PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 26, 2003

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jeffrey Fortkamp: (614) 752-8919

Richard Cordray: (614) 323-7037

UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT VALIDATES MAJOR FUNDING

SOURCE SUPPORTING CIVIL LEGAL SERVICES FOR THE POOR

The United States Supreme Court announced today that IOLTA programs do not violate the Fifth Amendment and are a constitutional means of funding legal services for the poor. This decision means people in need will continue to receive help when they have nowhere else to turn. The case decided by the Court is Brown et al. v. Legal Foundation of Washington et al., 01-1325.

IOLTA, also known as Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts, programs were established in Ohio and every other state beginning in the 1980’s to provide sorely needed funds to improve access to justice for the poor. Through these programs, lawyers and title agents are required to pool into a single account client funds that are small in amount or to be held for a short period of time. In Ohio, the interest on these accounts is directed to the Ohio Legal Aid Fund, which is administered by the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation. Ohio’s IOLTA program generates $8 to $9 million annually to support the work of ten regionally-based legal aid societies, which serve over 148,000 households annually.

“We are gratified by today’s announcement from the Court and now recommit ourselves to fulfilling our mission as a Foundation, which is to assure that resources, programs, and services exist statewide to serve the unmet civil legal needs of Ohio's poor,” says Judge James R. Sherck, the Foundation’s Board President, and a Sandusky County Court of Common Pleas Judge. “Today’s announcement vindicates our view that lawyers and their clients lose nothing as a result of IOLTA,” says Judge Sherck.

“We believed all along that IOLTA was constitutional and we will continue to administer Ohio’s IOLTA program in an effective and efficient manner,” says Robert M. Clyde, the Foundation’s Executive Director, and past president of the National Association of IOLTA Programs. “We have been very fortunate to have the strong support of Chief Justice Moyer and the other Justices of the Supreme Court of Ohio and incredible leadership from the Foundation’s Board of Trustees in the face of this litigation. We have also been very fortunate to have locally Richard Cordray, who has played an important role as counsel to Ohio’s interest in this case,” says Clyde.

For more information about the Foundation or Ohio’s IOLTA Program, contact OLAF at 614-752-8919 or visit the OLAF Web site at www.olaf.org.

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