LTF Announces Grants for FY 10
The Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois held its annual reception at The Chicago Bar Association on June 4, 2009. LTF President Eileen Letts announced FY 10 grants totaling $8,490,798, the second highest amount distributed in the organization's 26-year history.

The rapid and steep decline in interest rates has had a devastating effect on IOLTA income. In a fifteen-month period beginning in December 2007, the Fed Funds Target Rate (on which IOLTA rates are based) fell from 5.25% to 0 - .25%. Consequently, IOLTA income fell from approximately $18 million in FY 08 to $6 million in FY 09. Despite these losses, LTF was able to provide support for the legal aid system at the $8.5 million level by committing resources from its Grant Stabilization Fund.

Ms. Letts announced that her term and that of former LTF president Tom Clancy were ending on June 30. New officers for FY 10 include Tim Eaton of Chicago as president, Helen Ogar of Bloomington as vice president, and Rich Prendergast of Chicago as treasurer.

LTF Celebrates 25th Anniversary with Record Grants for FY 09
On June 13, 2008, the directors of the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois celebrated the organization’s 25th anniversary by approving over $13 million in grants to 35 legal aid programs throughout the state for FY 09
(July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2009).  This represents an increase of 75% over FY08 and is the largest amount ever distributed by the Lawyers Trust Fund, now the largest source of legal aid funding in the state.

The 25th anniversary reception at the Standard Club in Chicago also provided the Lawyers Trust Fund an opportunity to present an award to Justice Thomas L. Kilbride, who serves as the liaison between the Supreme Court of Illinois and the Lawyers Trust Fund. The award recognized Justice Kilbride for his contributions to the cause of equal justice, both as an attorney and as a member of the Supreme Court. 

For a list of FY 09 grants, click here.

LTF Approves Record Grants for FY 08
The board of directors of the Lawyers Trust Fund have Illinois have approved grants totaling just over $7.5 million to support the delivery of legal assistance to low-income Illinois residents for FY 08 (July 1, 2007 - June 30, 2008).  The amount includes $7,009,600 in direct grants to 30 not-for-profit legal aid organizations serving clients throughout the state. In addition, a total of $550,000 has been set aside to help legal aid programs recruit and retain talented and experienced staff attorneys.

The $7,559,600 in total grants is the largest amount ever distributed by the Lawyers Trust Fund in a single year. Since the inception of its grant-making program in 1984, LTF has made grants totaling almost $75,000,000.

For a list of FY 08 grants, click here.

LTF Announces Record Grants for FY 07 - Funds Targeted to Shore up Infrastructure
The Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois will distribute grants totaling $5,987,310 during FY 07 (July 1, 2006 - June 30, 2007). This amount exceeds the previous record of $4,510,500, set the previous year, by 33%. The increase is mostly attributable to rising interest rates on IOLTA accounts.

LTF directed a significant part of the overall increase ($882,936) to one-time Operations & Infrastructure Improvements grants, which will allow legal aid programs to increase their efficiency through the purchase of new computer hardware and software, network upgrades, telephone systems, printers, copiers, scanners and other office equipment and technology.

The grants were announced at the Lawyers Trust Fund's annual meeting on June 2, 2006. For a list of FY 07 grants, click here.

New Board Members and Officers for LTF
On July 1, 2006, Thomas A. Clancy succeeded Peggy A. Davis as LTF president. Eileen M. Letts was elected vice president, and J. Timothy Eaton will continue to serve as secretary/treasurer. All were elected for one-year terms. Four new members joined the LTF board for three-year terms beginning in July 2006. Two were appointed by the Supreme Court of Illinos: Elizabeth Hoskins Dow (Joliet) and Helen E. Ogar (Bloomington). The Chicago Bar Association appointed Richard J. Prendergast (Chicago) and the Illinois State Bar Association appointed Joseph B. McDonnell (Belleville). The four new members are appointed for a three-yeart term ending June 30, 2009.

Susan Kaplan Receives LTF's Rothstein Award for 2006
Susan R. Kaplan, the director of the Community Economic Development Law Project (CEDLP), is the 2006 recipient of LTF's Esther R. Rothstein Award. Susan Kaplan was the founding director of CEDLP in 1985, and over the past 21 years she has built the organization into one of Illinois' largest pro bono programs. CEDLP has a roster of approximately 900 volunteers, representing almost every major law firm in Chicago. Since its founding, CEDLP has provided legal assistance valued at over $25 million to more than 2,500 not-for-profit organizations.

The Rothstein is presented at LTF's annual meeting to recognize the contributions of an attorney who has dedicated a significant portion of his or her legal career to the cause of equal access to justice. It is named in honor of Esther R. Rothstein, the first woman to serve as president of the Chicago Bar Association and former director and officer of the Lawyers Trust Fund. Ms. Rothstein passed away in 1998.

LTF Invests in Statewide Justice Initiative
The Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois has made a three-year grant totaling $600,000 to expand the operations of the Illinois Colation for Equal Justice. The new funding will allow the Colation to hire Joseph A. Dailing as executive director. The Coalition is the statewide planing body for the legal aid system in Illinois, and is charged with finding innovative, cost-effective ways to ensure that low-income Illinois residents have access to the protections of the legal system. The Coalition is chaired by former CBA president Jennifer Nijman.

Prior to joining the Coalition, Mr. Dailing spent 27 years as the executive director or Prairie State Legal Services in Rockford, and has done consulting work on legal aid issues both nationally and internationally.

U.S. Supreme Court Affirms Washington State IOLTA Program
In a 5-4 decision authored by Justice Stevens, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld that Washington's IOLTA program does not violate the Fifth Admendment right.

Supreme Court of Illinois Raises ARDC Fee to Support Legal Aid
Beginning in 2003, the Lawyers Trust Fund will receive the proceeds from a $42 increase in the annual registration fee paid by Illinois attorneys. The funds will be used to support civil legal aid programs for the indigent throughout Illinois. This new source of revenue, estimated at $2.4 million per year, is necessary to supplement the Lawyers Trust Fund's income from the IOLTA program, which has been sharply reduced due to low interest rates. Illinois becomes the thrid state in the nation, after Minnesota and Ohio, to adopt this funding mechanism for civil legal aid programs.

State of Illinois Increases Funding for Legal Aid - Again!
The state budget for FY 07 includes a $1.5 million increase for the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation, a not-for-profit entity that makes grants to support legal aid, mediation and other access-to-justice programs pursuant to the Illinois Equal Justice Act. The apporpriation was increased from $470,000 in FY 05 to $2,000,000 in FY 06, and again to $3.5 million for FY 07. LTF has been the largest funder of the campaign to increase state funding for access-to-justice programs.

Illinois Legal Needs Study II Released
Bar leaders gathered on February 8, 2005, to release a major study of the civil legal needs of lower income Illinois residents and the legal aid system that is designed to meet those needs. The report, entitled The Legal Aid Safety Net: A Report on the Legal Needs of Low-Income Illinoisans (click here to view the report) found that low income individuals and families in Illinois were able to get legal assistance for only one out of every every six legal problems the faced during 2003. The report was sponsered by the Illinois State Bar Association, The Chicago Bar Association, The Chicago Bar Foundation, the Illinois Bar Foundation the the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois, which provided the majority of the funding. Preparation of the report was overseen by a steering committee co-chaired by former CBA president Jennifer Nijman and former ISBA president, Tim Bertschy.