mills of the d.c. bar
TRANSCRIPT
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Trust Account Care and Feeding
Daniel M. Mills, Esq.Manager, Practice Management Advisory Service
District of Columbia [email protected]
Sponsored by Rocket Matter, LLCApril 22, 2010
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The basics.Keeping records.FAQ’s.Your questions.How Rocket Matter handles Trust Accounting.
TOPICS
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It starts with the fee agreement and Model Rule
1.5(b)
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Is based in Model Rule 1.15 & Safe
Keeping of Property
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Basic concept: Keep our property separate from the
property of the client or third party
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Operating Trust
Funds must be kept in a separate
account
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Client provides advanced fees which are deposited into trust until work is performed
billed in adherence to fee agreement
Advanced Fees
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Every jurisdiction has its rule about maintaining the lawyer’s trust
account
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Every jurisdiction has a variation of
IOLTA Interest on Lawyer
Trust Account
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Complete records of the trust account must be
maintained and
preserved.
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Be able to show the history of the trust account with records from three views: client
third partyoverall account
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What goes into the trust account?
Trust
?
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What comes out of the trust account?
Trust
?
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When can we put our own money into the trust
account?
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Can we ever withdraw cash from the trust
account?
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The settlement check just arrived.
What do I do?
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My clients are arguing over the proceeds of the
sale. What do I do?
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My client disputes part of my
statement but not all of it.
What should I do?
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Can a client waive having funds go
into the trust account?
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DEMO