By Tom Jarvis

For decades, New Hampshire’s IOLTA program has provided critical funding for civil legal services across the state. In the past year alone, targeted efforts by the New Hampshire Bar Foundation (the Foundation) to expand participation among Leadership Banks and ensure rate compliance have increased IOLTA revenue by $576,000. That growth underscores a longstanding reality: where attorneys choose to hold their trust accounts matters.

“It is really important to bank with a Leadership Bank because in New Hampshire, most of our civil legal services rely heavily on the funds that come from IOLTA grants,” IOLTA Enhancement Committee Chair Lyndsay Robinson says. “We would be able to help so many more people in New Hampshire if we had more funding to provide to our civil legal aid organizations.”

IOLTA – Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts – pools interest generated on certain short-term client funds and directs it to the Foundation. Those funds are then allocated annually to civil legal aid organizations.

A Leadership Bank is a financial institution that agrees to pay a higher rate of interest on IOLTA accounts.

“Leadership Banks have created a special rate for their IOLTA accounts that pays at least 65 percent of the federal funds target rate,” says Robinson.

Foundation Coordinator Cindy Roberts underscores the scale of that impact.

“If all attorneys in the state banked with a Leadership Bank, it would generate roughly $1 million more in IOLTA funding each year,” she says. “That’s $1 million more to expand access to justice for those who need it most.”

For attorneys, the shift requires no additional client work or billing.

“Attorneys who keep their trust accounts at Leadership Banks are really helping without even having to do anything – just sign up and you’re already helping people,” Roberts says. She encourages lawyers to ask their banks directly what rate is being offered on IOLTA accounts and compare it to the Leadership standard.

Russ Hilliard, a former New Hampshire Bar Association (NHBA) president and former Foundation chair, remembers a time before the program existed.

“We’ve had the IOLTA program for 45 years now,” says Hilliard, who served on the NHBA Board of Governors when IOLTA was introduced in the Granite State. “It almost seemed like a no-brainer to take advantage of the change in banking regulation and use the interest for a good purpose. It’s just hard to imagine the world without the IOLTA program providing support for indigent legal services.”

He describes switching to a Leadership Bank as “a no-cost way to help fund these important legal services.”

Foundation Executive Director Sarah Blodgett says the stakes are visible in the courts on a daily basis.

“Every day we see the impact of being in the court system without representation,” she says. “It’s incumbent on all of us to maximize the amount of IOLTA revenue. And switching to a Leadership Bank is a manageable step for an attorney to take that would have a meaningful impact on civil legal services in New Hampshire.”

Blodgett also credits the IOLTA Enhancement Committee’s recent efforts.

“They have done magnificent work under Lyndsay’s leadership and with Cindy’s tireless efforts,” she says.

With Robinson at the helm, the IOLTA Enhancement Committee – composed of attorneys and banking industry representatives – has focused on expanding participation and strengthening rate compliance.

“We are reaching out to banks that are not in compliance to encourage them to become compliant, increasing our number of Leadership Banks, looking at financial institutions where people are banking the most that aren’t Leadership Banks, and focusing our efforts there,” Robinson says.

When Robinson joined the committee several years ago, there were between four and six Leadership Banks. Under her leadership and through the committee’s outreach and rate-review efforts, that number has grown to 13, including the recent addition of Triangle Credit Union.

In addition to recruiting new Leadership Banks, the committee has worked to ensure that institutions offer comparable rates as required under Supreme Court Rule 50. Roberts explains that in some cases, banks were offering higher, comparable rates to other customers but not applying those rates to IOLTA accounts. Correcting those discrepancies contributed significantly to the recent increase in IOLTA revenue.

The committee has also focused on education and outreach. Robinson describes efforts to connect with new lawyers, larger firms, and institutions in rural counties where Leadership Bank options are limited.

“It’s out of sight, out of mind for so many people,” she says, noting that many attorneys are unaware of the rate differences among banks.

Beyond IOLTA, the Foundation has recently expanded other initiatives aimed at strengthening civic engagement and public understanding of the law.

The Foundation’s civics essay contest, now in its second year, invites New Hampshire high school students to engage with constitutional and law-related topics. Blodgett says the goal is both educational and forward-looking.

“It’s a good learning opportunity for students in the moment, but also hopefully helps shift career trajectories,” she says. “We believe that this will encourage some students to pursue a career in the law.”

The Foundation has also launched the Law School for Legislators program, which provides lawmakers with an opportunity to learn about specific areas of law in an informal setting outside of the legislative hearing process. The goal, Blodgett says, is to create “a setting where people develop an understanding” of how cases move through the court system before addressing related legislation.

Even as the Foundation expands its educational initiatives, its ability to support civil legal services continues to depend in large part on IOLTA revenue – and on where attorneys choose to bank.

For Robinson, the message is straightforward.

“We’re lucky and privileged to be able to serve as attorneys, and we owe it to our community to pay it forward,” she says. “If we all bank at Leadership Banks, there will be more funds available to organizations that provide assistance to those who can’t afford it.”

For assistance making the switch to a Leadership Bank, contact Cindy Roberts at croberts@nhbar.org or (603) 715-3210.