Office of the General Counsel

• Citation: Vol. 30 No. 4 Pg. 0060
• Year: 2025
• Pages: 0060

Office of the General Counsel Vol. 30 No. 4 Pg. 60 Georgia Bar Journal May 2025

Where to Draw the Rule 1.6 Line

In a world where fraudsters have decided that attorneys can be targeted, it is more important than ever to be vigilant in how you handle your fiduciary obligations when dealing with clients.

BY RUSSELL WILLARD

Last month, a call came in from a Canadian creditor, who is pursuing a debtor who has relocated to your area. The debt owed is substantial, and the creditor is willing to offer you a substantial fee (although one that is still reasonable under Rule 1.5). You did some basic background research into the creditor before taking on the representation, and it looks like this creditor has sufficient business dealings to potentially be a source of repetitive business. It did not take you long to track down the debtor, and after some initial pushback, the debtor acknowledged the legitimacy of the debt and agreed to settle the debt in its entirety. Your client was thrilled when you called to let them know that you received the funds from the debtor, but less so when you told them that the check to your firm was drawn on a Canadian bank and your financial institution let you know that it was going to take more time than usual to clear the funds. Your client has been reaching out on a near daily basis in the two weeks that it has taken your bank to clear the hold on the funds, with a little more exasperation coming in from the client with each check-in call.

You received a call from the bank president this morning, though, and you were finally able to let your client know that the funds were available for distribution. You cut a check out of your IOLTA account and sent it to the client, confident that despite the slight delay, the client will reach out if they have another debtor in your geographic area. A week later your outlook takes a sudden and unwelcome turn. The bank president is on the line, and while he is extraordinarily apologetic, it turns out the "debtor's" check was a fraudulent one. The bank is going to have to adjust your attorney trust account to reflect that there were never any legitimate funds placed into your account, and worse, the check to the "creditor" has cleared meaning that your trust account will now be overdrawn by a sizable amount.

Situations like this are happening throughout the legal profession. We are all familiar with Nigerian prince email scams that grew with the expanding use...