Rule 7 Audits
Rule Text
(a) At the direction of a Justice of the Supreme Court, upon request of the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, or as the Trustees deem appropriate in their own discretion, the Trustees shall cause an audit to be made of the books and records of a member of the Bar or of the member’s law firm under Rule 1.15 of the Delaware Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct. The audit shall cover those books and records which a member of the Bar is required to maintain under Rule 1.15. The audit shall be subject to the rule of confidentiality set forth in Professional Conduct Rule 1.15(e). Audits will be conducted in accordance with the Audit Program located on the Lawyers’ Fund website.
(b) On or before January 1 of each year, the Trustees will select and notify sixty members of the Delaware Bar who are the Delaware lawyer in charge of the firm’s books and records, whose books and records shall be audited during the next twelve months solely for the purpose of verifying the accuracy of the lawyers’ certifications of compliance filed under Supreme Court Rule 69. The Trustees may, in their discretion, select more or fewer than sixty such lawyers in any given year, based on the cost of the audits, the resources of the Lawyers’ Fund, or other circumstances.
(c) The Trustees shall select a certified public accountant to make any such audit.
(d) The cost of any such audit shall be paid by the Trustees from the Lawyers’ Fund as an expense thereof. Whenever an audit discloses material failures to comply with the applicable rules and the Trustees require the lawyer to undergo a reaudit of the books and records, the attorney will bear the cost of the reaudit.
(e) Attorneys or law firms may precertify their compliance with Rule 1.15 and 1.5(f) of the Delaware Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct by filing with the Trustees a Precertification Letter and completed Audit Program in the forms provided on the Lawyers’ Fund website. The Precertification Letter and Audit Program must be prepared by an Approved Precertification Provider listed on the Lawyers’ Fund website. Such filing shall not preclude a compliance audit at the discretion of the Trustees.