The board of directors of the Lawyers Trust Fund has awarded $625,000 in grants to provide legal services to 21 organizations for calendar year 2016. Learn more on our current grants page.… Read more »

The board of directors of the Lawyers Trust Found has awarded $8,692,000 in legal aid grants for FY 2016. The grant total includes $7,787,500 in Legal Services Support Grants to 16 non-profit legal aid organizations in Illinois. Seven of those … Read more »

The directors of the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois have announced a five-year honorary summer internship in recognition of Ruth Ann Schmitt, who is retiring as LTF executive director after 32 years of service. A grant award of $30,000 from … Read more »

On April 7 the Illinois Supreme Court announced changes to Rule of Professional Conduct 1.15 concerning how lawyers and law firms should handle unidentified funds accumulated in their IOLTA accounts. The amended rule directs lawyers who discover unidentified funds to … Read more »

Ruth Ann Schmitt, the longtime executive director of the Lawyers Trust Fund (LTF), has announced her retirement effective June 30, 2015. LTF’s board of directors has selected LTF Deputy Director Mark Marquardt as her successor.

Beginning in 1981, Schmitt worked … Read more »

The Lawyers Trust Fund is making $615,000 in project and new applicant grants to 20 organizations in 2015. These grants support legal aid projects that are part of an organization’s broader provision of social or other services. For more information … Read more »

Recent discussions with officials at Northern Trust have shed some additional light on the bank’s communications with its IOLTA account holders during the summer, and its stated intention to close the IOLTA accounts of many customers after October 3.

The … Read more »

The Lawyers Trust Fund is aware that Northern Trust Bank recently has contacted many of its lawyer customers about the status of their IOLTA accounts. The bank’s written communications have stated that Northern Trust will cease offering IOLTA accounts without … Read more »

The board of directors of the Lawyers Trust Fund has approved $7,665,000 in grants to 16 organizations for FY2015. These general operating support grants provide critical, unrestricted funding to non-profit agencies providing legal aid throughout Illinois. See the full list … Read more »

Are your clients’ IOLTA account deposits insured? The beginning of the year is a good time to ensure your clients will be eligible for the maximum amount of FDIC insurance coverage on their deposits.

The FDIC provides “pass-through” insurance coverage … Read more »