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News Release
Texas Access to Justice Foundation AUSTIN, Texas––Texas
Access to Justice Foundation<(TAJF)––the
largest state-based funding source for civil legal aid—announced today 49 of
its Prime Partner banks have stepped up
to continue supporting legal assistance being provided by Texas legal aid
programs. These banks have chosen to continue paying higher interest rates
to the Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program, demonstrating
their commitment to supporting low-income Texans in a most critical time. “Legal
aid organizations have always been among the emergency responders in crises
faced by low-income Texans, and the COVID-19 pandemic is no exception,”
said Richard L. Tate, chair of the board of directors for the Texas Access
to Justice Foundation. “By choosing to remain in our Prime Partner program,
these banks are providing
extra funding for essential civil legal aid that will help low-income Texans
avoid disasters like eviction, foreclosure and domestic violence issues that
have been made more acute by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Approximately
5.6 million
Texans
qualified
for legal
aid
before the COVID-19 pandemic, as Texas is home to
the
second-highest
number
of
poor
people
in the
nation.
The number of Texans qualifying for legal
aid is expected to rise dramatically as unemployment increases
because of the COVID-19 public health crisis. Prime Partner banks help mitigate the
decline in revenue available to fund legal aid. All
attorneys who handle client funds are required to keep those funds in IOLTA
accounts until they can be made available to a client. TAJF receives funding
from the interest generated by these accounts and uses the money to
distribute grants to legal aid providers throughout the state.
This funding
helps
more
than
150,000
Texas
families
each
year, with the number expected to
rise.
“PlainsCapital Bank is dedicated to serving our communities and one of the
ways we can do that is as
Prime Partner supporting the Texas IOLTA program,” said
Rod Edens, executive vice president of PlainsCapital Bank in Westlake. “Given the economic impact of the public health crisis, it is more essential
than ever to support Texans who may be thrust into poverty for the first
time in their lives.” Since
2007, the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, which is the primary
state-based funder of legal aid in Texas, has experienced a loss of more
than $156 million due to declines in funding from the state’s
Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program. Due to unexpected
interest rate cuts in March 2020, the IOLTA program is now expected to lose
approximately $1 million each month. Funds that are essential to helping many of Texas’ most vulnerable
residents.
The Texas Access to Justice Foundation (www.teajf.org), created by the Supreme Court of Texas in 1984, is the leading state-based funding source for the provision of civil legal aid in Texas. The organization is committed to the vision that all Texans will have equal access to justice, regardless of their income. The Foundation administers a variety of funding sources, which are earmarked to assist nonprofit organizations in providing legal aid to more than 150,000 Texas families each year.
Kimberly Schmitt
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