New IOLTA debate looms

IOLTA bill killed for 2013 session

By Peter Vieth
Published: January 31, 2013
Tags: General Assembly, IOLTA, Legal Aid

A compromise bill to remove barriers to automatic use of attorney trust accounts to generate funding for legal aid cleared a House of Delegates Courts Committee only to be killed by its sponsor on the floor of the House. House Bill 1544 would have removed a ban on requiring the use of interest on lawyers’ [...]

Fee hike could halt staff cuts

By Peter Vieth
Published: January 2, 2012
Tags: General Assembly, IOLTA, Legal Aid

Legal aid advocates will ask the Virginia General Assembly next month to approve a temporary $4 filing fee increase for civil actions to make up for some of the cuts in federal grants that support legal aid offices around the state. The Assembly also will again be asked to remove a barrier to mandatory collection [...]

Effort to reinstate mandatory IOLTA dies in House committee

By Alan Cooper
Published: February 28, 2011
Tags: General Assembly, IOLTA, Virginia Bar Association, Virginia State Bar

The effort in the 2011 General Assembly to revive mandatory IOLTA is dead for the time being. Proponents of reinstating mandatory IOLTA as a tool to raise money for legal aid failed to clear the first hurdle – lifting the ban on the concept the Assembly imposed in 1995. The fight over IOLTA strained relations [...]

IOLTA bill headed to Senate floor

By Peter Vieth
Published: January 26, 2011
Tags: General Assembly, IOLTA

A bill to allow for mandatory use of interest on lawyers’ trust accounts is on its way to full Virginia Senate. Despite concerns about possible burdens on solo and small-firm lawyers, and despite the death of a companion bill in the House, the Senate Courts committee voted 8-to-5 Wednesday to report the mandatory IOLTA bill [...]

VLW IOLTA Poll: Majority backs change

By dmc-admin
Published: January 26, 2011
Tags: General Assembly, IOLTA

Earlier this month, Virginia Lawyers Weekly featured a Web poll asking our readers what they thought of the proposal to reestablish mandatory IOLTA in the commonwealth. Sixty-seven respondents weighed in, a 74.6 percent majority favoring the repeal of a 1995 statute that has allowed lawyers to decide whether their client trust accounts will bear interest, [...]

One IOLTA bill fails, another survives in subcommittee votes

By Peter Vieth
Published: January 25, 2011
Tags: General Assembly, IOLTA

Concerns about advocacy efforts funded by the Legal Services Corp. of Virginia led to defeat for a House of Delegates bill aimed at restoring mandatory IOLTA in Virginia. That’s the word from bill sponsor Del. Bill Cleaveland. He said he prepared for opposition from the banks, but was surprised to hear criticism at a subcommittee [...]

Increase in GDC jurisdiction, IOLTA bill advance

By Alan Cooper
Published: January 21, 2011
Tags: General Assembly, General District Courts, IOLTA, Supreme Court of Virginia News, Virginia Bar Association, Virginia State Bar, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association

A proposal to raise the jurisdictional limit for civil cases from $15,000 to $25,000 cleared the civil subcommittee of the Senate Courts of Justice Committee yesterday. Senate Bill 774, patroned by A. Donald McEachin, D-Richmond, had the support of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, the Virginia Bar Association, the Virginia Bankers Association and such high-volume [...]