Every New Jersey Law practice is required to have an Attorney Trust Account and Attorney Business Account in order to engage in the practice of law. Further, every New Jersey Law practice is required to maintain accounting records in compliance with RPC 1.15 and R.1:21-6. Yet, not every Attorney is an accountant nor may they have the time. That is where WMC Accounting Services LLC comes in.
The accounting required by R.1:21-6 is a specialty. Specifically, Three Way Reconciliations (or triple reconciliations) which include the basic bank reconciliations checked against a book reconciliation and most importantly a check against a listing of client balances. Attorneys in New Jersey are required to perform these on a monthly basis for their Attorney Trust Account(s).
It does not stop there, NJ Attorneys must maintain at least the following:
- An IOLTA Attorney Trust Account at an approved Trust Depository (located in New Jersey);
- A Attorney Business Account at a financial institution located in New Jersey;
- Copies of all processed imaged (cancelled checks) limited to no more than two checks (4 images) front and back for both the Trust and Business account(s);
- Individual ledger cards per client (maintained in detail as described in R.1:21-6);
- A ledger card for Attorney Funds maintained in the Trust Account (reasonable amount to pay for bank fees);
- A receipts journal (for the Trust and Business Account (maintained separate) and maintained in descriptive detail as required by R.1:21-6;
- A disbursement journal (for the Trust and Business Account (maintained separate) and maintained in descriptive detail as required by R.1:21-6; and
- A checkbook with a running balance for the Attorney Trust Account.
There are additional nuances to consider as well, like fee agreements, personal injury statement calculations, what funds are permissible in the trust account, etc.
Adding to the level of importance of maintaining these documents is the New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics, Random Audit Program. The Random Audit Program acts as the integrity check for those barred in New Jersey. Hundreds of law practices are audited by the program which detects, deters and educates Attorneys. If you are the lucky recipients of one of these letters give us a call today, don’t risk going in blind.
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