However, there are some cases where a lawyer may be inclined to make a deposit, withdrawal, credit or debit to a Trust Account that is not related to a Client or Matter.
To make this transaction the minimum amount must be deposited to open the Trust Account with the bank and Account maintenance fees must be paid.
What we recommend doing in this situation:
- Create a Matter with your firm name as the Client or use the default "Business Development" Matter.
- For deposits and credits, record a trust payment via new retainer into the Trust Account and relate it to the Matter above. This increases the Trust Account balance and ensures the funds don’t become available to any actual Clients/Matters.
- For withdrawals and debits record a trust check and relate it to the matter above. This will decrease the trust account balance and ensure the funds don’t become available to any actual Clients/Matters.
Of course, as with anything involving Trust Accounts, please make sure you are following your jurisdictions ethics guidelines.