Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Nov. 15, 2023
Cleaning up the mess of sloppy attorney accounting practices
Today, the State Bar is likely to treat complaints about money, including bank reports of bounced checks, as worthy of a full investigatory response, including subpoenaing the lawyer’s bank for trust account records and demanding that the lawyer produce a trust account journal, client ledgers, documentation of financial transactions and monthly trust account reconciliations.
James I. Ham
Founder
Law Office of James I. Ham
James I. Ham serves as outside California legal ethics and attorney regulation counsel, and is founder of the Law Office of James I. Ham.
Every scandal has consequences and a price tag. The fall of one-time revered attorney Tom Girardi has visited upon lawyers new financial and trust account rules, annual trust account certification requirements, and mandatory reporting of serious misconduct.
Intense media and legislative focus on failings that allowed an attorney to escape accountability for financial misdeeds for years has resulted in a crack-down on sloppy attorney accou...
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