This Guide is intended for educational and informational purposes only to address disciplinary issues under the authority of the State Bar of Texas. The Guide does not constitute legal, accounting, or professional advice and no liability is assumed in connection with the information, suggestions, opinions, or links provided.
Thank you to the Washington State Bar Association
for permission to use its illustrations from Managing Client Trust Accounts—Rules, Regulations, and Common Sense.
Updated January 2024
Introduction
Rule 1.14 of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct titled “Safekeeping Property” is commonly referred to as the trust account rule. This Guide discusses the proper handling of monetary funds belonging entirely or partially to a client or third person that, as required by the rule, must be kept separate from the lawyer’s own funds by depositing the funds into a trust account. As discussed in this Guide, a trust account may be one or more interest-bearing trust accounts or Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA).[1]
Lawyers also have operational accounts, which are not subject to the disciplinary rules and not addressed in this Guide. Operational accounts are commonly used to pay law firm expenses, including the lawyer’s income. Appropriate deposits to an operational account include the lawyer’s earned fees and reimbursed expenses.
[1] Tex. Gov’t Code Ann., tit. 2, subtit. G, app. A (effective July 1, 1989); Tex. State Bar R. art. XI, § 5 (as amended December 2022).
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