IOLTA programs will get part of Bank of America settlement
Programs that help fund legal aid to the poor through interest on lawyers’ trust accounts will benefit as a result of the $16.65 billion Bank of America settlement with the United States.
IOLTA programs will get at least $30 million from the deal, which resolved allegations that Bank of America misrepresented the quality of toxic mortgage securities. The Washington Post has details.
Each state IOLTA program will get $200,000, then the rest of the $30 million will be allocated based on the percentage of the state’s population living in poverty, the story says.
IOLTA programs have suffered because of low interest rates. “This is huge,” said Kirra Jarratt, executive director of the D.C. Bar Foundation, which distributes IOLTA funds to legal aid programs in Washington, D.C. “It’s so much money, and so much can be done with it to help people,” she told the Washington Post.
