The Florida Bar News September 2, 2025

‘Nota has helped me with my trust account fears by making tracking funds to clients easy, sending reminders if anything is out of balance or any amount is not properly attributed to a client, and makes reconciliation automatic and easy’

Hundreds of Florida lawyers are embracing Nota, a free, trust-accounting solution that helps ensure compliance with Bar rules while easing some of the drudgery of modern legal practice.

Robert Becerra, a Coral Gables international trade lawyer, is one of 1,157 Florida Bar members who integrated the platform into their practice in the past few years.

Becerra says Nota eliminated a nagging concern.

“Nota has helped me with my trust account fears by making tracking funds to clients easy, sending reminders if anything is out of balance or any amount is not properly attributed to a client, and makes reconciliation automatic and easy.”

Designed in close consultation with The Florida Bar, the financial platform was customized to help solo and small law firms in Florida manage trust accounts and better adhere to accounting requirements.

Former President Scott Westheimer, a small-firm Sarasota lawyer, made the development of a simplified, seamless, and efficient trust accounting platform a priority in his presidential year.

“With Nota, our members have access – at no cost – to the latest in trust accounting technology and a provider who can help them focus on the growth and continued success of their practice,” Westheimer announced at the September 2023 launch. Sponsors noted that solo and small-firm lawyers comprise 70% of Bar membership, and that year after year, trust accounting violations remain a leading category of disciplinary actions.

“In the last 10 years, trust accounting violations have always been a top 10 violation (complaints filed against members),” according to a 2023 Bar report. “In fact, the Bar gets one NSF (Non-Sufficient Funds) notification per day due to poor trust accounting practices.”

Clearwater business lawyer Ronald Marlowe has more than 40 years of experience, much of it in mergers and acquisitions. He cited compliance as a big reason he recommends Nota.

The program prompts users to enter every deposit or debit that the bank processes and to assign it to a client account, Marlowe notes.

“Nota is the cheapest and easiest way for Florida lawyers to ensure they follow trust documentation and reconciliation requirements,” he said.

Clemens Pauly, another Coral Gables attorney with an international practice, didn’t need his LLM training to appreciate a bargain – “you cannot argue with ‘free,’” he wrote in a testimonial.

The Florida Bar’s backing assured Pauly that Nota is a reliable tool.

“The platform is easy to use once you overcome the initial hesitation of granting a program online access to your financial institution,” he said. “Again, being a Florida Bar endorsed provider alleviated my concern in that regard.”

Pauly found that setting up clients in the system is easy, and once client matters are established, “the program tries to associate imported financial transactions with the known client matters, which makes accepting new transactions a breeze,” he says.

Bar members can learn more details, and earn free CLE, by viewing “IOTA Management for Lawyers” on LegalFuel.com at https://www.legalfuel.com/iota-management-for-lawyers/.

A LegalFuel podcast that also offers free CLE, “Avoiding Trust Accounting Pitfalls with Nota: A Smart Solution for Attorneys” is available here https://www.legalfuel.com/avoiding-trust-accounting-pitfalls-with-nota-a-smart-solution-for-attorneys/

VIEWS AND CONCLUSIONS EXPRESSED IN ARTICLES HEREIN ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS AND NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF FLORIDA BAR STAFF, OFFICIALS, OR BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FLORIDA BAR.