Washington State Bar Association Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Washington State Bar Association, with full citations and source links on every page.
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How must a Washington lawyer handle funds in the trust account that the client and a third party both claim?
The lawyer must promptly pay out the undisputed amounts, keep the disputed portion in trust until the dispute is resolved, investigate each claim preliminarily, and (if more than one claim is nonfrivo…
When representation ends, which documents in the file must a Washington lawyer turn over to the client under RPC 1.16(d)?
The lawyer must surrender documents needed to protect the client's interests, including the client's documents, external communications, filings, transactional and corporate records, and substantive i…
Can a lawyer who goes inactive or retires keep a trust account open just to receive and process a former client's settlement checks?
No. The committee concluded that an inactive lawyer may not own or operate a trust account to hold client funds, because only a lawyer authorized to practice may be a signatory on an RPC 1.15A account…
What must a lawyer do when a client's creditor serves a writ of garnishment on the lawyer's trust account holding the client's advance fee deposit?
If the client disputes the writ, the lawyer must hold the funds in trust under RPC 1.15A(g) until the court or the parties resolve the dispute; if the client does not dispute it, the lawyer must disbu…
Can a lawyer store confidential client files with a third-party cloud or online storage provider?
Yes. A lawyer may use third-party online data storage for confidential client files if the lawyer conducts reasonable due diligence on the provider and continues to monitor its security, to protect co…
Can a lawyer use a debit card tied to the IOLTA trust account to pay a court filing fee electronically?
Yes, provided the lawyer never uses the card to withdraw cash, safeguards the card, confirms the client has sufficient funds for the charge and any transaction fee, and keeps records of every debit tr…
Can a lawyer take a security interest in a client's real property to secure payment of fees, including during a divorce case?
Yes. Under RPC 1.8(i) a lawyer may take a contractual security interest in a client's real property to secure fees; if the interest is added by modifying an existing fee agreement, the lawyer must als…
When an insurer asserts a PIP subrogation claim to settlement funds but the client tells the lawyer to pay only the client, what must the lawyer do with the money?
The committee concluded the lawyer must hold the disputed funds in trust or interplead them until the client-insurer dispute is resolved, because the insurer's specific, non-frivolous contractual clai…
Can a lawyer hold client trust funds in a CDARS certificate-of-deposit account that carries a withdrawal delay or early-withdrawal penalties?
No. The committee concluded that client trust funds must be capable of withdrawal without delay unless law or regulation requires it, and a client cannot consent to such a delay, so a CDARS account wi…
Can a lawyer put a clause in the fee agreement saying that if a client never cashes a refund check from the trust account, the leftover funds become the lawyer's?
No. The committee concluded such a clause violates RPC 1.15A, 1.5, and 1.8; uncashed client funds must be treated as unclaimed property under RCW 63.29, and the rule is the same regardless of the amou…
When a client dies leaving a fee deposit in the lawyer's trust account, to whom does the lawyer pay it, what fees can be taken, and what can the lawyer reveal?
The committee concluded the lawyer must take reasonable steps to identify who is entitled to the funds and hold or interplead them if there is a dispute, may charge only reasonable fees that were unde…
Can a lawyer have a client sign a stipulated judgment or promissory note for estimated fees before the representation begins, to secure payment from the marital home?
No. The committee concluded that obtaining a pre-representation stipulated judgment to secure fees is unreasonable per se under RPC 1.5(a), a nonconsentable conflict under RPC 1.7, and an impermissibl…
When a third party such as an insurer claims part of a client's settlement held in trust, may the lawyer disburse the funds to the client after giving 30 days' notice if no suit is filed?
The committee concluded that the 30-day-notice-then-disburse plan was not reasonable, because RPC 1.15A(g) requires the lawyer to keep funds subject to a third-party claim in trust until the dispute i…
Must a lawyer provide a client the electronic version of the client's documents, or can the engagement letter limit the client to paper copies?
The committee declined as a matter of policy to comment on specific contract language, but said that providing the client the signed originals and one paper copy of the estate-planning documents compl…
Must a lawyer who holds money as a guardian, trustee, personal representative, or executor (not as the client's counsel) deposit it in the RPC 1.15A trust account?
