Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts

Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts (IOLTA) is a method of raising money for charitable purposes, primarily the provision of civil legal services to indigent persons, through the use of interest earned on certain lawyer trust accounts. The establishment of IOLTA in the United States followed changes to federal banking laws passed by Congress in 1980 which allowed some checking accounts to bear interest. The Florida Bar Foundation launched the first American IOLTA program in 1981. Today, every state, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands operate IOLTA programs.

Attorneys routinely receive client funds (commonly referred to as "trust money") to be held in trust for future use. If the amount is large or the funds are to be held for a long period of time, the attorney customarily places these funds in an interest-bearing account for the benefit of the client. However, in the case of amounts that are small or are to be held for a short time, it is impractical for the attorney to establish a separate account for each client since the cost of establishing and administering the account would exceed any interest generated, and result in a net loss for the client. Prior to IOLTA, these nominal and short-term funds were combined and placed into a pooled, non-interest-bearing checking account. The reason the accounts were non-interest-bearing is because prior to 1981, commercial banks were prohibited by federal law from paying interest on demand deposits (e.g. checking accounts). In addition, the lawyer could not earn interest on the account because it is unethical for attorneys to derive any financial benefit from funds that belong to their clients.

With the inception of IOLTA, lawyers who handle nominal or short-term client funds that cannot earn net interest for the client place these funds in pooled, interest-bearing accounts, and the interest earned on these accounts is remitted to the state IOLTA program for charitable purposes. Virtually all IOLTA programs in the United States use IOLTA revenue to provide grants to organizations for the purpose of providing legal aid in civil matters to low-income residents; many also use IOLTA revenue for grants to help improve the administration of justice in their states.

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