Where Does the Money Go?

The mission of the IOLTA Committee is to increase access to justice for all residents of the Commonwealth by funding and supporting programs that provide civil legal services to low-and moderate-income residents and initiatives that improve the administration of justice. Interest earned from IOLTA accounts is used to support these law-related public service programs. Interest earned from IOLTA accounts is used to support these law-related public service programs. Specifically, IOLTA funds are received by the IOLTA Committee and then distributed among three charitable entities: The Boston Bar Foundation, The Massachusetts Bar Foundation, and The Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation.

These three entities use the IOLTA funds to make grants to local civil legal services programs that employ staff attorneys, paralegals, volunteer lawyers, law students, and community advocates to represent clients in family, housing, consumer, employment, education, disability, and similar legal matters. Grants to improve the administration of justice include such efforts as alternative dispute resolution projects, lawyer-for-day programs at courthouses, and legal clinics.
Unlike criminal defendants, people facing serious civil legal problems—such as domestic violence, housing insecurity, employment, government benefits, consumer debt, and elder issues—generally do not have the right to an attorney if they cannot afford one. Legal aid programs provide free civil legal services but, due to insufficient funding, legal aid organizations in Massachusetts are forced to turn away nearly 60% of eligible people seeking help. The interest earned on IOLTA accounts and other funds distributed by the IOLTA Committee are essential to helping to close this justice gap. Since its inception in 1985, the IOLTA Committee has distributed more than $358 million.
More information about how IOLTA funds are used in the public interest is available in the IOLTA Committee’s annual report.