Rule 7 - Miscellaneous MattersA. Any attorney who is admitted to practice law in another jurisdiction having attorney trust account overdraft notification rules that are substantially similar to the Indiana rules governing attorney trust account overdraft notification may apply to the Disciplinary Commission for exemption from compliance with these rules to the extent that the attorney maintains trust funds belonging to Indiana clients in a trust account in a foreign jurisdiction that is subject to overdraft reporting under the rules of that jurisdiction. Any such application for exemption shall be in writing and shall include: 1) a copy of the rules from the other jurisdiction governing attorney trust account overdraft notification; 2) a copy of the agreement between the applicable financial institution and the agency in the foreign jurisdiction that administers the overdraft notification program verifying that the financial institution participates in the foreign jurisdiction's attorney trust account notification program; 3) a list of the names of all financial institutions, account names, and account numbers of all trust accounts maintained by the attorney in the foreign jurisdiction; and 4) a certification under oath by the attorney that each such foreign trust account has been properly identified to the foreign financial institution as an attorney trust account subject to overdraft reporting. Any attorney seeking exemption under the terms of this provision is under a continuing obligation to immediately report any changes in the information provided to the Disciplinary Commission.
B. Admission and Discipline Rule 23, Section 29(a)(6) contemplates that a designee who is not admitted to practice law in Indiana may be an authorized signatory on a trust account. In the event an attorney or law firm delegates trust account signature authority to any person who is not admitted to practice law in Indiana, such delegation on shall be accompanied by specific safeguards, including at a minimum the following: 1. All periodic account activity statements from the financial institution shall be delivered unopened to and reviewed by an attorney having supervisory authority over the non-attorney signatory; and 2. Responsibility for conducting periodic reconciliations between internal trust account records and periodic trust account activity statements from the financial institution shall be vested in a person who has no signature authority over the trust account. C. All communications from financial institutions to the Disciplinary Commission shall be directed to: Executive Secretary, Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission, 30 South Meridian Street, Suite 850, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204. Ind. R. Att'y Trust Acct. 7
Adopted Dec. 23, 1996, effective 7/1/1997; amended Dec. 4, 1998, effective 1/1/1999; amended Sept. 10, 2007, effective 1/1/2008.