Does IOLTA impose additional administrative burdens or bookkeeping requirements upon lawyers?
A. No. The burden for attorneys of accounting for client funds remains the same; separate attorney trust accounts are already mandated by statute and rule. No income to clients or attorneys would be created, as confirmed by Internal Revenue Service rulings. The IOLTA statute simply requires that some attorney trust accounts be redesignated as IOLTA accounts, with a simple notice and sign-up procedure taking about ten minutes. Your bank automatically sends the interest directly to the Maryland Legal Services Corporation. Your client escrow account statements will remain the same. Upon request, MLSC will provide you with an annual informational statement of the interest your account generated for legal services.
