New Jersey · Trust Accounting
What New Jersey attorneys must do to keep client trust funds compliant — the governing rule, how often you must reconcile, and how long records must be kept.
New Jersey RPC 1.15 (Safekeeping Property); New Jersey Court Rule 1:21-6 (Recordkeeping)
Monthly
7 years
Office of Attorney Ethics, Supreme Court of New Jersey
IOLTA Fund of the Bar of New Jersey
Required — banks must notify the regulator
Source: Office of Attorney Ethics, Supreme Court of New Jersey . Rules change — always confirm against the current text before relying on it.
New Jersey requires attorneys to reconcile trust accounts monthly. 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.
New Jersey requires trust account records to be retained for 7 years. In practice that means keeping:
IOLTA Guard automates three-way reconciliation, blocks negative client ledgers, and keeps the audit trail New Jersey attorneys are expected to maintain.