Loading the player...
Information
Trust Account Basics for New Lawyers
Length: 01:00
Trust account problems remain one of the top reasons attorneys are disciplined in the US. Certainly there have been and will continue to be attorneys whose trust accounting activities are egregious and in some situations criminal. However, this does not account for all of the problems. Far too often, an attorney was less than diligent about maintaining proper and appropriate financial practices in the office and things simply got out of hand. This program will start with a discussion of trust accounting basics, address common missteps lawyers make, and share best practices to help attorneys stay on the right path.
A Sampling of Attendee Takeaways:
- An explanation of the basics of setting up and maintaining a client trust account
- An awareness of the importance of attorney oversight of client property coupled with the details of how to accomplish this
- An understanding of the common missteps that others make.
- How a misunderstanding of banking terms and practices can lead to problems.
Mark Bassingthwaighte, Esq, Risk Manager, ALPS
Since 1998, Mark Bassingthwaighte, Esq., has been a Risk Manager with ALPS, the nation’s largest direct writer of lawyers’ malpractice insurance. In his tenure with our company, Mr. Bassingthwaighte has conducted over 1200 law firm risk management assessment visits, presented over 600 continuing legal education seminars throughout the United States, and written extensively on risk management, ethics, and technology. Mr. Bassingthwaighte is a member of the State Bar of Montana as well as the American Bar Association where he currently sits on the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility’s Conference Planning Committee. He received his J.D. from Drake University Law School.
