---
type: "Bill"
title: "Lawyers; client accounts."
description: "Lawyers; client accounts. Repeals the provision prohibiting the Supreme Court of Virginia from adopting a disciplinaryrule requiring that lawyers deposit client funds in an interest-bearingaccount."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 1853"
citation: "Virginia HB 1853 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Richard C. \"Rip\" Sullivan, Jr."]
version_count: 3
action_count: 34
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2021-01-07"
last_action: "2021-03-24"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/521d0689-04a6-4929-914d-4869a9e984c6"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+HB1853"
source_hash: "1ba396a36a36a6653ccd45991f7fb4b0e3e793fd887597585ee8f9b4cde325c5"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 1853 (2021) — Lawyers; client accounts.

Lawyers; client accounts. Repeals the provision prohibiting the Supreme Court of Virginia from adopting a disciplinaryrule requiring that lawyers deposit client funds in an interest-bearingaccount.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **CHAP0342** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0342)
2. **HB1853ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1853ER)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21100869D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1853)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice (18-Y 3-N) — **18–3** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate with amendment (36-Y 3-N) — **36–3** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Judiciary (9-Y 5-N) — **9–5** (pass) · upper
- Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Judiciary (14-Y 0-N) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (68-Y 32-N) — **67–32** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (32-Y 0-N) — **32–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Adoption (63-Y 35-N) — **62–35** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr. — primary (person)
- Kathleen Murphy — cosponsor (person)
- Kaye Kory — cosponsor (person)
- Mark H. Levine — cosponsor (person)
- Patrick A. Hope — cosponsor (person)
- Vivian E. Watts — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21100869D `introduction`
- **2021-01-07** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-12** Impact statement from DPB (HB1853)
- **2021-01-14** Assigned Courts sub: Civil `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-15** Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
- **2021-01-20** Reported from Courts of Justice (18-Y 3-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-21** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-01-22** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-01-25** Read third time and passed House (68-Y 32-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-01-25** VOTE: Passage (68-Y 32-N)
- **2021-01-26** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2021-01-26** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-05** Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Judiciary (14-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-17** Reported from Judiciary (9-Y 5-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-19** Constitutional reading dispensed (32-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-22** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-22** Passed by for the day
- **2021-02-23** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-02-23** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-23** Amendment #1 by Senator Stuart withdrawn `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2021-02-23** Reading of amendment waived
- **2021-02-23** Amendment #2 by Senator Stuart agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2021-02-23** Engrossed by Senate as amended
- **2021-02-23** Passed Senate with amendment (36-Y 3-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-24** Placed on Calendar
- **2021-02-24** Senate amendment agreed to by House (63-Y 35-N)
- **2021-02-24** VOTE: Adoption (63-Y 35-N)
- **2021-02-26** Enrolled
- **2021-02-26** Impact statement from DPB (HB1853ER)
- **2021-02-26** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-02-27** Signed by President
- **2021-03-01** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 1, 20201
- **2021-03-01** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-24** Approved by Governor-Chapter 342 (effective 7/1/21) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/521d0689-04a6-4929-914d-4869a9e984c6`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).