The District of Columbia Court of Appeals created the DC Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) Program in 1985. The DC Bar Foundation administers the District’s IOLTA Program. IOLTA funds represent the largest non–public source of funding for civil legal services. This crucial funding stream has been decimated by the economic downturn, decreasing by 80% since 2008 due to the historically low interest rates.
The Commission has collaborated with the D.C. Bar Foundation to increase the amount of IOLTA funds that the Foundation receives and grants to legal services providers. The Commission and Bar Foundation together played an integral role in securing the D.C. Bar Board of Governors’ recommendation to adopt mandatory participation and interest rate comparability requirements.
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