As required by Rules 4-1.15(a) and 5-1.1(a), any advance of costs is to be held in trust until used to pay those costs. The fact that costs are to be paid out of this “flat fee” complicates matters somewhat. Any portion that does not constitute earned fees must remain in the trust account. Then that portion, if any, of the payment that is considered an earned fee upon receipt should promptly be withdrawn from the trust account. ….should be first deposited in the trust account. The opinion states that a “flat fee’ which includes costs: According to Florida Ethics Opinion 93-2 “advances for costs and expenses must be deposited in the attorney’s trust account and withdrawn and applied against such expenses as they are incurred and paid.”
Do I have to place the funds in my trust account?Ī. In order to keep things simple I wish to include the amount for costs in the flat rate that I charge. Some of the services will require a payment for costs. I have recently decided to start charging clients a flat rate for some of the legal services I provide. The attorney should bear the burden of rebutting this presumption.
Certainly, this is the assumption that the typical client would make. The committee believes that there should exist a presumption that prepaid fees are an advance deposit against fees for work that is yet to be performed. Such money does not belong to the lawyer, and should be held in trust until it has been earned by performance of the agreed-upon services. On the other hand, the prepaid fee may be given to the attorney with the understanding that it is a deposit securing a fee that is yet to be earned. If, however, an attorney receives a prepaid fee or retainer as an advance then the funds must be deposited into the attorney’s trust account. He lawyer may later be obligated to refund part, or possibly all of it, if the legal services are not performed, in which case the fee may be found to be excessive, but the money is the lawyer’s upon receipt of it. Rule 4-1.5 (e) requires that a nonrefundable fee be confirmed in a writing that explains the nature and the amount of the nonrefundable fee.įlorida Ethics Opinion 93-2 states that a nonrefundable retainer is earned upon receipt and should therefore be deposited into an attorney’s general account. An attorney may charge a fee that is nonrefundable provided the client agrees in writing. Is it permissible to charge a non-refundable retainer?Ī. Once the balance gets low, the attorney can deposit additional sums to maintain a sufficient amount to avoid using client funds to pay the bank fees. The deposit should be treated like an individual client account with a ledger, etc. Rule 5-1.1 (a)(1), Rules Regulating The Florida Bar, states that “ lawyer may maintain funds belonging to the lawyer in the trust account in an amount no more than is reasonably sufficient to pay bank charges relating to the trust account.” Is it permissible to do what the bank has asked?Ī. I am concerned about commingling my own funds with the clients’ funds, but I cannot think of any other way to pay for these expenses.
IOTA ACCOUNT FOR FREE
The bank has declined to provide these services for free and has asked for a transfer from my operating account to cover these expenses. I have recently opened an IOTA trust account and have been informed by the bank that there will be fees for checks and other fees associated with maintaining the account.
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