Ethics Committee Formal Opinion #1990-91/10

Trust Funds:  Application of Retainer to Final Bill

April 11, 1991

ANNOTATION:

A lawyer may not hold a client’s retainer in the lawyer’s client trust account (non-interest bearing) unless such funds are “nominal in amount” or held for “a short period to time”, pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 50.  (Rule 1.15(a)(1)).

QUESTION:

May the inquiring attorney deposit in his or her client trust account a client retainer that the attorney expects to hold until the conclusion of the representation, which might be several years, without paying the client interest on the retainer?

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