• A client’s relative offers to pay for your legal services.  Do you know how to structure this third-party payment?
• You receive a “retainer” of $5,000 to be accessed only if your client fails to pay her monthly bill – an arrangement commonly known as collecting “last month’s rent.” Are you required to handle these funds in any special way?
• Your bookkeeper deposits a settlement payment on Friday, September 16.  On Monday, September 19 your client demands his portion of the proceeds.  Should you disburse the client’s share of the settlement?
• At the conclusion of your initial meeting a client writes you a check for $1500 to prepare a simple estate plan.  Should you deposit the check in your IOLTA account or your business operating account?  Are you confident that you have all the information needed to make this decision?
• For three years you’ve carried a small, uncashed client refund check on your books. You can’t find the client.  Should you write it off?

If you don’t know the answers to these questions, want to brush up on lawyer trust accounting, or need ethics credits, consider attending Ethical Trust Accounting and Ethical Dilemmas: Unclaimed Client Funds. Here are the details:

Who Should Attend

Lawyers, staff, bookkeepers, administrators, office managers – anyone who handles trust funds in Oregon.

Date and Time

Ethical Trust Accounting – Thursday, October 27, 2016 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Ethical Dilemmas: Unclaimed Client Funds – Wednesday, November 16, 2016 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Location

Both programs are online webinars – view the webcasts on any mobile device or desktop. Listen to audio via computer/device speakers or by telephone.  A link to downloadable program materials will be sent automatically to all registered attendees.

Registration Fee and Discount for Blog Readers

Ethical Trust Accounting – $25.00.  Save 20% by entering the discount code Blog at checkout (your cost: $20.00)
Ethical Dilemmas: Unclaimed Client Funds – $15.00

Program materials included in registration fee.  Secure payment processing powered by Eventbrite.  Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express accepted.

MCLE Credits

Ethical Trust Accounting – 2.0 MCLE Ethics Credits approved.
Ethical Dilemmas: Unclaimed Client Funds – 1.0 MCLE Ethics Credit pending.

Ethical Trust Accounting will cover:

• Establishing regular, pooled, or separate IOLTA accounts
• Paying service charges and meeting minimum balance requirements
• Avoiding impermissible cushions
• Safeguarding client property and protecting against theft
• Holding unearned funds in trust until they “clear”
• Processing third party payments
• Using fixed fee agreements
• Paying yourself
• Reporting overdrafts
• Ethical recordkeeping and reconciliation
• Processing credit cards
• Retaining records

Remember to enter the discount code “Blog” to save 20% when registering for Ethical Trust Accounting.

Ethical Dilemmas: Unclaimed Client Funds

Is an in-depth, one hour CLE focusing on the issues surrounding unclaimed funds in IOLTA accounts.  Topics include:

• Identifying unclaimed funds
• Determining residence
• Meeting timelines for assessment
• Pursuing ethical and statutory due diligence
• Reporting and remittance procedures
• Avoiding unclaimed funds
• Adopting strategies for dealing with lost checks
• Handling ethical and legal dilemmas for failure to report or remit

Can’t Attend These Programs?

Ethical Trust Accounting and Ethical Dilemmas: Unclaimed Client Funds will be available to download, along with the program materials, after the live program date. Contact me for further information.

All Rights Reserved [2016] Beverly Michaelis