Huwebes, Agosto 2, 2012

Colorado IOLTA- IOLTA Is Solely For The Public

Today, there are several kinds of programs that the government is introducing, promising that it can enhance the living of the people. If you will ask a couple of people about their favorite government implemented program, their answers will vary. Some people will give an answer that they don’t value the government programs. Others will enumerate 3 or 4 schemes, and then say that the other programs are not good. Others won’t answer you at all because they are simply not aware or don’t care about those programs. However, there are significant numbers of people who will prefer the IOLTA program. If you are among the cluster that is not familiar with IOLTA, it is time for you to widen your horizon.

Colorado IOLTA as well as other IOLTA accounts in other states, is among the most efficient ways to extend help to the needy.  Interest on Lawyers Trust Account or well-known as IOLTA, is a specific type of account that attorneys utilize in holding the funds they have received from their clients. Take note; this is not some kind of donation. These funds are being given by the clients intended for future purposes. For an instance, in case the lawyers have to pay expenses in the future that are related to the case they’re handling, then they will use the funds that their client gave to them.

Normally, the attorneys are holding two kinds of accounts. The first one is the account for the clients’ payments for the service that is not yet done by the attorney, and the second one is for third party like payment for healthcare providers. These accounts are different from the personal account of the lawyers. The lawyers are responsible to secure these accounts by putting it in an ‘Interest Bearing Account’. The IOLTA accounts will raise some interests, and once these interests were pooled, it will be allotted for different programs for those who are in great need.

How Arizona IOLTA Works

People living in Arizona should be aware of the Arizona IOLTA Program. You might be one of the many people who can benefit from this. This is established by the state’s Supreme Court requiring lawyers and law firms receiving funds from clients to maintain a pooled dividend-earning trust account where they can deposit client’s funds. These funds can either be money that is owed to a third party or a payment for work that the lawyer has not yet done.

The interests that are earned from this IOLTA accounts are directly allocated to the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education. The interests of these funds will be used for the public good. Other than assisting indigent people to be able to avail civil legal services, earned interests will also be used to support education programs which are law-related and improve justice administration. The IOLTA Program has already achieved the amount of more than $2 billion allotted for people who need legal services but cannot afford to do so.

The safety of these funds is guaranteed that is why clients do not need to worry about it. Their money is secured and at the same time able to be of good use while on safekeeping. The interests are directly entrusted to the Foundation that is why the money of clients is preserved.

There is also another option which states that if a client’s money is big and will be held long enough to beget an interest, then the lawyer can deposit it to an individual account where the interest that will be earned from this is directly paid to the client. There is also another option of depositing client’s funds to a pooled interest-bearing account. The interests from this account will be proportionally divided to the clients.

It is not the same thing as the IOLTA. The one thing that makes IOLTA better is because you get to help those people who are in need of legal services with no effort at all.