Kentucky IOLTA Fund Awards $365,000 in Grants

Posted: Sep, 10 2016

The Kentucky IOLTA Fund is proud to announce that it awarded grants totaling $365,000 in September 2016.  The Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (“IOLTA”) Fund was established in 1986 by the Kentucky Supreme Court through SCR 3.830.  IOLTA is a unique and innovative way to increase access to justice for individuals and families living in poverty and to improve our justice system.  Without taxing the public, and at no cost to lawyers or their clients, interest from lawyer trust accounts is pooled and awarded as annual grants to assist or help establish legal services, pro bono, and other law-related programs benefitting the public that are approved by the Supreme Court.  For the 2016-2017 fiscal year, the IOLTA Fund awarded a total of $335,000 to Kentucky’s four regional, civil legal aid organizations:  the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund of Kentucky, Kentucky Legal Aid, Legal Aid of the Bluegrass, and the Legal Aid Society.  Additionally, grants of $10,000 each were awarded to Kentucky’s three law schools to fund public service fellowships for their students.  The IOLTA Board of Trustees and staff thank each of the members of the Kentucky Bar Association for their continued support of the IOLTA program and the important role that it plays in providing legal aid and access to justice to Kentuckians across the Commonwealth.   

The Kentucky IOLTA Fund is a fund of the Kentucky Bar Foundation pursuant to Kentucky Supreme Court Rule 3.830, and it is managed by an eleven-member Board of Trustees.  For more information about the IOLTA Fund, click here.