On October 29, 2019, the New York State Bar Association Committee on Professional Ethics issued an advisory opinion, Opinion 1176, which addresses whether a lawyer may “make a nominal deposit of the lawyer’s own funds to avoid having the lawyer’s trust or escrow account closed for inactivity or failure to maintain a minimum balance.”
Given that most states allow lawyers to use their own money to pay for trust account fees and transactions (see Model Rule 1.15(b)), not surprisingly, the answer to the question is that it is acceptable for a lawyer to use firm money to keep the trust account alive. You can read the opinion here.
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