The Massachusetts Bar Foundation recently awarded $4.45 million
in grants through its annual Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts
Grants Program. Exceeding last year's grant awards by more than
$800,000, this year's IOLTA grants will fund 144 programs conducted
by 101 nonprofit organizations throughout Massachusetts.
The grants provide financial support to projects that either
provide civil legal services to the state's low-income population,
or improve the administration of justice in the commonwealth.
Grants to improve the administration of justice include such
efforts as court-linked alternative dispute resolution projects and
lawyer-of-the-day programs. Award amounts ranged from $5,000 to
$175,000 and will run for one year, from Sept. 1, 2007 to Aug. 31,
2008.
Funds for these grants are provided by the Massachusetts Supreme
Judicial Court's IOLTA Program. The MBF is one of three charitable
entities in Massachusetts that distributes IOLTA funds.
"The legal aid organizations of this state continue to inspire
me with their tireless commitment to public service and increasing
access to justice for those in need," said MBF President Carol A.
Witt of Salem. "Together with the 150 MBF Fellows who assisted in
the grant-making process this year, we are so proud to play a role
in supporting the heroic work that they do every day."
Additional information about the Massachusetts Bar Foundation
and its IOLTA Grants Program, as well as a complete listing of the
2007-08 IOLTA grant recipients, is available on the MBF Web site,
www.MassBarFoundation.org.