New York IOLA Compliance: Rule 1.15 and 2021 Bank Notice

New York calls its trust account interest program IOLA (Interest on Lawyer Account). This page covers two specific pieces of New York’s rules — the core IOLA recordkeeping requirements under Rule 1.15, and a 2021 amendment requiring banks to be notified when a trust account is opened — not the whole of New York trust accounting requirements.

Core IOLA rules: segregation and 7-year retention

Rule 1.15 of New York’s Rules of Professional Conduct (22 NYCRR Part 1200) is the base rule governing attorney trust accounts, including IOLA accounts. It requires a lawyer holding client or third-party funds to keep them separate from the lawyer’s own funds — commingling them is a violation of the rule — and to maintain trust account records, including records of deposits and withdrawals, for seven years after the events they record.

The April 7, 2021 Joint Order: bank notification

On April 7, 2021, the Presiding Justices of New York’s four Appellate Division Departments issued a Joint Order amending Rule 1.15 and 22 NYCRR 1300.1. Among other changes, it added a requirement that lawyers and law firms promptly notify their banking institution of an existing or new attorney special, trust, or escrow account, so the bank can carry out its own reporting obligations under that section.

[À VÉRIFIER : au-delà de la séparation des fonds, de la conservation de 7 ans, et de l’obligation de notification bancaire du 7 avril 2021, aucune autre exigence IOLA de New York n’est documentée sur cette page. En particulier, New York n’a pas de règle de notification bancaire automatique liée à un délai d’inactivité de 2,5 ans — cette règle existe dans le Massachusetts, pas à New York ; ne pas la confondre avec les exigences new-yorkaises ci-dessus.]