New IOLTA Bill in New Hampshire Could Bring More Cuts to Legal Aid
From New Hampshire Public Radio:
The most recent State budget slashed funding for legal services for the poor. Last week, the House passed a bill that would put even more aid at risk. . . .
Until December 2010, participation in IOLTA [Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts] was voluntary for New Hampshire attorneys. . . .
When a client hands money over to a lawyer for a short period of time, say, while a real estate deal is being closed, the lawyer puts the money into a pooled account. That account earns interest. . . .
But when the recession hit, interest rates plummeted and the real estate market dried up. IOLTA funding fell off a cliff, dropping from nearly $2 million a year down to $800,000.
To help shore up the funds, the State Supreme Court decided to make IOLTA mandatory.
But that mandate hasn’t sat well with the small group of attorneys.
“I moved to New Hampshire because this was the one state left in the Northeast where a person could own his own soul,” says Representative Gregory Sorg. . . .
The Republican is sponsoring the bill to revoke the mandate and return IOLTA to a voluntary program. . . .
This bill has upset a lot of people in the legal aid world. They already lost over half of their funding in the last State budget. . . .
Read more here.