Client Trust Accounting Resources

The provided resources are organized into five categories: rules and statutes; publications and articles; forms; ethics opinions; and online videos. This webpage is not intended to be a comprehensive collection of client trust accounting resources.

Rules and statutes

These provisions relate to a lawyer's responsibilities in receiving, maintaining, and accounting for the funds of a client or a third party, including fees for legal services.

New Rules of Court 9.8.5: Client Trust Account Reporting Requirements
Rule of Professional Conduct 1.15 Safekeeping Funds and Property of Clients and Other Persons
Rule of Professional Conduct 1.4: Communication with Clients
State Bar Rule 2.5: Client Trust Account Protection Program Annual Reporting, Account Registration, and Self-Assessment Completetion Requirements

Business and Professions Code

Publications and articles

Client Trust Accounting Handbook

The trust accounting handbook is a practical guide created to assist attorneys to comply with recordkeeping standards for client trust accounts that went into effect January 1, 1993. The handbook includes:

A copy of the standards and statutes relating to an attorney's trust accounting requirements;
Information on the Client Trust Account Protection Program;
A step-by-step description of how to maintain a client trust accounts;
Index of selected cases and opinions by topic; and
Sample forms.

The Handbook on Client Trust Accounting for California Attorneys is only available online.

Articles

Don't Buy a Yacht with Client Trust Funds and Other Practical Reminders Concerning Client Funds and Property, LACBA Update, June 2018, Elizabeth Bradley
Troubling Survey Results, California Bar Journal, April 2016
Client Trust Accounting: What you don't know can hurt you, California Bar Journal, July 2015, Randall Difuntorum
How much do you know about Client Trust Accounting, California Bar Journal, June 2015, Laura Ernde
IOLTAs and Client Trust Accounts, ABA GP Solo Magazine, July 2011, Carole Buckner

Forms

Find forms for IOLTA

The following are forms and templates not published by the State Bar of California. These links are provided as research resources but are not approved by the State Bar.

Managing Your Client Trust Account: Where the Buck Stops, ABA Law Practice Magazine, Jan/Feb 2011, Sheila Blackford (includes links to form templates and samples).

Ethics opinions

The following are State Bar and local California bar association ethics opinions relating to trust accounts:

CAL 1975-36: Ethical responsibilities involved in preserving the identity of trust account funds
CAL 1988-97: Lay signatory on the client trust account?
CAL 2002-159: Loan funds in an escrow account for legal fees
CAL 2005-169: Overdraft protection on client trust accounts
CAL 2006-171: Return withdrawn funds to the client trust account when client disputes the fee
CAL 2007-172: Accepting credit card payments from a client
CAL 2008-175: Client instructions regarding prior attorney's lien
CAL 2009-177: Ethical obligations in enforcing charging liens
CAL 2013-187: Third party payors
LA 454 (1988): Ethical Responsibilities to Third Parties in Handling Trust Accounts
LA 484 (1995): Commingling of Client Trust Account Funds - no longer available on the LACBA website
LA 485 (1995): Client trust accounts - no longer available on the LACBA website
SF 1970-3: Use of Trustee Savings Account
SF 1973-14: Placement of Refundable Portion of Advance Fee
SF 1974-3: Confidentiality of Source of Funds
SF 1980-1: Placement of "Flat" or "Fixed"

Online audio and video resources

The following are online audio and video resources related to client trust accounting. Some are free informational videos from various sources and others are MCLE programs that can be found on the State Bar Sections CLE catalog.

Informational videos

State Bar of California

Introducing the Client Trust Account Protection Program
10-Minute Mentor Video: Understanding Attorney Client Trust Accounts, California Young Lawyers Association, State Bar of California, Speaker: Robert Hawley

Out-of-State

Trust Account Basics, Colorado Bar Association

MCLE

Understanding Attorney Client Trust Accounts, Legal Services Trust Fund (Annual Meeting 2013)
Client Trust Accounts: Understanding the Ins and Outs, Legal Services Trust Fund Program/ Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services (Annual Meeting 2011)
Client Trust Accounting, Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct (Annual Meeting 2011)
Keeping Your Client Trust Account and Collecting Your Fee, Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct (Annual Meeting 2010)

Client trust accounts and bank stability concerns

Ethics Hotline

For questions concerning client trust accounting rules and standards:

800-238-4427 (toll-free in California)
415-538-2150 (from outside California)