On March 23, 2016, Rules 1.15(g)(7) and 1.15(h) of the Louisiana Rules of Professional Conduct were added to provide the following:

“Unidentified Funds” are funds on deposit in an IOLTA account for at least one year that after reasonable due diligence cannot be documented as belonging to a client, a third person, or the lawyer or law firm.

A lawyer who learns of Unidentified Funds in an IOLTA account must remit the funds to the Louisiana Bar Foundation. No charge of misconduct shall attend to a lawyer’s exercise of reasonable judgment under this paragraph….

A lawyer who either remits funds in error or later ascertains the ownership of remitted funds may make a claim to the Louisiana Bar Foundation, which after verification of the claim will return the funds to the lawyer.