Colorado IOLTA- The Beginning of IOLTA

For several years, the Colorado IOLTA and other IOLTA programs from other states was able to help a lot of underprivileged. Through the eminence of IOLTA, there are a lot of less fortunate people who were able to obtain civil legal services. Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts or IOLTA program was initially used in Canada and Australia in 1960’s. In 1981, that’s the time IOLTA was used in United States, and it is the state of Florida that first implemented this scheme. The purpose of IOLTA before is still very much the same.

The main aim of IOLTA is to generate funds that can be used in helping less fortunate ones obtain civil legal services. Aside from this, the funds that will be gathered by the IOLTA accounts will be rendered to different non-profit organizations and for other charitable programs. The IOLTA programs vary from one another. For an instance, the aspects of the Colorado IOLTA are different from the other states. Therefore, the programs are considered as state specific.

To further explain this matter, the IOLTA rules and regulations of a certain state is not applicable to other states. Today, majority of the IOLTA programs are being governed by the State Bar Association. Nevertheless, there are also cases wherein the IOLTA program is being administered by a certain association. Nowadays, majority of the civil legal services that are being imparted to the needy are all in courtesy of IOLTA.

The revenue of IOLTA is the major source of the funding. It is crucial for the public to understand that the revenue of IOLTA is not always stable. Therefore, the sum of the money that can be generated by the IOLTA accounts is unpredictable. There are times that the funds are extremely many, and there are also some instances wherein it is not as good as the previous accumulated funds.

Arizona IOLTA: Its Purposes

A lot of people do not understand things about lawyers, legal fees, law firms and Arizona IOLTA unless they get into situations that need some legal assistance and so on. It pays to be aware of these kind of things especially when you are about to get entangled with legal matters.

Arizona IOLTA plays a big role between a law firm and its clients. It is customary that lawyers receive funds from clients every now and then for safe keeping in a trust or for future use. Either reason brings us back to the IOLTA Program which is commonly applied with these kinds of transactions. Lawyers either deposit large amounts of client’s money in a separate individual account or into a pooled interest-bearing account. With individual accounts, the interest earned from this is paid to the client unlike with IOLTA, the interests earned from these accounts are used for the benefit of others. Some of the purposes of this program are:

• To assist indigent people who cannot afford to have the privilege of seeking civil legal services,
• To fund programs that will help improve law education and justice system
• To pay for administrative costs of IOLTA Programs
• To maintain a reserve

One thing you have to know is that when clients have large funds to put in a trust and will be held for a longer time, the lawyer can keep a separate account for this and the interest earned from this account will be directly paid to the client. But these incidents are not often seen. Most of the time, client’s funds are not that large enough to warrant an interest because it is not also held long enough. That is why the IOLTA Program definitely provides a more practical way for lawyers to have the security in safeguarding these funds into a pooled account which can also be very beneficial to others at the same time.

Arizona State Bar – Finding a Lawyer and Talking with Him

Finding the right lawyer for you is just the first step towards winning your case. Your lawyer needs to be more than just an active member of the Arizona State Bar in order for him to win the case for you. In addition to this, you and your lawyer must also get along just fine in order for your case to progress well. Not getting along with your lawyer or hiding things from him will only result to your disadvantage in the long run. One of the most important parts of your relationship with your lawyer is your first meeting with him. Here are some tips and pointers that you might find helpful.

Before you decide to meet your lawyer for the first time, make sure that you are fully prepared. Try to gather all documents and materials prior to your first meeting in order for everything to go smoothly. Additionally, everything must be well organized so that you won’t end up wasting both of your time. To be safe, try to bring all related documents regardless of whether you think it is important or not. Your lawyer will decide whether these documents will be important or not so you might as well bring them all. This step will help you save time and money while helping your lawyer understand your concerns better. It will be like hitting two birds with one stone on your first meeting.

Lastly, be prepared to talk with your lawyer about what you wish to accomplish and ask him about your chances of success. Do not hide any information from your lawyer and try to be frank with him as much as you can. Be very accurate with the details so that your lawyer can have a grasp as to what your situation is. Keep in mind that your lawyer will only be able to fully assess your situation if you present him with everything that he needs to know.

//

How the Arizona IOLTA Works

Arizona IOLTA was implemented for the sole purpose of raising money for charitable purposes. While some people can’t get how it can help indigent people, its main purpose is to help them avail of civil legal services. Money is raised through the interests from certain lawyers’ trust funds. However, it is to be known that their clients will not lose any amount of money in the process. This is probably one of the most misunderstood aspects of IOLTA. To make this matter clearer to everyone, here are some of the many things that we need to know about IOLTA and how indigent people can benefit from it.

IOLTA’s main purpose is to help indigent people avail of civil legal services that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford. The whole process can be a little complicated at first but it will be a lot clearer once you get the grasp of the idea. Customarily, lawyers will receive funds from their clients that are to be held in trust. These funds are for future use. If these funds are not large enough or are only to be held on a short period of time, they will be deposited in an interest-bearing account along with other funds that are like them. It would be straight out impractical to make separate accounts for each one as they would only generate net loss for the client.

Since the funds will be put in an interest-bearing account, some of you might be wondering where the interest will go. This is where IOLTA comes into play. The interest gained from the interest-bearing accounts will go straight to IOLTA. The funds will be used for charitable purposes as stated earlier. Keep in mind though that large funds or funds that are to be help for a long period of time will not be affected by IOLTA.