Fiduciary
by Design
A Practical Guide to Attorney Trust Accounting, Fiduciary Compliance, and Law Firm Risk Management
Every lawyer who handles client money is a fiduciary.
Most are never taught what that responsibility requires operationally.
by Design
Fiduciary Compliance &
Law Firm Risk Management
Capable lawyers.
Undocumented systems.
Trust accounting violations remain one of the most common reasons attorneys face disciplinary action across the United States. The pattern is almost always the same: capable lawyers operating without documented systems — not acting in bad faith, but without the procedural infrastructure that professional responsibility requires.
Fiduciary by Design provides a practical framework for building those systems. Written by attorney and advisor Alejandro Hernandez III, J.D., this concise guide helps law firms establish trust accounting procedures, fiduciary controls, and compliance practices designed to withstand scrutiny from clients, regulators, auditors, and state bar authorities.
Not Fiduciary by Accident.
Professional responsibility begins with systems. The firms that avoid trust account problems are rarely the firms with the smartest lawyers. They are the firms with the most disciplined procedures.
Written for solo practitioners, managing partners, law firm administrators, bookkeepers, and compliance professionals who need a clear operational framework — not a theoretical overview.
Every recommendation in this guide has been developed with operational implementation in mind — practical, specific, and designed to function within the staffing and resource constraints of real law practices.
Five disciplines.
One complete framework.
Each chapter of Fiduciary by Design addresses a distinct dimension of trust account compliance — from foundational principles through audit preparation — building a complete operational picture across the full lifecycle of client funds.
Account setup, retainer classifications, earned-fee transfers, settlement fund management, client disbursements, and the strict prohibition against commingling client and operating funds.
The monthly procedure every law firm should perform but many overlook. Step-by-step reconciliation process, complete formulas, practical examples, and a checklist for identifying and resolving discrepancies.
Disputed funds, third-party claims, negative client balances, abandoned funds, wire fraud schemes, and other high-risk fiduciary events — addressed specifically and practically.
Segregation of duties, approval authority, wire transfer controls, documentation standards, audit trails, staff supervision, and accountability procedures that make compliance operational rather than aspirational.
What auditors examine, the most common trust account deficiencies identified during audits, and practical corrective measures that can be implemented immediately — before the examiner arrives.
Practical tools included
in every copy
Fiduciary by Design includes a full complement of compliance resources designed for immediate implementation — not theoretical frameworks, but working documents a firm can use from day one.
For every professional
responsible for client funds
Whether you are the attorney of record responsible for every dollar in trust, a managing partner setting firm policy, an administrator maintaining daily records, or a bookkeeper performing reconciliations — this book was written with your role in mind.
Professional responsibility begins with systems. The firms that avoid trust account problems are rarely the firms with the smartest lawyers. They are the firms with the most disciplined procedures.
Fiduciary by Design provides the framework to build those procedures.
Order your copy
on Amazon today
Available now on Amazon. A practical guide built for law firms that are ready to move from compliance by accident to fiduciary by design.