Civil legal aid providers struggling to meet surging demand
despite a devastating drop in funding finally have some encouraging news,
however limited. A strong response by Massachusetts
banks agreeing to provide higher interest rates on IOLTA accounts will generate
hundreds of thousands of dollars more for legal aid.
In addition to a number of other banks qualified to hold
Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts, the Massachusetts IOLTA Committee
certified 40 banks as Leadership Institutions and more than 50 banks as Safe
Harbor Institutions. The Massachusetts IOLTA Committee encourages attorneys to
deposit IOLTA funds with Leadership Institutions or Safe Harbor Institutions to
generate the greatest amount of money possible for legal aid programs.