Miss. R. Prof. Conduct 1.15

Effective January 1, 2007

(a) A lawyer shall hold clients’ and third persons’ property separate from the lawyer's own

property. Funds shall be kept in a separate trust account maintained in the state where the lawyer's

office is situated, or elsewhere with the consent of the client or third person. Other property shall be

identified as such and appropriately safeguarded. Complete records of such trust account funds and

other property shall be kept and preserved by the lawyer for a period of seven years after termination

of the representation.

(b) Upon receiving funds or other property in which a client or third person has an interest, a

lawyer shall promptly notify the client or third person. Except as stated in this Rule or otherwise

permitted by law or by agreement with the client, a lawyer shall promptly deliver to the client or third

person any funds or other property the client or third person is entitled to receive and, upon request

by the client or third person, shall promptly render a full accounting regarding such property.

(c) When a lawyer is in possession of property in which both the lawyer and another person

claim an interest, the property shall be kept separate by the lawyer until completion of an accounting

and severance of their respective interests. If a dispute arises concerning their respective interests,

the lawyer shall disburse the portion not in dispute, and keep separate the portion in dispute until the

dispute is resolved.

(d) Except as provided in paragraph (f) of this rule, a lawyer or law firm shall create and

maintain an interest- or dividend-bearing trust account (IOLTA Account) for all funds which are

nominal or short term funds that cannot earn income for the client or third party in excess of the costs

incurred to secure such income (IOLTA eligible Funds), pursuant to the following:

(1) All trust Funds shall be deposited in a lawyer's or law firm's IOLTA Account unless– in

the lawyer’s judgment – the funds can earn income for the client or third party in excess of

the costs incurred to secure such income.

(2) No earnings from such an IOLTA Account shall be made available to a lawyer or law

firm.

(3) IOLTA Accounts shall be established only with financial institutions:

i. authorized by federal or state law to do business in Mississippi;

ii. the deposits of which are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance

Corporation or the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation or any

successors thereof;

iii. which pay a rate of interest or dividend on IOLTA Accounts that is no less

than the highest rate generally available to its own non-IOLTA Account

depositors when the IOLTA Account meets the same minimum balance or

other eligibility requirements, provided however that: (a) IOLTA Accounts

may be maintained in an interest-bearing checking account or an interest or

dividend-bearing account with check-writing and with a sweep feature which

is tied to either a money market account insured by an agency of the federal

government or a money market fund or daily overnight repurchase agreement

invested solely in or fully collateralized by U.S. Government securities

(defined as U.S. Treasury obligations and obligations issued or guaranteed as

to principal and interest by the United States or any agency or instrumentality

thereof) so long as there is no impairment of the right to immediately

withdraw and transfer principal as soon as permitted by law; (b) institutions

may choose to pay these rates on a qualifying IOLTA checking account

instead of establishing the higher rate product; and (c) institutions may also

elect to pay a higher interest or dividend rate and may waive any fees on

IOLTA Accounts.

(4) Financial institutions are prohibited from using interest from one IOLTA Account to pay

fees or charges in excess of the interest earned on another IOLTA Account. If not waived by

the financial institution, such fees, if any, are the responsibility of the lawyer or the law firm.

(5) Lawyers or law firms depositing funds in an IOLTA Account established pursuant to this

rule shall direct the depository institution:

i. to remit all interest, net of reasonable service charges or fees, if any, on the average

monthly balance in the account, or as otherwise computed in accordance with the

institution's standard accounting practice, at least quarterly, to the Mississippi Bar

Foundation, Inc. For the purposes of this paragraph, reasonable services charges or

fees shall not include fees for wire transfers, insufficient funds, bad checks, stop

payments, account reconciliation, negative collected balances and check printing;

ii. to transmit with each remittance to the Foundation a report showing the following

information for each IOLTA Account: the name of the lawyer or law firm, the

amount of interest or dividends earned, the rate and type of interest or dividend

applied, the amount of any services charges or fees assessed during the remittance

period, the net amount of interest or dividends remitted for the period, the average

account balance for the period for which the interest was earned and such other

information as is reasonably required by the Foundation;

iii. to transmit to the depositing lawyer or law firm a periodic account statement in

accordance with normal procedures for reporting to depositors.

