In 1985, the newly established IOLTA funding mechanism came like manna from heaven to Washington state civil legal aid programs, which were still reeling from federal budget cuts imposed in the early 1980’s. In the succeeding twenty years, the Legal Foundation of Washington (LFW) has distributed nearly $82 million to 40 or so different non-profit legal aid programs throughout the state.

IOLTA has had a powerful effect on the delivery of legal aid in Washington. In 1985 there were three federally funded legal aid programs that provided services to low-income people statewide. Volunteer attorney programs, however, were few in number, with Wenatchee, Seattle and Spokane being the only cities with operating programs.

As the president of the Washington State Bar Association in 1987, Spokane lawyer Jack Dean traveled the state encouraging local bars to establish volunteer attorney programs with IOLTA funding from the Legal Foundation of Washington. He also helped to establish Legal Aid for Washington Fund (LAW Fund), the non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that raises private charitable support to help create a more stable base of funding for legal aid. Attorneys, judges, and the low-income people who benefit from civil legal aid are still grateful for Jack Dean’s accomplishments.

Now there are 30 IOLTA-supported programs throughout the state that use either volunteer attorneys or staff attorneys to help low-income people get access to the civil justice system. Additionally, federal funds cover much of the cost of a virtual state-wide free advocacy hotline called CLEAR, as well as support for a wonderful website, www. washingtonlawhelp.org, which anyone can use to obtain law-related information and any number of legal documents.

Until the advent of IOLTA, the federal government was the only significant funder of civil legal aid. IOLTA expanded the ability to help those who had significant barriers to obtaining legal help because they were institutionalized, they did not speak English, or they were geographically isolated. Now, programs no longer have to rely solely on funding from sources that restrict their use. And for that we are thankful.

IOLTA is a great lever in obtaining additional support for legal aid. The Equal Justice Coalition is a LFW supported non-profit organization that educates state and federal elected representatives about civil legal aid. The Equal Justice Coalition helps to maintain and increase state funding for legal aid with a small amount of funds that are leveraged to voice the critical importance of civil equal justice in our communities.

VLFW also has offered a safe harbor to Legal Aid for Washington Fund (LAW Fund) and the Endowment for Equal Justice. Now housed together, the three groups are taking advantage of the money saving efficiencies resulting from this merger to raise more private funds for legal aid to distribute statewide. LAW Fund currently is in the process of collaboratively creating a single, statewide annual Campaign for Equal Justice with other stakeholder groups. This unified effort will further resource sharing, significantly grow the base of private financial support, widen the circle of civil legal aid providers receiving LAW Fund money, and raise awareness about the enormous community need for civil legal aid.

We are thankful for these advancements and more, but there is still a lot of work left to be done. According to the Washington State Supreme Court’s Civil Legal Needs Study released last fall, over 85% of low-income people in our state who face a serious legal problem get no assistance whatsoever because of a lack of resources in the system.

In the spirit of the coming holiday season, we have prepared a list of things that you can do to help make Washington State a fairer place to live.

• Take a pro bono case. Stretch yourself a bit and take a case that is outside your usual area of practice. There are many legal aid programs that would benefit tremendously from your volunteer services, including KCBA’s Community Legal Services programs.
• If you practice at a King County law firm, encourage your firm to contribute generously to the Campaign for Equal Justice, the first joint firm fundraising effort between LAW Fund, the King County Bar Foundation, and the Eastside Legal Assistance Program.
• Resolve that in the New Year, you will write, email or call your state and federal legislators at least once to encouraging public funding for civil legal aid.
• Take a leadership role in making sure that equal justice is available to all through board service on one of the statewide organizations that supports the Alliance for Equal Justice. The Access to Justice Board, Northwest Justice Project, and LFW are just three such organizations. Opportunities for service are listed in the WSBA’s Bar News each month.
• Sign up to receive the Equal Justice Coalition’s e-newsletter and action alerts to keep up-to-date on advocacy opportunities.
• Write a letter to the editor of your local paper about the importance of civil legal aid for low-income people.
• Call your bank and ask them to increase the rate of interest they pay on IOLTA accounts. Or if you are planning to change banks, call LFW and ask which banks treat IOLTA accounts most favorably.
• Talk to your friends, family, colleagues and co-workers about civil legal aid issues and encourage them to take action as well.
• Show your support and commitment to civil equal justice by making charitable, tax-deductible contributions to both LAW Fund (www.lawfund.com) and the King County Bar Foundation (www. kcba.org/foundation/).