The opinion concludes that Informal Opinion 1202 still controls: funds a lawyer holds purely in a fiduciary capacity other than as an attorney, for example as a court-appointed guardian, trustee, or p…
Can a Limited Practice Officer (LPO) sign checks drawn on a law firm's trust account, given that RPC 1.15A(h)(9) says only a lawyer may be an authorized signatory?
Yes, under limited circumstances. The opinion concludes an LPO may sign trust-account checks, but only for transactions for which the LPO is licensed; the authority does not extend further. Because an…
Can limited practice officers in a law firm's escrow department be signatories on the accounts used to sign escrow disbursement checks for real estate closings?
The opinion sets out the governing rules rather than a one-line answer: under RPC 1.15A(h)(9) only a lawyer admitted to practice may be an authorized signatory on a trust account, and a lawyer must ho…
Can a lawyer use a facsimile signature stamp on trust-account checks, or let staff sign them?
The committee concluded that under RPC 1.15A(h)(9) only a lawyer may be an authorized signatory on a trust account, so a lawyer may not give a nonlawyer discretion over disbursements; a lawyer may use…
Can a lawyer sign a medical provider's agreement guaranteeing the provider will be paid from the client's settlement proceeds?
The committee did not analyze the question anew; it concluded the issues were already addressed in WSBA Formal Opinion No. 185, which the inquirer should review and follow, and it updated the governin…
Can a Washington criminal defense lawyer charge a client for copying the case file or discovery, and does the answer change for an indigent appointed client?
For a retained client, the lawyer may shift copying costs only if the original fee agreement contains an express term to that effect entered at the start of the representation; otherwise the file belo…
Can a lawyer who is the guardian of an incapacitated person also appoint himself trustee of that person's special needs trust?
The committee concluded he cannot: because establishing the special needs trust does not necessarily end the guardianship and the guardian's and trustee's duties do not necessarily coincide, holding b…
Can a lawyer use a web-based payment service where client credit-card payments first land in the lawyer's account with the service before going to trust?
The committee concluded that funds belonging to the client must go into a trust account meeting RPC 1.14 and may not pass through the lawyer's account with the service, but that using the service to c…
Can a lawyer assert an attorney's lien on bail money the client's father posted?
The committee said it does not decide whether an attorney's lien may properly be asserted against the bail funds, because it does not opine on questions of law. It did say that the false assertion of …
Can a law firm destroy the paper version of a closed client file and keep only an identical electronic copy?
The committee said a file-retention policy that returns original documents from administratively closed files to the client and converts the remaining documents to electronic format complies with the …
Can a law firm collecting receivables for a corporate client on contingency set up a joint bank account the client can withdraw from directly, with a line of credit for overdraft protection?
The committee said the arrangement may not be permissible under RPC 1.14, the trust-account rule. A joint account giving the corporate client independent access, from which the client pays itself with…
Can a non-lawyer contractor handle the daily bookkeeping of a lawyer's guardianship client funds and prepare the court reports?
The committee said yes to both questions. A non-lawyer contract employee may manage the daily bookkeeping of a lawyer's guardianship client funds (paying bills, balancing accounts, preparing annual re…
Must a lawyer give a former client, now in prison, a copy of the client's own incriminating written statement on request?
Yes. The committee concluded that RPC 1.15(d) requires a lawyer to surrender papers and property to which the client is entitled when representation ends, and that, absent a guardianship or other cour…
When a lawyer holds a minor's blocked settlement account, must the lawyer share account information with the child's mother and report concerns to the court?
The committee concluded that RPC 1.4(a) requires complying with reasonable requests for information (for a minor, typically through a guardian), that the account records are client property the lawyer…
Can a Washington lawyer place client trust funds in a higher-interest uninsured account with client consent, and must funds over the FDIC limit be split across banks?
No to both. The committee concluded RPC 1.14's requirement that trust funds sit in insured 'qualified public depositories' is mandatory and cannot be waived by client consent, and that RPC 1.14 does n…
Can an insurance company's staff lawyer deposit money recovered for an insured client into a corporate account instead of a trust account?
