Safekeeping Property · 2-8% of the exam

Night-before checklist

Chapter 20 · 6 items

Six points, and the first one is the wall this chapter is built around.

No commingling: Client and third-party funds go into trust; a lawyer may deposit firm money only to cover bank service charges, the minimum necessary, with records showing which part of the funds is the lawyer's.
Account types: Nominal or short-term client funds: pooled IOLTA (interest funds legal aid); funds that would net the client interest: an interest-bearing account opened for that client alone. That is state law, not Rule 1.15.
Withdrawal timing: Draw from trust only after the corresponding work is performed or expense is incurred; premature withdrawal is a violation even if the fee is ultimately earned in full.
Notify and deliver automatically: Upon receiving funds or property, notify and deliver promptly without waiting for a request; the duty to render an accounting arises only on request.
Disputed funds: Distribute undisputed amounts immediately; only the genuinely contested portion stays in trust until resolved; where substantial grounds for dispute exist, the lawyer may file an action to have a court resolve it.
Third-party claims: Where applicable law gives the lawyer a duty to protect a third party's lawful claim and it is not frivolous, the disputed amount stays in trust despite the client's instruction to disregard it.

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