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Bar News - October 22, 2004 Mary White, Bar Foundation's Mainstay, Oversees All Things IOLTA
Bar Center Profile MARY WHITE, Financial and IOLTA Operations Coordinator for the New Hampshire Bar Foundation, assists attorneys in setting up client trust accounts and acts as a liaison to the nearly 50 banks that participate in the program. IOLTA stands for "Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts" and the monies raised for the Foundation in this way do a great deal to supply the funding for civil legal services provided through such organizations as LARC (the Legal Advice and Referral Center), NHLA (New Hampshire Legal Assistance), DOVE (the Domestic Violence Emergency program), the NHBA's Pro Bono Referral Program and the Lawyer Referral Service (LRS). Additional programs that receive help are the Law-Related Education program (LRE), and the Bar Foundation's Loan Repayment Assistance program. 
White, who has been with the Foundation 16 years, is in charge of tracking all income from IOLTA accounts and monitors the daily operation of the program. At present, 86 percent of eligible lawyers participate. These attorneys have the great satisfaction of knowing that they are a part of the charitable outreach which is the chief purpose of the IOLTA program. Every attorney who holds client funds must have a trust account and IOLTA allows the co-mingling of certain client funds. New lawyers may refer to Rules 50 and 50A of the Supreme Court for further information. If an attorney has any question regarding the ethics of trust accounts, he/she may call the Attorney Discipline Office, as that office audits such accounts. A lawyer may choose any bank he or she wishes, but there are some banks (termed "leadership banks") that provide a higher rate of interest on these accounts than other banks do, often giving 2 percent or more when the current rate is below 1percent; they thereby help greatly to augment the funds. The significance of their role cannot be overemphasized. IOLTA funding makes up 36 percent of the money received by the legal service organizations supported by the Foundation. Last year the IOLTA accounts generated $1.5 million for the program and 87 percent of that amount came from accounts at leadership banks. If a new lawyer needs any help setting up an account, White is ready to assist. Attorneys can start the process by filling out an "authorization to financial institutions" form, which may be obtained either from White or from the Foundation Web site. The site also provides a form for the annual verification report included in the dues' mailing each year. To contact White, call 603-224-6942 or email her at the Foundation Web site: www.nhbarfoundation.org; White's email address is mailto:mwhite@nhbarfoundation.org. Attorneys can also access the Foundation Web site through a link on the NHBA Web site home page.
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