Client Funds: Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid
Total Credits: 1 including 1 Ethics Credits
- Average Rating:
- Not yet rated
- Categories:
- Ethics
- Faculty:
- Thomas E. Spahn
- Original Program Date:
- Jul 16, 2025
- License:
- Never Expires.
Description
This program provides attorneys with essential guidance on managing client funds to ensure compliance with ethical and legal obligations. Participants will learn about common mistakes, such as commingling funds, improper disbursements, and inadequate recordkeeping, that can lead to disciplinary actions. The program will also offer practical strategies and best practices for safeguarding client funds and maintaining accurate financial records. By the end of the session, attorneys will be better equipped to avoid pitfalls and uphold their fiduciary duties with confidence.
Schedule:
- Understanding ethical rules and fiduciary duties related to managing client funds.
- Identifying common mistakes, such as commingling, misappropriation, and improper disbursements.
- Best practices for maintaining accurate trust account records and complying with financial reporting requirements.
- Practical strategies to safeguard client funds and avoid disciplinary actions or malpractice claims.
Handouts
| Handout 1 (1.4 MB) | 362 Pages | Available after Purchase |
| Handout 2 (270.3 KB) | 68 Pages | Available after Purchase |
| Handout 3 (474.7 KB) | 50 Pages | Available after Purchase |
Faculty
Thomas E. Spahn Related Seminars and Products
McGuireWoods, LLP
Thomas E. Spahn is a partner in the McLean, Virginia office of McGuireWoods, LLP, where he has a substantial practice advising clients on properly creating and preserving the attorney-client privilege and work product protections. For more than 30 years he has lectured extensively on legal ethics and professionalism and has written “The Attorney-Client Privilege and the Work Product Doctrine: A Practitioner’s Guide,” a 750 page treatise published by the Virginia Law Foundation. Mr. Spahn has served as a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility and as a member of the Virginia State Bar's Legal Ethics Committee.
