MBF AWARDS $5 MILLION IN IOLTA GRANTS FOR 2009/2010

The Massachusetts Bar Foundation (MBF) proudly announces $5 million in grants awarded through its annual Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA) Grants Program. This year's grants will fund 158 programs conducted by 107 nonprofit organizations throughout Massachusetts.

 

These grants support projects that either offer civil legal services to people who cannot otherwise afford them or improve the administration of justice in the Commonwealth. Grants providing direct legal services include support to domestic violence programs, special education advocacy, consumer debt counseling, and homelessness prevention projects.  Grants to improve the administration of justice include such efforts as court-linked mediation and lawyer-of-the-day programs. Award amounts range from $1,500 to $98,000, and will run for one year, from September 1, 2009 to August 31, 2010.

 

Funds for these grants are provided by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's Interest on Lawyer's Trust Accounts (IOLTA) Program. The Massachusetts Bar Foundation is one of three charitable entities in Massachusetts that distributes IOLTA funds.

 

As a result of the economic downtown, available funds for IOLTA grants were down more than 67% from last year. Trustees of the Foundation voted to draw almost $2.5 million from MBF reserve funds to help to fund the awards. MBF President Laurence M. Johnson, a partner at Davis, Malm & D'Agostine in Boston, notes, "The MBF Trustees recognize the dire impact this recession continues to have on so many individuals and communities across the state. We knew it was absolutely essential that we do whatever we could to help keep these vital services available to those in need."

 

Click here to view a complete listing of the 2009/2010 IOLTA grant recipients.