Home > Professional Regulation > VSB Council to Review a Proposed Amendment to Rule 1.15 of The Rules of Professional Conduct
Pursuant to Part 6, § IV, Paragraph 10(c) of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia, the Virginia State Bar Council, at its meeting on February 27, 2010, in Richmond, Virginia, is expected to consider for approval, disapproval, or modification, proposed amendments to Rule 1.15 of the Rules of Professional Conduct and Paragraph 20 of Part 6, § IV of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia.
RULE 1.15 & PARAGRAPH 20
The Standing Committee on Legal Ethics (Committee) proposes an amendment to Rule 1.15, Safekeeping Property that eliminates redundancy in the rule and clarifies the rule’s record keeping requirements for Virginia lawyers. In addition, the Committee proposes modifications to Paragraph 20 that include elimination of the regulations for the approval of financial institutions as a depository for attorney trust accounts in Virginia.
Specifically, the Committee proposes restructuring Rule 1.15 to: 1) combine the requirements as they apply to lawyers and fiduciaries; 2) eliminate the “terms” used to refer to certain records and replace them with specific descriptions of the type of records that need to be maintained; 3) eliminate the rule’s redundant definitions; 4) eliminate detailed requirements from the rule that were specifically applicable to financial institutions, as that information is included in the Virginia State Bar Approved Financial Institution Agreement; 5) add a specific requirement to the rule that a lawyer cannot disburse funds or use property of a client or third party without the client’s consent or convert or misappropriate funds or property of a client or third party, except as directed by a tribunal; 6) add language to Comment [6] that gives some additional guidance to lawyers using electronic banking transactions; 7) add specific language requiring a lawyer to hold funds in escrow when a third party has made a claim against those funds; and 8) add titles to sub-paragraphs for simplicity and clarity.
The amendments to Paragraph 20 would accomplish the following: 1) define a financial institution approved by the Virginia State Bar; 2) clarify the different types of trust accounts that can be opened as well as create an opt-out provision; and 3) outline the specific requirements that financial institutions must follow as Virginia State Bar “approved financial institutions.” This new Paragraph 20 will incorporate a new “Virginia State Bar Approved Financial Agreement” by reference as an appendix to the Rule that all financial institutions must execute in order to be approved by the Virginia State Bar.
Inspection and Comment
The proposed amendment may be inspected at the office of the Virginia State Bar, 707 East Main Street, Suite 1500, Richmond, Virginia 23219-2800, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Copies of the proposed amendment can be obtained from the offices of the Virginia State Bar by contacting the Office of Ethics Counsel at 804-775-0557, or can be found at the Virginia State Bar’s website at http://www.vsb.org/site/regulation/proposed-rule-changes/.
Any individual, business or other entity may file or submit written comments in support of, or in opposition to, the proposed amendment by filing ten copies with Karen A. Gould, the Executive Director of the Virginia State Bar, not later than February 8, 2010.
Updated: December 15, 2009