Rule 2-27. Clients' Funds; Attorney Registration

(a) Consistent with the requirement of Rule 1.15 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, each attorney or law firm shall maintain, separate from the attorney's or the firm's personal funds, one or more accounts accurately reflecting the status of funds handled by the attorney or firm as fiduciary or attorney, and shall not use such funds for any unauthorized purpose.

(b) Each attorney or law firm maintaining one or more trust accounts as defined in Rule 1.15 of the Rules of Professional Conduct and Section 228 (b) shall keep records of the maintenance and disposition of all funds of clients or of third persons held by the attorney or firm in a fiduciary capacity from the time of receipt to the time of final distribution. Each attorney or law firm shall retain the records required by Rule 1.15 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for a period of seven years after termination of the representation.

(c) Such books of account and statements of reconciliation, and any other records required to be maintained pursuant to Rule 1.15 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, shall be made available upon request of the Statewide Grievance Committee or its counsel, or the disciplinary counsel for review, examination or audit upon receipt of notice by the Statewide Grievance Committee of an overdraft notice as provided by Section 2-28 (f). Upon the filing of a grievance complaint or a finding of probable cause, such records shall be made available upon request of the Statewide Grievance Committee, its counsel or the disciplinary counsel for review or audit.

(d) Each attorney shall register with the Statewide Grievance Committee, on a form devised by the committee, the address of the attorney's office or offices maintained for the practice of law, the attorney's office email address and business telephone number, the name and address of every financial institution with which the attorney maintains any account in which the funds of more than one client are kept and the identification number of any such account. Such registrations will be made on an annual basis and at such time as the attorney changes his or her address or addresses or location or identification number of any such trust account in which the funds of more than one client are kept. The registration forms filed pursuant to this subsection and pursuant to Section 2-26 shall not be public; however, all informationobtainedbytheStatewideGrievanceCommittee from these forms shall be public, except the following: trust account identification numbers; the attorney's home address, unless no office address is registered and then only if the home address is part of the public record of a grievance complaint as defined in Section 2-50 or the attorney uses the attorney's personal juris number to appear in a matter in this state; the attorney's office email address; and the attorney's birth date. Unless otherwise ordered by the court, all nonpublic information obtained from these forms shall be available only to the Statewide Grievance Committee and its counsel, the reviewing committees, the grievance panels and their counsel, the bar examining committee, the standing committee on recommendations for admission to the bar, disciplinary counsel, the client security fund committee and its counsel, a judge of the Superior Court, a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, any grievance committee or other disciplinary authority of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut or, with the consent of the attorney, to any other person. Excluding trust account identification numbers, nonpublic information obtained from these forms shall be available to the Department of Revenue Services in connection with the collection of the occupational tax on attorneys pursuant to General Statutes § 51-81b. In addition, the trust account identification numbers on the registration forms filed pursuant to Section 2-26 and this section shall be available to the organization designated by the judges of the Superior Court to administer the IOLTA program pursuant to Rule 1.15 of the Rules of Professional Conduct. The registration requirements of this subsection shall not apply to judges of the Supreme, Appellate or Superior Courts, judge trial referees, family support magistrates, federal judges, federal magistrate judges, federal administrative law judges or federal bankruptcy judges.

(e) The Statewide Grievance Committee or its counsel may conduct random inspections and audits of accounts maintained pursuant to Rule 1.15 of the Rules of Professional Conduct to determine whether such accounts are in compliance with the rule and this section. If any random inspection or audit performed under this subsection discloses an apparent violation of this section or the Rules of Professional Conduct, the matter may be referred to a grievance panel for further investigation or to the disciplinary counsel for presentment to the Superior Court. Any attorney whose accounts are selected for inspection or audit under this section shall fully cooperate with the inspection or audit, which cooperation shall not be construed to be a violation of Rule 1.6 (a) of the Rules of Professional Conduct. Any records, documents or information obtained or produced pursuant to a random inspection or audit shall remain confidential unless and until a presentment is initiated by the disciplinary counsel alleging a violation of Rule 1.15 of the Rules of Professional Conduct or of this section, or probable cause is found by the grievance panel, the Statewide Grievance Committee or a reviewing committee. Contemporaneously with the commencement of a presentment or the filing of a grievance complaint, notice shall be given in writing by the Statewide Grievance Committee to any client or third person whose identity may be publicly disclosed through the disclosure of records obtained or produced in accordance with this subsection. Thereafter,publicdisclosureofsuchrecords shall be subject to the client or third person having thirty days from the issuance of the notice to seek a court order restricting publication of any such records disclosing confidential information. During the thirty day period, or the pendency of any such motion, any document filed with the court or as part of a grievance record shall refer to such clients or third persons by pseudonyms or with appropriate redactions, unless otherwise ordered by the court.

(f) Violation of subsection (a), (b) or (c) of this section shall constitute misconduct. An attorney who fails to register in accordance with subsection

(d) shall be administratively suspended from the practice of law in this state pursuant to Section 2-27B.

Committee Notes

(Amended June 29, 2007, to take effect Jan. 1, 2008; amended June 11, 2021, to take effect Jan. 1, 2022.) (P.B. 1978-1997, Sec. 27A.) (Amended June 25, 2001, to