California Launches Client Trust Program After Girardi Scandal

California attorneys must register client trust accounts and could be subjected to certified compliance reviews under new rules the state supreme court approved, the California Bar said Tuesday.

It’s a first for California which lagged other states such as Maryland in requiring reporting how much and where client trust funds are located. And it follows an audit finding that the bar failed to act on years of complaints that disgraced and disbarred attorney Tom Girardi didn’t hand over millions in awards to clients. Girardi and Girardi Keese LLP have since been forced into bankruptcy with hundreds of millions in claims ...