New Hampshire Legal Assistance

New Hampshire Legal Assistance (NHLA) was recently awarded $738,000 from the New Hampshire Bar Foundation’s IOLTA Grants Program to provide civil legal aid to people with low income. With support from the IOLTA Grants Program, NHLA advocates will be able to help more clients stay safe from domestic violence, avoid homelessness, and secure essential financial supports like disability benefits and child support.

Interest On Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) Grants are funded by interest from bank accounts lawyers use to temporarily hold clients’ funds, such as escrow for real estate purchases. Individually, the funds would not earn much interest, so each law firm pools the funds together into one account. In 1982, the New Hampshire Supreme Court directed, and continues today to ensure, that the interest those accounts earn is distributed to civil legal aid programs that help people with low income navigate the

legal system when they can’t afford to hire an attorney. New Hampshire’s banking community has provided enduring support to the IOLTA Grants Program through the interest rates they offer on IOLTA accounts.

“We are proud to continue our partnership with the New Hampshire Bar Foundation through the IOLTA Grants Program,” said NHLA Executive Director Sarah Mattson Dustin. “With the crucial support of New Hampshire attorneys and New Hampshire’s banking community, the IOLTA Grants Program remains an essential funding source for civil legal aid that helps Granite Staters when their most basic needs are at stake.”