Senate bill NO. 440
INTRODUCED
BY B. Usher
By Request of the ****
A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT revising laws related to the judiciary; providing that interest on lawyer trust accounts must be remitted to the client; and PROVIDING a definition."
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
NEW SECTION. Section 1. Definition. As used in [section 2], unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, "interest on lawyer trust accounts" means the interest that lawyer trust accounts earn in the interest on lawyer trust accounts program described in Rule 1.18 of the Montana Rules of Professional Conduct.
NEW SECTION. Section 2. Interest on lawyer trust accounts program. Any interest earned on any funds held in the interest on lawyer trust accounts program by any attorney or law firm must be remitted to the client on an annual basis or at the termination of the representation, whichever is soonest. The interest is held in trust as property of the client.
NEW SECTION. Section 3. Codification instruction. [Sections 1 and 2] are intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 3, chapter 1, part 3, and the provisions of Title 3, chapter 1, part 3, apply to [sections 1 and 2].