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The Limited Duties Of Lawyers To Protect The Funds And Property Of Nonclients, Vincent R. Johnson
The Limited Duties Of Lawyers To Protect The Funds And Property Of Nonclients, Vincent R. Johnson
St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics
Issues arise daily in law practice about the duties owed by lawyers to nonclients with respect to funds or property entrusted to them. In resolving those issues, care must be exercised when interpreting state versions of Model Rule 1.15, the American Bar Association’s pattern ethics rule on safekeeping of funds and property. Otherwise, a lawyer’s duties to third persons may too readily encroach on the performance of obligations owed to clients, as well as on the legitimate interests of lawyers themselves.
As numerous authorities have recognized, lawyers are obliged to protect the property interests of third persons only if they …