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News for Banks

News for Grant Applicants:

The deadline for 2008 discretionary grant applications was Friday, August 17, 2007.

To obtain a 2009 Discretionary Grant Application, please contact our office at 732-247-8222 or by complete the Request for a 2009 IOLTA Grant Application and fax it to 732-247-6868. We will send you an application in early June. The deadline for 2009 discretionary grant applications is Friday, August 15, 2008.

We estimate that $3,000,000 will be available for grant projects to be carried out in 2009. Tax exempt organizations whose purposes are charitable or educational are eligible to apply. The objective of the grants must be civil (not criminal) legal aid to the poor, improvement of the administration of justice, or education of lay persons in legal and justice-related areas.

All applicants, successful and unsuccessful, will be notified of the Board’s decision before December 1, 2008.

News for Attorneys and Law Firms:

Notice to the Bar

Iolta Fund of the Bar of New Jersey

Second Notice for Annual Registration Requirement

The Regulations of the IOLTA Fund of the Bar of New Jersey approved by the New Jersey Supreme Court require that trust accounts subject to Rule 1:28A shall be registered annually with the IOLTA Fund. The IOLTA Fund is in the process of registering attorneys and firms who have not yet complied with Rule 1:28A and the Regulations of the IOLTA Fund for 2008. Attorneys not yet in compliance received a Second Notice in the mail at their home address. Even if you are no longer in private practice, you should respond so that we can adjust our records. Our goal is to assist EVERY attorney in achieving compliance with the IOLTA Rule.

The 2008 IOLTA Registration forms were mailed to law firms in early December 2007. Any attorney or law firm who is subject to Rule 1:21-6 and Rule 1:28A who did not receive the forms should contact the IOLTA Fund immediately at 732-247-8222 or print a copy of the registration form found on this web site under “Lawyers.”

Please note that IOLTA’s registration requirement is different from the one sent by the Lawyers Fund for Client Protection and requires a separate response. If you are not sure whether or not you have complied for this year, call us at 732-247-8222.

News for Banks:

Account opening procedures for a new trust account

All new attorney trust accounts should be opened as non-interest bearing checking accounts. Please instruct the attorney or law firm to call IOLTA to request registration forms. Attorneys do not need our permission or any paperwork to open an attorney trust account. You should allow use of the account in accordance with your usual policies.

Do not print the word “IOLTA” on checks or deposit slips. Do include the phrase: “Attorney Trust Account,” preferably on the second line.

The Fund and the attorney together determine if the trust account should be converted to interest-bearing for IOLTA, based on the projected average balance. If appropriate, we will then contact our liaison at your bank with our written request. If the account is converted to an “IOLTA,” the account title will be modified to include the word “IOLTA.” The checks and deposit slips remain unchanged.

IOLTA has no objection to paying reasonable fees, provided the net return on high balance accounts meets the Best Customer Standard. However, IOLTA will cover only the per check paid, per item deposited and per deposit fees or a reasonable flat fee per month, up to but not more than the gross interest earned by the individual account. Fees in excess of interest earned can be waived by the bank or carried over to the next month. IOLTA will not pay for wire transfers, check printing, account analysis or cash management services, check certification, official bank checks, overdraft charges, and the like. These may be billed to the attorney in a manner agreed on by the attorney and the financial institution. The fees must be comparable to the fees charged to other, non-IOLTA accounts.

You may charge fees to another account, for example an operating account OR attorneys are permitted to keep a small sum of their own money in a trust account to cover bank fees. The Random Audit Program of the Office of Attorney Ethics has adopted a standard of $250 as the maximum amount “reasonably sufficient” to pay bank charges.

Please click here to read the Court's November 21, 2005 Administrative Determination and Notice to the Bar about the Best Customer Standard.