New Hampshire Legal Assistance Receives Grant from New Hampshire Bar Foundation

New Hampshire Legal Assistance was recently awarded $488,000 from the New Hampshire Bar Foundation’s IOLTA Grants Program to provide civil legal aid services to New Hampshire residents in the coming fiscal year, according to a press statement.

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 wouldn’t earn much interest, so each law firm pools the funds together into one account. In 1982, the state Supreme Court mandated, and continues today to ensure, that the interest those accounts earn is distributed to civil legal aid programs that help low-income people navigate the legal system when they can’t afford to hire an attorney.

Typical civil legal aid clients are victims seeking safety from domestic abuse, veterans navigating bureaucratic systems to secure earned benefits, people with disabilities working to obtain health care, seniors needing protection from financial exploitation, and families fighting to access safe housing.

“New Hampshire was the second state in the country to authorize the IOLTA program. Ever since, it has been one of the largest funders for our work on behalf of the state’s most vulnerable residents,” said Lynne Parker, NHLA executive director. “Clients call us in their most desperate moments, when they are facing homelessness, or when they fear for their safety. Every dollar is critical and we are very grateful for the Bar Foundation’s continued support.”

New Hampshire Legal Assistance is a state-wide non-profit law firm representing low-income and elderly New Hampshire residents who cannot afford to hire a lawyer. NHLA maintains offices in Berlin, Claremont, Concord, Manchester and Portsmouth.

For more information about New Hampshire Legal Assistance, please contact Communications Manager Sarah Palermo at 603-369-6650 or spalermo@nhla.org