Connecticut Rules of Professional Conduct (Connecticut Practice Book) 1.15-b-g: Safekeeping client property: separate trust account, seven-year records, advance fees in trust, prompt notice, delivery and accounting, disputed funds segregated

What does 1.15-b-g require?

Money and property belonging to clients or third persons that the lawyer holds because of a representation stay separate from the lawyer's own. Funds are kept in a distinct account located in the state of the lawyer's office, or elsewhere if the owner agrees; other property is labelled as the owner's and safeguarded; and complete records of the account and the property are preserved for seven years after the representation ends. The lawyer's own money may enter a client trust account only to meet bank charges or obtain a fee waiver, and only in the amount needed. Unless a written agreement with the client says otherwise, advance payments of fees and expenses go into trust and are withdrawn only as the fees are earned or the expenses incurred. On receiving money or property in which a client or third person has an interest the lawyer promptly notifies them, promptly delivers what they are entitled to, and renders a full accounting on request. Where two or more persons, possibly including the lawyer, claim an interest, the property is held apart until the competing claims are resolved, undisputed portions are paid out promptly, and the disputed portion is segregated and safeguarded. An interest means more than a bare claim: when a third party's claim is unclear the lawyer may ask in writing for supporting information and, if none arrives within sixty days, release the funds to the client.