(a) Attorney Participation. Commencing on the date established by regulations to be adopted by the Board of Trustees pursuant to Rule 1:28A-1(d), every attorney who practices in this State shall maintain in a financial institution in New Jersey, in the attorney's own name or in the name of a partnership of attorneys, or in the name of the professional corporation or limited liability entity of which the attorney is a member, or in the name of the attorney or partnership of attorneys by whom employed, an IOLTA non-interest-bearing trust account or accounts for all clients' funds that are not placed at interest for the benefit of the client.
(1) The IOLTA non-interest-bearing trust account may be established with any financial institution approved by the Supreme Court to hold attorney trust funds under R. 1:21-6(a) and insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or an analogous federal government agency. Funds in each IOLTA non-interest-bearing trust account will be subject to withdrawal on request and without delay.
(2) Funds shall be deposited in an IOLTA non-interest-bearing trust account authorized by this Rule when an attorney determines that a trust account deposit will not be placed at interest for a client. Such a determination shall be made whenever an attorney determines that either (A) the amount of the funds or the period of time that the funds are held, if deposited in an interest-bearing account, would not earn interest in excess of the cost incurred to secure such interest, or(B) because of particular costs in accounting, administration, or attribution of income, as may occur when multiple parties or clients pool advance payments against the costs of litigation in a single fund, a client's funds should not be deposited in an interest-bearing account because they will not realize income. No ethical impropriety will attend an attorney's depositing such funds in an IOLTA non-interest-bearing trust account in accordance with this Rule.
(3) An attorney or law firm shall maintain one or more IOLTA non-interest-bearing trust accounts and shall submit to the approved financial institutions in which such accounts are maintained such forms as may be necessary to establish and maintain such accounts or to open IOLTA interest-bearing trust accounts, on forms prescribed by the Trustees, and provide a copy of such form to the IOLTA Fund Trustees. If such a form is not filed, the signed registration statement required by Rule 1:20-1 and Rule 1:21-6 shall constitute such authorization.
(b) Deposit of Funds in IOLTA Account. An attorney will exercise good-faith judgment in determining initially whether the funds of a client are of a nominal amount, are expected to be held by the attorney for a short period of time, or otherwise fall within the circumstances described in (a) above.
In exercising that judgment, the attorney will also consider such other factors as:
(1) the cost of establishing and maintaining a separate non-IOLTA, interest-bearing trust account, including service charges, bookkeeping and accounting and tax-reporting procedures;
(2) the nature of the transaction(s) involved;
(3) the likelihood of delay in the matter for which the funds are held;
(4) whether the funds received by an attorney in a fiduciary capacity from a client or beneficial owner will generate less than $150 of interest, provided that that $150 figure may be used by an attorney as a minimum threshold indicating whether monies received in a fiduciary capacity should be placed in an IOLTA trust account, but shall not preclude the use of a higher figure if the costs or circumstances warrant; and
(5) the other circumstances described in (a) above.
(c) Periodic Review of Deposits. At reasonable intervals, an attorney should consider whether changed circumstances require different action respecting the deposit of client funds.
(d) Registration; Enforcement. The accounts required by this Rule shall be registered annually with the IOLTA Fund in the manner prescribed by the IOLTA Fund Trustees. The Trustees shall annually report the names of all attorneys failing to comply with the provisions of this Rule to the Supreme Court for inclusion on a list of those attorneys deemed ineligible to practice law in New Jersey by Order of the Court. An attorney shall be removed from the Ineligible List without further Order of the Court on submission to the Trustees of the prescribed forms.
(e) Duties of Financial Institution. The financial institution must:
(1) from its income on such IOLTA accounts remit to the Fund the amount remaining after providing such institutions a just and reasonable return equivalent to their return on similar non-IOLTA interest-bearing deposits. These remittances shall be monthly unless otherwise authorized by the Funds and
(2) report in the form provided by the Fund.
Note: adopted February 23, 1988, to be effective March 1, 1988; former rule deleted and R. 1:28A-3 renumbered as 1:28A-2 September 15, 1992, to be effective January 1, 1993; paragraph (a)(1) of former R. 1:28A-3 amended November 7, 1988, to be effective January 2, 1989; rule amended September 15, 1992, to be effective January 1, 1993; new paragraph (d) adopted and former paragraph (d) redesignated as paragraph (e) December 13, 1993, to be effective January 3, 1994; paragraph (a) amended July 10, 1998 to be effective September 1, 1998; paragraphs (a) and (e) amended February 6, 2003 to be effective March 1, 2003.
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