In the recent decision of the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel v. Enrico Vaccaro, a lawyer was allowed to carry a balance of $226,121.93 in his IOLTA account without any identified or known client. That $226,121.96 balance was held since before 2017.

In a well- reasoned decision, the court in that case held under existing Connecticut law that the lawyer could keep that money in his IOLTA account indefinitely because the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel could not prove that the funds should escheat to the state pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. § 3-61a. That a lawyer can keep such a large amount of unclaimed money in his or her IOLTA account indefinitely is insane. But the current rules in Connecticut allow it.