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Heated hearing on SB 31: lawyers, nonprofits warn changes to IOLTA would strip funds for civil legal aid
Summary
Senate Bill 31 would change how interest on pooled attorney trust accounts (IOLTA) is handled and require client choice; opponents — Montana Justice Foundation, Montana Legal Services and dozens of nonprofits and lawyers — said the change would create tax, banking and administrative burdens and sharply reduce funding for civil legal aid across the state.
Senate Bill 31 attracted the largest turnout and most contested testimony in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill would alter how interest on pooled attorney trust accounts (IOLTA) is handled and give clients more explicit options for whether interest from nominal, short-term funds stays in pooled IOLTA accounts (which currently fund grants) or is placed into other account types.
Carlo Canty, president of the Montana Justice Foundation (MJF), and Alyssa Chambers, MJF executive director, strongly opposed the bill and described the Justice Foundation’s role distributing IOLTA revenue to nonprofit legal-aid programs. Chambers told the committee that IOLTA funding supports services for seniors, veterans, foster children and…
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