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.
No Washington State Bar Association opinions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
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…
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…
Can the portion of a flat fee meant to cover specified costs (like a filing fee) be treated as the lawyer's property, or must it go in trust?
It must go in trust. An advance specified for expenses cannot be part of a flat fee that is the lawyer's property on receipt; it must be deposited in the lawyer's IOLTA account and kept there until th…
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 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…
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 keep a 'non-refundable availability retainer' as the lawyer's own property if it credits the client future hours, and can hourly-rate work be called pro bono?
No. The committee concluded that a fee crediting future legal services is not a true retainer under RPC 1.5(f)(1), so it must go into trust under RPC 1.15A(c)(2); and labeling full-rate hourly work as…
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 withdraw earned hourly fees from the client trust account at the moment of sending the billing statement, before the client has time to review it?
The committee declined to bless specific contract language, but explained that RPC 1.15A(h)(3) requires reasonable notice before withdrawing earned fees, so the lawyer should not withdraw until the cl…
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 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 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 with a religious objection to interest-bearing accounts hold client funds in a non-interest-bearing account instead?
The committee said no. RPC 1.14 contains no exception for lawyers with a religious objection to using interest-bearing accounts, so a lawyer may not place client funds in a non-interest-bearing accoun…
Can a non-profit law firm charge a flat non-refundable fee for incidental file-opening costs and deposit it in its regular account instead of its trust account?
The committee said yes. A non-profit firm that charges a $100 non-refundable fee for the incidental costs of opening a file may place that fee in its regular account when it is received, rather than h…
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 court-appointed criminal defense lawyer take part in a county program that pays a flat fee plus court-approved costs and routes advance payments through the lawyer's trust account?
The committee found no inherent conflict between the county's compensation proposal and counsel's trust-account (RPC 1.14), independence (RPC 1.8(f)), and confidentiality (RPC 1.6) duties: advance dep…
Are flat fees allowed in Washington, where should a flat fee be deposited, and what if the work isn't finished?
Flat fees are allowed if reasonable. The committee concluded a flat fee does not violate the RPCs but must be reasonable under RPC 1.5 (and may be unreasonable if the relationship ends before the work…
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…
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…
When a client's spouse pays the fees and later wants a refund, who controls the money and what stays in trust?
The committee concluded that the client, not the paying spouse, controls the funds: the $250 in costs must stay in the IOLTA trust account, while the $1,500 flat fee's trust status depends on whether …
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…
Does a nonrefundable flat fee have to go in the client trust account in Washington?
The committee concluded that an advance fee deposit must be placed in trust, while a retainer paid to secure the lawyer's availability is earned at the time of receipt and is not. A nonrefundable fee …
Which trust-account rules must a lawyer licensed in Washington and another state follow when the rules conflict?
The committee concluded that a dual-licensed Washington attorney must adhere to Washington trust-account procedures under RPC 1.14 whenever the Washington license is used to represent a client and rec…
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…
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…
What must a law firm do when it discovers a former shareholder or employee stole client funds?
The committee was of the opinion that under RPC 8.3(a) the firm should promptly report the misconduct (though the rule's 'should' makes reporting non-mandatory), and that under RPC 1.4(b) it had a dut…
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 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 …
What must a law firm do when it learns a former partner overcharged clients for expenses and may have had access to client trust accounts?
The committee was of the opinion that the firm must disclose the former shareholder's conduct and the potential conflict to every client the shareholder could have stolen from, conduct an independent …
Should a lawyer keep the fees owed to a referral service in the client trust account?
The committee concluded there is no attorney-client relationship between the lawyer and the referral service, so the funds owed to the referral service are not client funds and should not be held in t…
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,…
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 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…
Does the trust-account rule need a new provision telling lawyers how to disburse funds when more than one person claims them?
The committee was of the opinion that no amendment is required: the existing rule, which directs paying the client the funds the client 'is entitled to receive,' resolves the issue, and the question o…
If a law firm finds an overbalance in its trust account that may be unwithdrawn earned fees, can it simply take the money, and who pays to prove the fees were earned?
The committee was of the opinion that before taking trust-account funds as earned fees, the firm bears the burden of demonstrating its right to claim ownership, and that any auditing or accounting cos…
Can a lawyer release a deceased client's trust funds to the client's mother?
The committee was of the opinion that this is a legal rather than an ethical question; all it could say is that the lawyer may deliver the money to the mother if the lawyer is satisfied that she is en…
Must a lawyer serving as trustee, guardian, or executor hold those funds in a client trust account under the trust-account rule?
The committee was of the opinion that funds and property a lawyer holds purely as a fiduciary (trustee, guardian, or executor), where the beneficiaries or ward are not clients, are not client funds an…
Does a bank arrangement using a firm's line of credit to cover trust-account obligations comply with the trust-account rules?
The committee reviewed a letter agreement under which a firm's general account and line of credit would be used for immediate payment of trust obligations under WSBA Formal Opinion 177, and was of the…
Can a lawyer take unpaid fees out of trust funds received for a client whose whereabouts are unknown?
Not without authority. The committee was of the opinion that before disbursing any client funds to himself, the lawyer would need either the client's consent as provided in RPC 1.14 or to assert and e…
Can a lawyer authorize a nonlawyer staff member to use a signature stamp to sign the lawyer's trust-account checks?
Not specifically prohibited, but the committee was of the opinion that the practice is very poor and might fall so far below the minimal standard of care as to border on incompetence, given the great …
Can a lawyer hold a client's file under an attorney's lien for unpaid fees, and what must the lawyer turn over when a former client asks for the file?
The committee concluded that a lawyer may not assert a retaining lien on a client's papers or money when withholding them would materially interfere with the client's later representation, or against …
What must a lawyer do with trust-account funds held for a client whose whereabouts are unknown?
The committee was of the opinion that when a lawyer holds funds in trust for a client whose whereabouts are unknown, the lawyer is obliged to follow the requirements of the Uniform Unclaimed Property …
If a lawyer receives funds payable to a client that the client is not entitled to, what must the lawyer do before returning them?
The committee concluded that a lawyer who receives funds payable to a client that the client is not entitled to must advise the client of the lawyer's intention to return the funds and the reason, so …
Can a lawyer promise a client's medical provider that settlement funds will be used to pay the provider's bill?
Not without the client's informed consent. The committee concluded that settlement or judgment funds are the client's, so a lawyer could not guarantee paying a chiropractor's bill out of them without …
Can a lawyer run personal or a spouse's real estate and business transactions through the law office trust account?
The committee concluded that a lawyer may not collect his own vendor's interest in a real estate contract through the trust account, because RPC 1.14(a) bars depositing a lawyer's or firm's own funds …
Can a client waive the rule that a lawyer's trust funds be kept in a 'qualified' account?
No. The committee continued its opinion that RPC 1.14(c)'s requirement to deposit client trust funds in qualified accounts is mandatory and may not be waived by the client, though the lawyer may distr…
Browse Washington State Bar Association opinions by topic
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.