Maryland Injury Law Center
On January 1, 2008, the recent IOLTA rules approved by the Maryland Court of Appeals go into effect. There have long been rules for Maryland lawyers to open a trust account for the deposit of client funds that are not purely payments for legal fees or expenses. What had been absent is any requirement as to the nuances of the maintenance of the accounts.
The recent rule, Maryland Rule 606.1, provides detail as to how IOLTA keeps accounts in Maryland. At a quick glance, there is a lot more to be done. But if a bookkeeper handles your account, as I suspect is the case for the vast majority of Maryland lawyers, you are probably already adhering to most of the recent rules. The only rule we do not follow is a notation that requires a listing of the lawyer responsible for the transaction, and, at our firm, it is always the same lawyer.