RULE 1.15A
                         SAFEGUARDING PROPERTY


    (a) This Rule applies to (1) property of clients or third persons in a
lawyer's possession in connection with a representation and (2) escrow and
other funds held by a lawyer incident to the closing of any real estate or
personal property.    Additionally, for all transactions in which a lawyer has
selected, prepared, or completed legal documents for use in the closing of any
real estate or personal property transaction, the lawyer must ensure that all
funds received or held by the Closing Firm incidental to the closing of the
transaction, including advances for costs and expenses, are held and maintained
as set forth in this rule or LPORPC 1.12A.  The lawyer's duty to ensure that
all funds received or held by the Closing Firm incidental to the closing of the
transaction are held and maintained as set forth in this rule or LPORPC 1.12A
shall not apply to a lawyer when that lawyer's participation in the matter is
incidental to the closing and (i) the lawyer or lawyer's law firm has a
preexisting client-lawyer relationship with a buyer or seller in the
transaction, and (ii) neither the lawyer nor the lawyer's law firm has an
existing client-lawyer relationship with the Closing Firm or an LPO
participating in the closing.


    (b) A lawyer must not use, convert, borrow or pledge client or third person
property for the lawyer's own use.

    (c) A lawyer must hold property of clients and third persons separate from
the lawyer's own property.

    (1)  A lawyer must deposit and hold in a trust account funds subject to this
Rule pursuant to paragraph (h) of this Rule.

    (2)  Except as provided in Rule 1.5(f), and subject to the requirements of
paragraph (h) of this Rule, a lawyer shall deposit into a trust account legal
fees and expenses that have been paid in advance, to be withdrawn by the lawyer
only as fees are earned or expenses incurred.

    (3)  A lawyer must identify, label and appropriately safeguard any property of
clients or third persons other than funds. The lawyer must keep records of such
property that identify the property, the client or third person, the date of
receipt and the location of safekeeping. The lawyer must preserve the records
for seven years after return of the property.

    (d)  A lawyer must promptly notify a client or third person of receipt of
the client or third person's property.

    (e) A lawyer must promptly provide a written accounting to a client or third
person after distribution of property or upon request. A lawyer must provide at
least annually a written accounting to a client or third person for whom the
lawyer is holding funds.

    (f) Except as stated in this Rule, a lawyer must promptly pay or deliver to
the client or third person the property which the client or third person is
entitled to receive.

    (g) If a lawyer possesses property in which two or more persons (one of
which may be the lawyer) claim interests, the lawyer must maintain the property
in trust until the dispute is resolved. The lawyer must promptly distribute all
undisputed portions of the property. The lawyer must take reasonable action to
resolve the dispute, including, when appropriate, interpleading the disputed funds.

    (h) A lawyer must comply with the following for all trust accounts:

    (1) No funds belonging to the lawyer may be deposited or retained in a
trust account except as follows:

    (i) funds to pay bank charges, but only in an amount reasonably
sufficient for that purpose;

    (ii) funds belonging in part to a client or third person and in part
presently or potentially to the lawyer must be deposited and retained in a
trust account, but any portion belonging to the lawyer must be withdrawn
at the earliest reasonable time; or

    (iii) funds necessary to restore appropriate balances.

    (2) A lawyer must keep complete records as required by Rule 1.15B.

    (3) A lawyer may withdraw funds when necessary to pay client costs. The
lawyer may withdraw earned fees only after giving reasonable notice to the
client of the intent to do so, through a billing statement or other document.

    (4) Receipts must be deposited intact.

    (5) All withdrawals must be made only to a named payee and not to cash.
Withdrawals must be made by check or by bank transfer.

    (6) Trust account records must be reconciled as often as bank statements
are generated or at least quarterly. The lawyer must reconcile the check
register balance to the bank statement balance and reconcile the check
register balance to the combined total of all client ledger records required
by Rule 1.15B(a)(2).

    (7) A lawyer must not disburse funds from a trust account until deposits
have cleared the banking process and been collected, unless the lawyer and
the bank have a written agreement by which the lawyer personally guarantees
all disbursements from the account without recourse to the trust account.

    (8) Disbursements on behalf of a client or third person may not exceed the
funds of that person on deposit. The funds of a client or third person must
not be used on behalf of anyone else.

    (9) Only a lawyer admitted to practice law may be an authorized signatory
on the account.

