Elon Law student Andrea Davis, along with Nancy Short Ferguson, counsel with the Chicago Title Insurance Company and Lisa Stewart of the Stewart Law Firm, wrote an article for the Winter 2010 issue of the North Carolina State Bar Journal exploring methods established across several states to help attorneys protect client funds entrusted to them.
The article, “The Buck Stops with You: Protecting Attorney Trust,” discusses the importance of keeping meticulous records of clients’ trust fund accounts to protect clients and honest attorneys from the misconduct of a few.
It further explores steps the American Bar Association and state bar associations have taken to prevent attorney misuse and theft of clients’ funds. The article reports that measures such as random audits, overdraft notifications, expedited grievance procedures, and mandatory Continuing Legal Education courses have been put in place by different states, including North Carolina, to minimize defalcation and loss to the client.
The co-authors stressed that the “pursuit of professionalism of the bar as whole” is the strongest deterrent against this type of behavior.
Davis has more than ten years of human resources and and risk management experience as a staffing manager and conference designer.
By Ashley Smith, L‘12