Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts (IOLTA) is an idea that originated in British, Canadian and Australian jurisdictions in the 1960s. In the US, IOLTA was pioneered in Florida and now exists in every state in the country. The New Mexico IOLTA program was created by the State Supreme Court in 1984, and, until April 1, 2002, was a voluntary program.

Rule 16-115 (D) of the Rules of Professional Conduct requires that all New Mexico attorneys either participate in IOLTA or affirmatively "opt out" by submitting a letter to the State Supreme Court by January 10 of the year in which the attorney wishes to decline participation.

Attorneys and law firms enrolled in IOLTA are eligible to place client funds that are "nominal in amount or to be held for a short period of time" in interest-bearing trust accounts.  The interest is remitted to the Center for Civic Values and is distributed under supervision of the Court to provide free civil legal assistance to the poor, law-related education for the public and improvements in the administration of justice.

Annual grant allocations are based on the recommendations of a Grant Committee composed of lawyer and nonlawyer members appointed by the State Supreme Court, CCV and the State Bar of New Mexico. More than $3.7 million has been awarded since the program's inception, and IOLTA has long been one of the largest non-governmental funders of civil legal services for poor people in the state.

Learn more about IOLTA grants.

Learn more about IOLTA (for attorneys).

Learn more about IOLTA (for financial institutions).

Equal justice under law . . . is not merely a caption on the facade of the Supreme Court building. It is perhaps the most inspiring ideal of our society. . .It is fundamental that justice should be the same, in substance and availability, without regard to economic status.

Justice Lewis Powell, Jr.