    (i) Trust accounts must be interest-bearing and allow withdrawals or
transfers without any delay other than notice periods that are required by law
or regulation. In the exercise of ordinary prudence, a lawyer may select any
bank, savings bank, credit union or savings and loan association that is
insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or National Credit Union
Administration, is authorized by law to do business in Washington and has filed
the agreement required by ELC 15.4. Trust account funds must not be placed in
mutual funds, stocks, bonds, or similar investments.

    (1) When client or third-person funds will not produce a positive net
return to the client or third person because the funds are nominal in amount
or expected to be held for a short period of time the funds must be placed
in a pooled interest-bearing trust account known as an Interest on Lawyer's
Trust Account or IOLTA. The interest accruing on the IOLTA account, net
of reasonable check and deposit processing charges which may only include
items deposited charge, monthly maintenance fee, per item check charge, and
per deposit charge, must be paid to the Legal Foundation of Washington. Any
other fees and transaction costs must be paid by the lawyer.

    (2) Client or third-person funds that will produce a positive net return
to the client or third person must be placed in one of the following unless
the client or third person requests that the funds be deposited in an IOLTA
account:

    (i) a separate interest-bearing trust account for the particular client
or third person with earned interest paid to the client or third person; or

    (ii) a pooled interest-bearing trust account with sub-accounting that
allows for computation of interest earned by each client or third person's
funds with the interest paid to the appropriate client or third person.

    (3) In determining whether to use the account specified in paragraph (i)(1)
or an account specified in paragraph (i)(2), a lawyer must consider
only whether the funds will produce a positive net return to the client or
third person, as determined by the following factors:

    (i) the amount of interest the funds would earn based on the current
rate of interest and the expected period of deposit;

    (ii) the cost of establishing and administering the account, including
the cost of the lawyer's services and the cost of preparing any tax
reports required for interest accruing to a client or third person's
benefit; and

    (iii) the capability of financial institutions to calculate and pay
interest to individual clients or third persons if the account in
paragraph (i)(2)(ii) is used.

    (4) As to IOLTA accounts created under paragraph (i)(1), lawyers or law
firms must direct the depository institution:

    (i) to remit interest or dividends, net of charges authorized by
paragraph (i)(1), on the average monthly balance in the account, or as
otherwise computed in accordance with an institution's standard accounting
practice, monthly, to the Legal Foundation of Washington;

    (ii) to transmit with each remittance to the Foundation a statement, on
a form authorized by the Washington State Bar Association, showing details
about the account, including but not limited to the name of the lawyer or
law firm for whom the remittance is sent, the rate of interest applied,
and the amount of service charges deducted, if any, and the balance used
to compute the interest, with a copy of such statement to be transmitted
to the depositing lawyer or law firm; and

    (iii) to bill fees and transaction costs not authorized by paragraph (i)(1)
to the lawyer or law firm.

    (5) The provisions of paragraph (i) do not relieve a lawyer or law firm
from any obligation imposed by these Rules.

    (j) The Legal Foundation of Washington must prepare an annual report to the
Supreme Court of Washington that summarizes the Foundation's income, grants and
operating expenses, implementation of its corporate purposes, and any problems
arising in the administration of the program established by paragraph (i) of
this Rule.


Washington Comments

[1] A lawyer must also comply with the recordkeeping rule for trust
accounts, Rule 1.15B.

[2] Client funds include, but are not limited to, the following: legal fees
and costs that have been paid in advance other than retainers and flat fees
complying with the requirements of Rule 1.5(f), funds received on behalf of a
client, funds to be paid by a client to a third party through the lawyer, other
funds subject to attorney and other liens, and payments received in excess of
amounts billed for fees.

[3] This Rule applies to property held in any fiduciary capacity in
connection with a representation, whether as trustee, agent, escrow agent,
guardian, personal representative, executor, or otherwise.

[4] The inclusion of ethical obligations to third persons in the handling of
trust funds and property is not intended to expand or otherwise affect existing
law regarding a Washington lawyer's liability to third parties other than
clients. See, e.g., Trask v. Butler, 123 Wn.2d 835, 872 P.2d 1080 (1994);
Hetzel v. Parks, 93 Wn. App. 929, 971 P.2d 115 (1999).

[5] Property covered by this Rule includes original documents affecting
legal rights such as wills or deeds.