(e) Any IOLTA Account which has or may have the net effect of costing the IOLTA program

more in fees than earned in interest over a period of time may, at the discretion of the Foundation,

be exempted from and removed from the IOLTA program. Exemption of an IOLTA Account from

the IOLTA program revokes the permission to use the Foundation's tax identification number for that

account. Exemption of such account from the IOLTA program shall not relieve the lawyer and/or

law firm from the obligation to maintain the nominal or short term funds of clients and third persons

separately, as required above, in a non-interest bearing account.

(f) Every lawyer admitted to practice in this State shall annually certify to this Court that all

IOLTA eligible Funds are held in an IOLTA Account, or that the lawyer is exempt because the

lawyer:

(1) is not engaged in the private practice of law;

(2) does not have an office within the State of Mississippi;

(3) is a judge, attorney general, public defender, U.S. attorney, district attorney, on duty

with the armed services or employed by a local, state or federal government, and is

not otherwise engaged in the private practice of law;

(4) is a corporate counsel or teacher of law and is not otherwise engaged in the private

practice of law;

(5) has been exempted pursuant to Section (e) above; or

(6) has been exempted by an order of general or special application of this Court which

is cited in the certification.

(g) In the exercise of a lawyer's good faith judgment in determining whether funds can earn

income in excess of costs, a lawyer may take into consideration all reasonable factors including,

without limitation:

(1) the amount of the funds to be deposited;

(2) the expected duration of the deposit, including the likelihood of delay in the matter

for which the funds are held;

(3) the rates of interest or yield at the financial institutions where the funds are to be

deposited;

(4) the cost of establishing and administering the account, including the cost of the

lawyer's services, accounting fees, and tax reporting costs and procedures;

(5) the capability of a financial institution, a lawyer or a law firm to calculate and pay

income to individual clients; and

(6) any other circumstances that affect the ability of the funds to earn a net return for the

client.

(h) A lawyer shall review the IOLTA Account at reasonable intervals to determine whether

changed circumstances require further action with respect to the funds of any client.

(i) The determination of whether funds are nominal or short-term so that they can not earn

income in excess of costs shall rest in the sound judgment of the lawyer or law firm. No lawyer shall

be charged with an ethical impropriety or other breach of professional conduct based on the good

faith exercise of such judgment.

(j) A lawyer generally may not use, endanger, or encumber money held in trust for a client or

third person without the permission of the owner given after full disclosure of the circumstances.

Except for disbursements based upon any of the four categories of limited-risk uncollected deposits

enumerated in paragraph (1) below, a lawyer may not disburse funds held in trust unless the funds

are collected funds. For purposes of this provision, "collected funds" means funds deposited, finally

settled, and credited to the lawyer's trust account.

(1) Certain categories of trust account deposits are considered to carry a limited and

acceptable risk of failure so that disbursements of trust account funds may be made in

reliance on such deposits without disclosure to and permission of clients and third persons

owning trust account funds that may be affected by such disbursements. Provided the lawyer

has other sources of funds available at the time of disbursement (other than client or third

party funds) sufficient to replace any uncollected funds, not withstanding that a deposit made

to the lawyer's trust account has not been finally settled and credited to the account, the

lawyer may disburse funds from the trust account in reliance on such deposit under any of

the following circumstances:

(i) when the deposit is made by certified check or cashier's check;

(ii) when the deposit is made by a bank check, official check, treasurer's check,

money order, or other such instrument where the payor is a bank, savings and loan

association, or credit union;

(iii) when the deposit is made by a check issued by the United States, the State of

Mississippi, or any agency or political subdivision of the State of Mississippi; or

(iv) when the deposit is made by a check or draft issued by an insurance company,

title insurance company, or a licensed title insurance agency authorized to do

business in the State of Mississippi.

In any of the above circumstances, a lawyer's disbursement of funds from a trust account in reliance

on deposits that are not yet collected funds is at the risk of the lawyer making the disbursement. If

any of the deposits fail, for any reason, the lawyer, upon obtaining knowledge of the failure, must

immediately act to protect the property of the lawyer's clients and third persons. If the lawyer

accepting any such check personally pays the amount of any failed deposit within three business days

of receipt of notice that the deposit has failed, the lawyer will not be considered guilty of

professional misconduct based upon the disbursement of uncollected funds.

(2) A lawyer's disbursement of funds from a trust account in reliance on deposits that are

not yet collected funds in any circumstances other than those four categories set forth above, when

it results in funds of clients or third persons being used, endangered, or encumbered, will be grounds

for a finding of professional misconduct.