Summer 2014

IOLTA

IOLTA: From the Chair...

By Penina Lieber, Commission on Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts

As my term as Chair of the Commission on IOLTA comes to an end, I am grateful for the opportunity to have served and am proud of all we have accomplished during the past two years. Our success is due in large part to the remarkable collaboration that has developed over the years between the Commission and the National Association of IOLTA Programs (NAIP). Both entities can be enormously proud of our joint efforts in forging a close and harmonious relationship.

IOLTA

Grantee Spotlight: Minnesota Legal Advice Online (MLAO)

By Mary Kaczorek and Bridget Gernander

Minnesota faces geographic and resource challenges in delivering pro bono legal services statewide. The state has 87 counties covering almost 87,000 square miles and there is an uneven distribution of available legal services.

IOLTA

News and Notes

Colorado Adopts IOLTA Rate Comparability and New Executive Director Named at the Florida Bar Foundation

Pro Bono

Five Ways to Celebrate Pro Bono

This year marks the 6th annual National Celebration of Pro Bono, an initiative of the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service through which lawyers from across the country honor their responsibility to the profession and their communities by volunteering their services to the underserved.

Pro Bono

Policy News

The U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island has adopted a pro bono plan that establishes an assigned–counsel project to serve unrepresented litigants of limited financial means. Attorneys willing to accept appointment to represent individuals or entities of limited financial means are asked to submit an application to the Clerk of Court to become members of the court’s Civil Pro Bono Panel.

Military & Veterans

LAMP: From the Chair...

By MG (ret.) Clyde J. "Butch" Tate, Standing Committee on Legal Assistance for Military Personnel

I am very pleased to be assuming the position of Chair of the Standing Committee on Legal Assistance for Military Personnel at the start of this 2014–15 bar year. Having already served as a member of the Standing Committee, I am grateful to be moving into my new role following on the tremendous accomplishments of my predecessor, Dave Ehrhart, and the members of the committee in recent years.

Access to Justice

2014 Harrison Tweed Awards Presented at ABA Annual Meeting

The Colorado Bar Association and the San Juan County (NM) Bar Association were each presented a Harrison Tweed Award during the American Bar Association 2014 Annual Meeting in Boston. This award, created in 1956, recognizes the extraordinary achievements of state and local bar associations that develop or significantly expand projects or programs to increase access to civil legal services for those living in poverty or criminal defense services for indigents.