No. The committee concluded that subrogation recoveries collected for the insured are client funds that must go into an identifiable interest-bearing trust account, not the insurer's corporate account…
When can a lawyer claim part of a former client's later settlement, and what must the client's current lawyer tell the client about that adverse claim?
The committee said whether a former attorney can recover a portion of a former client's later class action settlement depends on a fact-specific analysis of the original fee agreement and accounting, …
Can a lawyer file an IRS Form 1099 reporting settlement money disbursed to a client without violating client confidentiality?
The committee concluded that RPC 1.6 does not prohibit filing a Form 1099 reporting money disbursed to a client, unless the client asked the lawyer to keep the client's identity confidential or asked …
Can a lawyer pay personal injury settlement funds directly to the client when there are known unpaid medical bills or liens?
The committee did not give legal advice on the pending matter, but said the inquiring lawyer's reference to and reliance on RPC 1.14(b)(4) and Formal Opinion 185 were well founded. It expressed no opi…
What should a lawyer do when a client refuses to accept settlement funds held in the lawyer's trust account?
The committee concluded that the disputed settlement funds should be held by the firm in an interest-bearing account under RPC 1.14 until the disbursement issue is resolved, and that the Rules of Prof…
Can a lawyer send clients a letter reserving the right to destroy their file if they do not pick it up within two weeks?
The committee concluded that it is a violation of RPC 1.15(d) to send the proposed letter reserving the right to destroy a client's file if it is not claimed within two weeks.
Can a lawyer destroy or withhold court-proceeding tapes the trial court has lost, when they are needed for an appeal?
The committee declined to opine because litigation was pending or disciplinary action possible, but said the proposed course of destroying or refusing to provide the tapes would likely violate RPC 3.3…
What does a lawyer do with trust funds belonging to a client who has disappeared and left no forwarding address?
The committee concluded that RPC 1.3 and 1.14 govern, that the lawyer must act with reasonableness and due diligence to locate the client and resolve the trust funds, and that RCW 63.29 on unclaimed p…
If a client assigns part of a settlement to a third party but later tells the lawyer not to pay, what does the lawyer do with the money?
The committee concluded that, where both the client and the third party assert good-faith positions, the lawyer is not obligated to pay either side and should hold the disputed funds in an interest-be…
When a client discharges a lawyer, must the lawyer return original documents even if a copy was provided?
The committee said that under RPC 1.15(d) an attorney cannot keep originals belonging to the client if doing so operates to the client's disadvantage and detriment; whether an attorney's lien is valid…
Must a firm in a class action give a class member a copy of the entire file, and who pays for copying?
The committee, applying WSBA Formal Opinion 181, said the attorney must deliver the file to the client and pay the copying costs, unless a protective order is obtained from the court stating otherwise…
Can a Washington lawyer route client trust funds through a separate 'disbursing account' to capture float or earn free banking services?
The committee concluded that RPC 1.15A requires client and third-person funds to be held in trust and makes no exception for a disbursing account, so the lawyer could not run those funds through one.
How should a lawyer dispose of trust funds belonging to a client who lives in a foreign country?
The committee was of the unanimous opinion that the lawyer must determine from the client how the funds should be disposed of, and it recommended holding the funds in a separate interest-bearing trust…
What must a lawyer do when collecting payments from a judgment debtor but unable to identify the client owed the money?
The committee concluded the lawyer must make a thorough effort to identify and contact the client under RPC 1.1, 1.3, and 1.4 (including contacting a former associate), must place the collected funds …
What does a lawyer do with settlement money in trust when the client refuses to cash the check?
The committee concluded that the lawyer must resolve any dispute over the retained fee (replenishing the trust account for the disputed amount), must withdraw the improper malpractice-release conditio…
Must a lawyer holding settlement proceeds pay the client's creditors after the client withdraws authorization to pay them?
No. The committee concluded that, absent a valid lien on the funds, it would be a violation to distribute the trust funds to creditors over the client's objection once the client withdrew authorizatio…
Can a divorce lawyer take a security interest in real property to secure the fee in a marriage dissolution case?
