By Tom Jarvis
The New Hampshire Bar Foundation has awarded $2.5 million in IOLTA grants for FY 2027, the largest total grant award in the Foundation’s history.
The grants are funded through interest received on lawyers’ pooled trust accounts and are awarded annually to organizations that provide civil legal services to New Hampshire residents. This year’s awards represent another increase for the program, following $2.1 million in IOLTA grants awarded for FY 2026.
The FY 2027 grants were awarded to six organizations providing civil legal services in New Hampshire, including Catholic Charities of New Hampshire – Immigration Legal Services, a new grantee this year.
The largest FY 2027 IOLTA grant, in the amount of $1.25 million, was awarded to New Hampshire Legal Assistance; 603 Legal Aid received $910,000; Disability Rights Center of New Hampshire was awarded $190,000; Children’s Law Center of New Hampshire received $65,000; the New Hampshire Bar Association’s Modest Means Program received $45,000; and Catholic Charities of New Hampshire – Immigration Legal Services received $40,000.
“The $2.5 million total for this year’s IOLTA grants is an important milestone for the Bar Foundation and, more importantly, for the people and communities these grants are intended to serve,” says New Hampshire Bar Foundation Executive Director Sarah Blodgett. “New Hampshire’s recent legal needs study confirmed what our civil legal aid partners see every day: many residents still cannot get the legal help they need. This funding helps close that gap by strengthening the organizations that provide free or reduced-fee civil legal services across the state. We are grateful to our Leadership Banks, participating financial institutions, and members of the legal community whose continued support has helped make this record level of funding possible.”
The 2025 New Hampshire Legal Needs Study found that demand for civil legal aid continues to exceed available capacity, with more than 33,000 requests for help made to the state’s three primary civil legal services organizations between 2022 and 2024. More than 60 percent of those requests could not be served due to limited staffing, program constraints, and intake barriers.
The study also found that access to legal help can be affected by transportation barriers, limited internet access, disability, age, and geography. The increased IOLTA funding will help grantee organizations expand their capacity to serve Granite Staters in need of legal assistance.
In 1982, New Hampshire became the second state to establish a mandatory IOLTA program through New Hampshire Supreme Court Rule 50. IOLTA programs are now in place in every state in the United States and throughout Canada.
Since its inception, the New Hampshire IOLTA program has awarded more than $44 million in grants to provide free or reduced-fee civil legal services to disadvantaged Granite Staters and to promote law-related education, at no cost to taxpayers.
The recent increase in IOLTA funding is due in part to the Foundation’s compliance work and the addition of more Leadership Banks. The Foundation now has 15 Leadership Bank partners, including its newest, Millyard Bank.
Leadership Banks commit to maintaining an interest rate equivalent to 65 percent of the federal funds target rate on IOLTA accounts. That commitment helps increase the amount of funding available for IOLTA grants and supports organizations providing civil legal assistance across the state.
Foundation Coordinator Cindy Roberts says banking with a Leadership Bank is a simple way for attorneys to support civil legal aid.
“Attorneys really are just helping without even having to do anything – just sign up with a Leadership Bank and you’re already helping people,” she says.
The Foundation encourages attorneys and law firms to use Leadership Bank partners for IOLTA accounts. A full list of Leadership Banks is available on the Foundation website at nhbar.org/nh-bar-foundation/where-to-bank.