ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Maryland Court of Appeals has adopted new rules to make it easier for attorneys to comply with annual reporting and payment requirements using the Attorney Information System (AIS). As a result, annual pro bono and IOLTA reporting forms will no longer be mailed to attorneys in January. Instead, beginning in 2019, attorneys will receive a single email notice to use AIS to pay their Client Protection Fund (CPF) assessment and submit their pro bono and Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA) reports.

“The important reporting requirements that Maryland attorneys must meet will now be submitted online, eliminating the need for multiple paper notices and forms sent via the mail,” said Mary Ellen Barbera, Chief Judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals. “This is an important step toward modernizing and improving systems and processes.”

Under the new rules, the reporting schedule for pro bono and IOLTA reports will be by fiscal, rather than calendar year, which aligns with the current schedule for CPF assessments. Attorneys will be asked to report annually for the prior fiscal year (July 1 – June 30). A notice will be sent via email to all attorneys no later than July 10 of each year, with reports due by September 10. This consolidated notice and reporting schedule will make it easier for Maryland’s more than 40,000 registered attorneys to remember these annual requirements and maintain their good standing.

To accommodate this shift, the next reporting cycle will cover an 18-month period. Attorneys will be notified in July 2019, and instructed to use AIS to complete their pro bono and IOLTA reports for January 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019. Those reports must be completed by September 10, 2019.

The Maryland Judiciary recently added new functionality to AIS, a comprehensive database that brings together information about Maryland attorneys maintained by the court-related agencies that support the Court of Appeals in its role of regulating the legal profession in Maryland. When fully implemented, AIS will provide a single portal for lawyers to update personal information, obtain disciplinary history and status, pay the annual Client Protection Fund assessment, and file required pro bono and IOLTA reports.

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