The committee was of the opinion that, because all property is at issue in a dissolution, taking an interest in the real property is taking an interest in the subject matter of litigation in violation…
Can a lawyer take a security interest in property that is the subject of the litigation the lawyer is handling?
The committee was of the opinion that taking a security interest in a computer system that is the subject of the litigation would violate RPC 1.8(j).
Can a lawyer release disputed trust funds to a client after telling the other side the funds would be held until the dispute is resolved?
The committee was of the opinion that, because the lawyer had previously told third parties the funds would stay in the trust account until the dispute was resolved, the lawyer cannot now return them …
Can a non-client who paid a retainer for a client's benefit get back the unused portion of that retainer?
The committee was of the opinion that the non-client payor is entitled to a refund of the unused retainer, because the trust funds remain the payor's property until earned by the lawyer and the facts …
Who owns court-awarded attorney fees when the lawyer is employed by a nonprofit, and can they be deposited into the nonprofit's general account?
The committee was of the opinion that attorney fee awards belong to the client, not the attorney, unless the attorney and the client mutually agree otherwise.
If a lawyer promises a creditor to pay a client's debt out of settlement proceeds, must the lawyer honor that promise?
The committee concluded the lawyer was ethically obligated to pay the creditor's debt from the mother's settlement, given the lawyer's written promise to do so, based on RPC 4.3 and 4.4 and Formal Opi…
If a client tells a lawyer not to pay over trust funds the client had set aside for a third party, what must the lawyer do with the disputed money?
The committee concluded the answer turned on who owned the funds: if the funds belonged to the client, the lawyer could not disburse them until the dispute between the client and the third party was r…
Can a lawyer promise a client's medical provider or other creditor that they will be paid out of the client's settlement, and what are the duties if a dispute arises?
The committee concluded that a lawyer may guarantee a creditor payment from settlement or judgment proceeds only with the client's consent, after explaining the matter enough for an informed decision,…
Can a lawyer guarantee the security on a client's bail bond, and can a lawyer who posted such security later withdraw it?
The committee declined to opine on the specific question, which it read as concerning another lawyer's conduct, because its rules require disclosing a third party's identity before an opinion can issu…
If a lawyer personally guarantees an arbitrator's fee and the client then refuses to pay, is the lawyer still on the hook?
The committee was of the opinion that if the lawyer guaranteed to pay the funds to the arbitrator, the lawyer is obligated to pay, even after the client instructed the lawyer not to.
What should a lawyer do with money left in the trust account because the bank never debited a check the client already cashed?
The committee was of the opinion that because the client received the funds he or she was entitled to and the bank lays no claim, the money in the trust account is no longer the client's property and …
Can a lawyer form an escrow and closing company that has nonlawyer shareholders and owners?
The committee was of the opinion that nothing in the rules prohibits a lawyer from establishing a separate escrow business with nonlawyer owners, provided the escrow business is entirely separate and …
Can a lawyer sign a hold harmless agreement with an insurer promising to pay a client's unpaid medical bills from the client's settlement funds?
The committee was of the opinion that a lawyer may enter such an agreement if the client consents after disclosure, that the conflict rules including RPC 1.8(c) must be complied with, and that once en…
Can a lawyer apply client property already in the lawyer's possession toward unpaid fees?
The committee declined to opine, saying whether the property is something the client is entitled to receive under RPC 1.14(b)(4) is a legal question the committee cannot answer.
Does a lawyer who runs a separate licensed escrow business have to follow the lawyer trust-account rule, or just the escrow-agent statute?
The committee was of the opinion that a lawyer licensed as an escrow business agent under RCW 18.44, who keeps the escrow business entirely separate from the law practice and does not hold out as a la…
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Legal ethics opinions from the Washington State Bar Association interpret the rules of professional conduct for working lawyers, in response to inquiries from members and committees. They are not binding like court discipline decisions, but courts and discipline boards treat formal opinions as substantial guidance on how the rules apply. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the original source on the bar's site.