Official Government Website
Ethics and Client Money: Trust Funds, Expenses, Setoffs & More
Sponsored by the Idaho Law Foundation, Inc. in partnership with Freestone and WebCredenza, Inc.
November 1, 2023
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (MT)
*Live Audio Streaming Only
1.0 Ethics credit
Registration Fee: $55.00
*Please note: This is a Live Replay of the CLE presented on January 23, 2023. If you received credit for this course on January 23rd you will not be able to receive credit for attending this replay. This replay counts as a live CLE credit.
Whenever an attorney takes money from a client – for fees billed, to cover expenses, as a retainer, or held in trust – there are substantial ethical issues involved. Many ethical complaints arise from accusations that an attorney mishandled funds. In billing and collecting fees and expenses, there are issues about whether the fees and expenses were explained in advance and are proper in relation to services provided. If an attorney accepts credit cards from clients, there are significant issues related to disclosure, Truth-in-Lending laws, chargebacks, pass-through of merchant processing fees, and confidentiality. In trust funds, there are issues of segregation of funds, accounting, and more. This program will provide you with a practical guide to the many ethical issues that arise when attorneys, clients, and money mix.
- Traps in trust fund accounting and the risks of “set-offs” of disputed amounts
- Disclosure and documentation of trust accounting of client money
- Retainers – use, accounting, and regular communications
- Accepting credit card payments from clients – pass-through processing fees, Truth-in-Lending, disclosure and confidentiality
- Confidentiality when a client has a dispute with his credit card company – ethical tension of client duties and contractual obligations
- Use of credit cards to fund a retainer and related trust fund accounting issues – trust
