Tag Archive for: escrow

Attorney Accountant NY
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Attorney’s Conversion Of Client Funds Intended To Pay For Transcript Results In Discipline.

The attorney in Matter of Castro faced 11 charges of professional misconduct stemming from his conversion of client funds. The Attorney Grievance Committee's charges included neglect of a legal matter, misappropriation of client funds, commingling…
Law Accountant NY
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When a law firm receives settlement funds, may or must the firm distribute the funds over and above those owed to the client (including referral fees and expenses), or must the firm instead first transfer the settlement funds to the firm’s operating account?

New York State Bar Association Special Account Guidelines for Lawyers The New York State Bar Association Committee on Professional Ethics, in its Opinion 1127 (7/7/17), expressed the view that settlement proceeds "must be deposited into an…
Legal Bookkeeping Solution NY
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Expert Notes Need For “External Accounts” As Lawyer Misappropriates $300,000 From Barclay Damon

As law firm escrow account breaches continue to impact law firms, one expert suggests external accountants.  The New York Law Journal reports that a trusts and estates lawyer in Albany who was a senior partner at Barclay Damon was charged…
Attorney Accountant NY
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Inadvertent Misappropriation Earns Attorney A One-Year Suspension

Unintentional And Easily Avoidable Error Leads To Suspension Even Though Parties Agreed That Attorney "Did Not Steal Or Borrow Money From The Escrow Account" In Matter of Polanco, a case concerning inadvertent misappropriation, the court suspended…
Tax Accountant Lawyer Brooklyn
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The Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection paid more than $10 million in 2017, the second-largest single-year payout in the 35-year history of the fund

Second-Largest Single-Year Payout by Lawyers' Fund For Client Protection Emphasizing the need for proper law firm accounting, the New York Law Journal reports that the New York Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection, which reimburses clients…
Law Office Accounting NY
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Attorney Suspended For Commingling Funds, Improper Withdrawals, Failure To Reconcile Account

In Matter of Lenowitz, 2018 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2461 (1st Dept. Apr. 11, 2018), despite 42 years of practice and a single admonition, an attorney's routine disregard for proper financial management led to a two-year suspension for misappropriation…
Lawyer Accounting NY
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Attorney Suspended For Depositing Checks He Received On Behalf Of His Client Into His Own Business/Operating Account And Improperly Commingling Those Funds

In Matter of Goldsmith, 2018 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1410 (1st Dept. Mar. 1, 2018), the Court suspended an attorney who deposited checks he received on behalf of his client in a breach of contract action into his own operating account…
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Escrow Account Misuse Results In Attorney’s Suspension

In Matter of Kayatt, the attorney was found guilty of professional misconduct and suspended for a period of two years. The attorney had been practicing law for over 30 years, primarily focusing on matrimonial matters, when she was charged with…
Lawyer Accountant NY
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Attorney Suspended For Having Maintained Personal Funds In Trust Account And Paid Business And Personal Expenses From Account

In Matter of Walters, 2018 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 519 (1st Dept. Jan. 30, 2018), the attorney was suspended for over two years because, among other things, he maintained personal funds in his trust account and paid business and personal expenses…