Out-of-State Trust Accounts
Adopted: October 17, 1990
Opinion rules that attorneys practicing in North Carolina who are affiliated with an interstate law firm may not permit trust funds belonging to their clients to be deposited in a trust account maintained outside North Carolina without written consent.
Inquiry:
North Carolina lawyers are affiliated with an interstate law firm having its primary office in Washington, DC. All bills issue from the firm's central accounting office in Washington and clients are asked to remit payment directly to that office. Occasionally, clients overpay bills and such overpayments are deposited in the firm's trust account in the District of Columbia where they are handled in accordance with rules and regulations governing the maintenance of attorney trust accounts in that jurisdiction. It is also likely that any fees which are paid in advance of work being done would also be deposited in the Washington trust account. Clients of the North Carolina lawyers whose funds are being deposited in the Washington trust account are not routinely asked to consent to the deposit of their funds in a trust account maintained outside the State of North Carolina.
May North Carolina lawyers permit funds received on behalf of their clients to be deposited in the out-of-state trust account without their clients' knowledge and consent?
Opinion:
No. Rules 10.1(b) and (c) of the Rules of Professional Conduct require that funds received by North Carolina lawyers be deposited in trust accounts maintained at banks in North Carolina, unless the client has otherwise directed in writing. Since the arrangement described in the inquiry contemplates the deposit of such funds in trust accounts maintained outside the state of North Carolina without consultation with and direction from the clients to whom such funds belong, no North Carolina lawyer could ethically participate.