Connecticut Rules of Professional Conduct (Connecticut Practice Book) 1.15-h-i: Participate in the IOLTA program: pooled funds that cannot earn net income for the client, eligible institutions, remittance and reporting

What does 1.15-h-i require?

Lawyers and firms must take part in the statutory interest-on-lawyers'-trust-accounts program that funds legal services for the poor and need-based law school scholarships. Client or third-person money belongs in an IOLTA account whenever the lawyer decides in good faith, on the seven factors the rule lists (the sum, how long it will be held, the rates on offer, the cost of a separate interest-bearing account, the lawyer's own administrative cost, tax reporting cost, and anything else bearing on net earnings), that it could not earn income for the client above the cost of earning it; such a good-faith decision cannot be disciplined. The account may be opened only at an eligible institution that keeps no earnings for the lawyer, pays the net interest or dividends at least every quarter to the body the Superior Court judges have designated, sends that body a report identifying the lawyer, the remittance per account, the rate and type of return, the earnings, the fees deducted and the average balance, and sends the lawyer its normal statement. Participating institutions must pay IOLTA accounts at least their highest rate for comparable non-IOLTA customers, or alternatively the higher of one percent a year or sixty percent of the federal funds target rate, calculate interest in their usual way, and deduct only the allowable reasonable fees, with any other charges borne by the lawyer or firm. Funds may instead be put in a separate client account, or a pooled account with sub-accounting, where the interest goes to the client.