IOLTA Program
The IOLTA (Interest On Lawyers’ Trust Accounts) program was established by the Tennessee Supreme Court in 1984, and the responsibility for its administration was assigned to the Tennessee Bar Foundation. The purpose of the program is to raise funds to be distributed, in the form of grants, to organizations in Tennessee that provide direct legal services to the indigent, to organizations that seek to improve the administration of justice and to students, in the form of scholarships, at the state-supported law schools. IOLTA has granted over $21,890,000 to providers of these services in the state. Click on the links below for information about applying for a grant and for a list of current grant recipients.
IOLTA Grants
Lawyer Resources
As of January 1, 2010, lawyers practicing in Tennessee, who hold client or third party funds, in pooled trust or escrow checking accounts, must enroll those accounts in the Tennessee IOLTA program. As such, the IOLTA program functions as a partnership between the legal community and the community of financial institutions. Click on the links below for explanatory materials.
Banker Resources
Toolkit for IOLTA Comparability
- Rules
- FAQ
- Compliance Statement
- Guidelines for Financial Institutions
- Help a lawyer open an IOLTA account (“Notice to Financial Institution”)
- Trust Account Overdraft Notification Requirements
- Remittance report Excel spreadsheet with instructions is available by contacting Danelle Pate, dpate@tnbarfoundation.org or 800/634.2516.