Can a public defender do favors for jailed clients like cashing or buying money orders, and must client funds pass through a trust account?

Plain-English summary

Attorney A worked in a Public Defender's office that kept no bank or trust accounts. Jailed clients sometimes asked the lawyers to do favors: cashing a check payable to and endorsed by the client and returning the proceeds, taking the client's money to buy a money order payable to a relative, or having a relative send a money order payable to the attorney to be paid over to the client. The inquiry asked whether Attorney A could perform these services, what accounting was necessary, and whether a trust account was required.

The opinion concluded that nothing in the Rules prohibits an attorney from performing such a favor, such as cashing a money order, purchasing a money order, or cashing a check for a client. However, Rule 10.1(c) requires an attorney to deposit all money or funds received from a client, or received from a third party to be delivered to a client, into a trust account, and then to make all disbursements, as appropriate, from that trust account.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1986, before the North Carolina State Bar's adoption of the 2003 revisions to the Rules of Professional Conduct. The provision it applies (Rule 10.1(c) on trust accounts) has since been renumbered and revised (the corresponding Model Rule is 1.15). Subsequent rule amendments or later opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against current rules before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or requirement mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Can a public defender cash or buy money orders for a jailed client?

A: Yes. The opinion concluded nothing in the Rules prohibits an attorney from performing such favors for clients.

Q: Must the client's money go through a trust account?

A: Yes. The opinion concluded that under Rule 10.1(c) money received from a client, or for delivery to a client, must be deposited into a trust account and disbursed from it.

Q: Does it matter that the Public Defender's office kept no accounts?

A: The opinion concluded the trust-account requirement still applies; funds received from or for a client must pass through a trust account and disbursements made from it.

Background and rules framework

The opinion applied North Carolina Rule 10.1(c) on trust accounts (corresponding to Model Rule 1.15), which required depositing client funds, and funds held for delivery to a client, into a trust account and disbursing from it. The analysis turned on the duty to route client money through a trust account even where the favor itself was permissible.

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

• North Carolina Rule 10.1(c) (trust accounts)
• MR 1.15 (safekeeping property)

See also

• NC Ethics Op. RPC 37: applying trust funds to a client's fee obligation
• NC Ethics Op. RPC 23: reporting real estate closings to the IRS

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ncbar.gov/for-lawyers/ethics-and-governing-rules/ethics-opinions/opinions/rpc-4/

Original opinion text

Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.

Inquiry:

Attorney A works in the office of a Public Defender in one of the Judicial Districts in North Carolina. The Public Defender's office does not maintain bank accounts or trust accounts of any kind. From time to time, clients in jail request that lawyers in the Public Defender's Office "do them a favor" such as getting a check cashed, sending a money order, or cashing a money order. Attorney A is sometimes asked by a client in jail to cash a check payable to and endorsed by the client and return the proceeds to the client. Attorney A is sometimes asked also by a client in jail to take a sum of money provided by the client to purchase a money order payable to a relative of the client. Attorney A may also be asked by a client in jail to have a relative or friend of the client send a money order payable to the attorney and then to pay the proceeds of the money order to the client.

May Attorney A perform any of these services for a client in jail? If so, what accounting procedures are necessary? Would a trust account be required?

Opinion:

Nothing in the Rules of Professional Conduct prohibits an attorney from performing a favor for his clients such as cashing a money order, purchasing a money order, or cashing a check for him. Rule 10.1(c) requires an attorney to deposit all money or funds received from a client or from a third party to be delivered to a client into a trust account and then make all disbursements as appropriate, from that trust account.