[6] A lawyer has a duty to take reasonable steps to locate a client or third
person for whom the lawyer is holding funds or property. If after taking
reasonable steps, the lawyer is still unable to locate the client or third
person, the lawyer should treat the funds as unclaimed property under the
Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, RCW 63.29.

[7] A lawyer may not use as a trust account an account in which funds are
periodically transferred by the bank between a trust account and an uninsured
account or other account that would not qualify as a trust account under this Rule.

[8] If a lawyer accepts payment of an advanced fee deposit by credit card,
the payment must be deposited directly into the trust account. It cannot be
deposited into a general account and then transferred to the trust
account. Similarly, credit card payments of earned fees, of retainers meeting
the requirements of Rule 1.5(f)(1), and of flat fees meeting the requirements
of Rule 1.5(f)(2) cannot be deposited into the trust account and then
transferred to another account.

[9] Under paragraph (g), the extent of the efforts that a lawyer is
obligated to take to resolve a dispute depend on the amount in dispute, the
availability of methods for alternative dispute resolution, and the likelihood
of informal resolution.

[10] The requirement in paragraph (h)(4) that receipts must be deposited
intact means that a lawyer cannot deposit one check or negotiable instrument
into two or more accounts at the same time, commonly known as a split deposit.

[11] Paragraph (h)(7) permits Washington lawyers to enter into written
agreements with the trust account financial institution to provide for
disbursement of trust deposits prior to formal notice of dishonor or
collection. In essence the trust account bank is agreeing to or has guaranteed
a loan to the lawyer and the client for the amount of the trust deposit pending
collection of that deposit from the institution upon which the instrument was
written. A Washington lawyer may only enter into such an arrangement if 1)
there is a formal written agreement between the attorney and the trust account
institution, and 2) the trust account financial institution provides the lawyer
with written assurance that in the event of dishonor of the deposited
instrument or other difficulty in collecting the deposited funds, the financial
institution will not have recourse to the trust account to obtain the funds to
reimburse the financial institution. A lawyer must never use one client's money
to pay for withdrawals from the trust account on behalf of another client who
is paid subject to the lawyer's guarantee. The trust account financial
institution must agree that the institution will not seek to fund the
guaranteed withdrawal from the trust account, but will instead look to the
lawyer for payment of uncollectible funds. Any such agreement must ensure that
the trust account funds or deposits of any other client's or third person's
money into the trust account would not be affected by the guarantee.

[12] The Legal Foundation of Washington was established by Order of the
Supreme Court of Washington.

[13] A lawyer may, but is not required to, notify the client of the intended
use of funds paid to the Foundation.

[14] If the client or third person requests that funds that would be
deposited in a separate interest-bearing account instead be held in the IOLTA
account, the lawyer should document this request in the lawyer's trust account
records and preferably should confirm the request in writing to the client or
third person.

[15] A lawyer may not receive from financial institutions earnings credits
or any other benefit from the financial institution based on the balance
maintained in a trust account.

[16] The term "Closing Firm" as used in this rule has the same definition as
in ELPOC 1.3(g).

[17] The lawyer may satisfy the requirement of paragraph (a), that the
lawyer must ensure that all funds received or held by the Closing Firm
incidental to the closing of the transaction including advances for costs and
expenses, are held and maintained as set forth in this rule or LPORPC 1.12A, by
obtaining a certification or other reasonable assurance from the Closing Firm
that the funds are being held in accordance with RPC 1.15A and/or LPORPC 1.12A.
The lawyer is not required to personally inspect the books and records of the
Closing Firm.

The last sentence of Paragraph (a) is intended to relieve a lawyer from
the duties of paragraph (a) only if the lawyer or the lawyer's law firm has a
previous client-lawyer relationship with one of the parties to the transaction
and that party is a buyer or seller.  Lawyers may be called on by clients to
review deeds prepared during the escrow process, or may be asked to prepare
special deeds such as personal representative's deeds for use in the closing.
A lawyer may also be asked by a client to review documents such as settlement
statements or tax affidavits that have been prepared for the closing.  Such
activities are limited in scope and are only incidental to the closing.  The
exception stated in the last sentence of paragraph (a) does not apply if the
lawyer or the lawyer's law firm has an existing client-lawyer relationship with
the Closing Firm or with a limited practice officer who is participating in the closing.


[Amended effective September 1, 2006. Amended effective November 18, 2008;
Amended effective January 1, 2009]