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Opinion 20-06 |
Client Funds and Property
A lawyer in possession of funds whose ownership is disputed is required to hold those funds until the dispute has been properly resolved, or to initiate an interpleader action to have the court decide the proper disposition of the money.
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Opinion 19-03 |
Client Files | Client Funds and Property | Confidentiality
A lawyer may not produce banking records, client trust account records, ledger and client billing records requested by spouse’s lawyer in a pending divorce between lawyer and spouse, absent a court order. In the event of a court order ordering the production of the documents, the lawyer may reveal information only to the extent reasonably necessary to comply with the order and should seek protective action when appropriate.
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Opinion 15-03 |
Client Funds and Property
A lawyer who leaves a practice may leave the other members of his firm with unclaimed wills after he leaves. If, after a diligent search, the other lawyers cannot locate the individuals to whom those wills belong, the lawyers should file those wills with the Secretary of State Deposit of Wills.
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Opinion 15-02 |
Client Funds and Property
A lawyer may deposit his own funds into a client trust account to pay bank service charges on that account, and should pay himself back such funds when they are no longer necessary for that purpose. Unidentified funds contained in a client trust account must, after one (1) year from the discovery of the unidentified funds, be remitted to the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois. Unclaimed funds contained in a client trust account should, after five (5) years, be remitted to the State as abandoned property.
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Opinion 14-01 |
Client Funds and Property | Fees and Expenses
A lawyer may accept payment for earned services and expenses by credit card, but any security retainers paid by credit card must be deposited directly into the lawyer’s trust account. A lawyer accepting credit card payments for both earned fees and security retainers should designate two accounts – one a business account, and a one a trust account – to receive the payments. Further, given the complexity of the rules implicated by credit card payments, a lawyer must obtain a thorough understanding of the agreement he or she will sign with the credit card company before accepting credit card payments. Also, the Rules of Professional Conduct do not prohibit a lawyer from charging a service fee to a client when the client uses a credit card, so long as the fee is reasonable and disclosed in advance to the client, preferably in writing.
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Opinion 12-19 |
Client Funds and Property | Fees and Expenses | Fees Paid by Third Party
An “advance payment retainer” can be used by or on behalf of a spouse in a divorce case if all of the requirements of Rule 1.15 are satisfied. The advance payment retainer should not be used, however, if the client’s purpose can be accomplished with a “security retainer.”
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Opinion 06-01 |
Client Funds and Property | Financial Assistance to Clients
A lawyer may not provide a personal guarantee that s/he will pay the liens and subrogation claims chargeable against a client’s settlement proceeds.
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Opinion 02-02 |
Client Funds and Property | Fees and Expenses
Client deposited funds into Firm's trust account for a specific transaction. The transaction never closed. More than five years later, Client and subsidiaries were involuntarily dissolved by Illinois Secretary of State. Firm may properly transfer the funds to its operating account in satisfaction of its claim for attorney fees if it has obtained written consent from the dissolved Client, through one of its former officers. Absent consent, Firm should reduce its claim to judgment and thereafter obtain a court order to set off its judgment lien against the funds held in the trust account.
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Opinion 01-02 |
Client Files | Client Funds and Property | Withdrawal from Representation
Lawyer may properly terminate representation if client's conduct makes it unreasonably difficult for lawyer to carry out employment effectiveness or client fails to substantially fulfill agreement to pay lawyer's fees or expenses; however, lawyer must take reasonable steps to avoid foreseeable prejudice to client as a result of termination. Discarding client's files if client does not retrieve them after 30 days due notice will not likely comply with lawyer's duty to avoid prejudice to client upon termination of representation.
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Opinion 01-01 |
Client Files | Client Funds and Property | Communication With Client
When a former client is entitled to receive file material from a law firm, a law firm may not refuse a request to download onto disk such former client file materials stored on its computer system when such downloading can be accomplished easily and without disclosing the confidences of the firm's other clients.
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Opinion 95-11 |
Client Funds and Property | Fee Agreements
Absent a narrowly drawn power of attorney, Law Firm cannot negotiate a check on behalf of a missing client and must keep safe any such check.
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Opinion 93-17 |
Client Funds and Property | Fees and Expenses
An attorney must hold property of clients or third persons separate from the attorney's own property. All nominal or short-term funds of a client must be deposited into an interest bearing trust account, with the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois designated as income beneficiary. An attorney may transfer such funds to pay his attorney's fees only after reasonable notice to and consent by the client.
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Opinion 93-03 |
Client Funds and Property | Reporting Lawyer Misconduct
Attorney report is not mandatory under Rule 8.3 unless the attorney has knowledge, which is not otherwise protected, of a violation of Rule 8.4(a)(3) or (4).
Attorney is required by Rule 1.15(c) to hold in a separate account, the funds disputed by the client and the client's former attorney.
An interpleader action is not inconsistent with Rule 1.15.
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Opinion 91-16 |
Client Funds and Property
Attorney cannot pay out settlement proceeds to clients' prior attorney contrary to the clients' directions until dispute with regard to the proceeds is resolved. Attorney may represent clients in resolution of such dispute only in compliance with Rule 1.7(b)
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Opinion 88-13 |
Client Funds and Property | Confidentiality | Court Obligations
Lawyer has no duty to reveal secret but not privileged information that is incriminating to his client; a lawyer is under no obligation to take possession of physical evidence offered to him by third party; if lawyer takes possession of inculpatory physical evidence from third party he may have to turn it over to the state if it will otherwise likely be destroyed or is contraband or will cause serious injury.
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Opinion 88-15 |
Client Funds and Property | Fees and Expenses
An attorney may transfer funds which he is holding in trust for his client to pay the attorney's fees after reasonable notice to the client and consent by the client.
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Opinion 845 |
Client Funds and Property | Deceased or Missing Clients
A law firm must continue to hold client funds in a trust account even when the client cannot be located.
