Opinion 404

Statement of Facts Discussion Conclusion

No. To do so would violate Disciplinary Rule 9-102 which reads as follows: DR 9-102 Preserving Identity of Funds and Property of a Client. (A) All funds of clients paid to a lawyer or law firm, other than advances for costs and expenses, shall be deposited in one or more identifiable bank accounts maintained in the state in which the law office is situated and no funds belonging to the lawyer or law firm shall be deposited therein except as follows: (1) Funds reasonably sufficient to pay bank charges may be deposited therein. (2) Funds belonging in part to a client and in part presently or potentially to the lawyer or law firm must be deposited therein, but the portion belonging to the lawyer or law firm may be withdrawn when due unless the right of the lawyer or law firm to receive it is disputed by the client, in which event the disputed portion shall not be withdrawn until the dispute is finally settled. (B) A lawyer shall: (1) Promptly notify a client of the receipt of his funds, securities, or other properties. (2) Identify and label securities and properties of a client promptly upon receipt and place them in a safe deposit box or other place of safekeeping as soon as practicable. (3) Maintain complete records of all funds, securities, and other properties of a client coming into the possession of the lawyer and render appropriate accounts to his client regarding them. (4) Promptly pay or deliver to the client as requested by a client the funds, securities, or other properties in the possession of the lawyer which the client is entitled to receive.

While DR 9-102 does not contain a specific prohibition on retaining the interest from client money, implicit in the rule is a recognition that an attorney, both as an attorney and a fiduciary, has no right to client money and is held to a high standard of accountability. In such a relationship, the attorney accepts the client's funds in trust and remains strictly accountable for his or her own conduct in administering that trust. See, Bar Ass'n v. Marshall, 269 Md. 510, 307 A.2d 677, 682 (1973). And, while the argument has been advanced that money should not lie fallow, it has long been a well- recognized rule of fiduciary relationships that a fiduciary may not personally profit from funds or property entrusted to his control or custody. Furthermore, nothing can change the fact that the money simply does not belong to the attorney.

DR 9-102(A) does not specify that the interest earned on the funds in the client's trust account belongs to the client, however. Commentators have criticized this omission, noting that it might allow attorneys to misappropriate such interest. Note, "Attorney Misappropriation of Clients' Funds: A Study in Professional Responsibility," 10 U. Mich. J.L. Ref., 415, 436 (1977). But, since no question is presented as to whether an attorney has an obligation to earn interest for the client, the Committee expresses no opinion. The holding of this opinion is that an attorney may not use client money to earn interest for himself by placing it in an interest bearing account.

Were this committee to take any other view, it would be authorizing attorneys to use other people's money to benefit themselves. Such a holding would be inconsistent with the nature of the attorney-client relationship as well as approving a situation fraught with possibilities for conflicts of interest and overreaching.