Massachusetts IOLTA Committee

As of September 1, 2024, amendments to #Massachusetts Rule of Professional Conduct 1.15 are in effect. We’ve launched an all-new online portal for lawyers to report and transfer undistributable funds. Visit our site here: https://lnkd.in/eFJjFrJu for more information. #IOLTA #legalaid #accesstojustice

✨Welcome and thank you to Rockland Federal Credit Union, which recently joined the IOLTA program in Massachusetts AND joined as a Leadership Institution! ✨ Banks and credit unions must be certified by the IOLTA Committee to be eligible to hold IOLTA funds in Massachusetts. Leadership Institutions are eligible institutions that go above and beyond the eligibility requirements to support our communities by offering higher interest rates for lawyers' IOLTA accounts. The Massachusetts IOLTA Committee uses the interest earned on IOLTA accounts to fund critically needed legal help for residents who cannot afford a lawyer when facing life-altering legal problems like child custody, access to healthcare, public benefits, safety for families, and housing. Massachusetts lawyers - Where you bank matters! You can generate more money to support civil legal aid and access to justice programs by keeping your IOLTA accounts at a Leadership Institution like Rockland Federal Credit Union. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eS3P2hcd #IOLTA #Massachusetts #Lawyers #LawFirms #BankOnJusticeMA #LegalAidChangesLives

📅Register now for a free, one-hour webinar about trust account record keeping Thursday, December 5 @ 2pm. The program will provide participants with a detailed review of the records required to be maintained for IOLTA and other trust accounts. Co-sponsored by the Massachusetts Bar Association and the Board of Bar Overseers. To register: Email Tina Fernandes at trustaccounttraining@massbbo.org or call the Office of Bar Counsel at (617) 728-8750 and ask for “trust account program registration.” https://lnkd.in/ezgz7tTR #Massachusetts #IOLTA #TrustAccounts #Lawyers

As of September 1, 2024, amendments to #Massachusetts Rule of Professional Conduct 1.15 are in effect. We’ve launched an all-new online portal for lawyers to report and transfer undistributable funds. Visit our site here: https://lnkd.in/eFJjFrJu for more information. #IOLTA #legalaid #accesstojustice

Prisoners' Legal Services Staff Attorney Leah Hasting excitedly answered the most fulfilling parts of her job, saying: "The first is the incredible range of partners I collaborate with in my day-to-day work... The second is the way this work allows me to break through the legal field's tendency to silo systems." #staffspotlight #civillegalaid

Join the Academy on December 4 for the launch of Achieving Civil Justice, the final report of the Making Justice Accessible project. The report features case studies illustrating how Americans can gain access to the support they need, when and how they need it, from trusted, quality providers. This is made possible when civil justice efforts partner with businesses, philanthropy, community organizations, technologists, and higher education. This session will bring together leaders who have stewarded much needed support for and attention to local and national civil justice efforts across the country. Engraved above the nation’s highest court are the words ‘"Equal Justice Under Law." But for too many Americans, the country’s justice system falls short on this promise, finding instead the civil justice gap – the chasm between the legal needs of Americans and their access to adequate legal assistance. How can the #civiljusticegap be narrowed? Learn more about the event and register here: https://lnkd.in/g33gfJfb

As a multi-lingual immigrant from Central Europe, the Northeast Justice Center's Adelina Janiak's background motivated her to become an immigration attorney, saying: "I realized that my skills and interests aligned at the intersection of civil legal aid and immigration law." #staffspotlight #civillegalaid

Funds from the Massachusetts IOLTA Committee make a significant difference in the lives of real people and in our communities by supporting legal help for people across the Commonwealth who cannot afford an attorney. In partnership with the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation, the Massachusetts Bar Foundation, and the Boston Bar Foundation of the Boston Bar Association, IOLTA grants increase the capacity of legal aid organizations to offer critical assistance to those who have few resources to address civil legal issues, including domestic violence, housing, immigration status, child advocacy, family law, discrimination, and health care. Learn more about the IOLTA program and where that money goes: http://ow.ly/Trtq50Jzpg5 #LegalAidChangesLives #JusticeForAll

Class action cy pres awards to the Massachusetts IOLTA Committee and legal services organizations provide vital support for legal aid and access to justice programs that help people who cannot afford a lawyer. Class action lawyers like Fair Work P.C. make this possible by obtaining court approval of these critical awards. Cy pres awards make a meaningful difference toward closing the justice gap when they are used to fund free legal help with issues including housing, public benefits, access to healthcare, and immigration. More information, including a handy fact sheet about Mass R. Civ. Pro. 23's class action and cy pres requirements, is in our blog: https://lnkd.in/eXRWScgm #LegalAid #A2J #AccessToJustice #Massachusetts #IOLTA #CyPres #ClassActions #Lawyers #LawFirms

When reflecting on what drew James Johnson of Veterans Legal Services to work in civil legal aid, he shared: "I was drawn to legal aid by the same force that compelled me to serve: an overwhelming desire to serve the greater good. A law degree should be pursued and exercised in the service of others." #civillegalaid #staffspotlight