District of Columbia · Trust Accounting
What District of Columbia attorneys must do to keep client trust funds compliant — the governing rule, how often you must reconcile, and how long records must be kept.
D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct 1.15 (Safekeeping Property); D.C. Bar R. XI, § 20 (approved depositories and D.C. IOLTA)
Not specified by rule
5 years
Office of Disciplinary Counsel, D.C. Court of Appeals
D.C. Bar Foundation
Required — banks must notify the regulator
Source: Office of Disciplinary Counsel, D.C. Court of Appeals . Rules change — always confirm against the current text before relying on it.
District of Columbia's stated reconciliation requirement is: Not specified by rule. A three-way reconciliation compares three totals that must all agree. If they do not, the difference has to be found and resolved before the reconciliation is complete.
Bank statement balance, adjusted for outstanding checks and deposits in transit.
Your internal trust account register as of the same date.
The total of every individual client ledger balance on that date.
For a full walkthrough of the procedure, common violations, and what examiners look for, see our IOLTA compliance guide.
District of Columbia requires trust account records to be retained for 5 years. In practice that means keeping:
IOLTA Guard automates three-way reconciliation, blocks negative client ledgers, and keeps the audit trail District of Columbia attorneys are expected to maintain.