MINUTES – May 23, 2002
THE WEST VIRGINIA BAR FOUNDATION, INC.
IOLTA ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING
STATE BAR CENTER – CHARLESTON
The meeting of the Bar Foundation’s IOLTA Advisory Committee was called to order on May 23, 2002 at the State Bar Center in Charleston.
Members of the Committee in attendance were Adrienne Worhty, Jim Martin, Charles Hurley and Dan Hedges. Participating by telephone conference call was Professor Chuck DiSalvo. State Bar Executive Director Tom Tinder was also present.
The first item on the Agenda was a review of the Minutes of the last Committee Meeting which was held on January 17, 2002. A motion was duly made, seconded and passed that the Minutes be approved as presented.
The next item on the Agenda was the status of the Federal Court litigation on the IOLTA Program. Both the Texas and Washington cases are moving through the court system towards the U.S. Supreme Court. There may not be a decision on hearing these appeal cases until the Court returns in the fall.
The Committee members then talked about the federal government funding for legal services programs. A funding request has been made for $440 million for the 2002-2003 fiscal year. There was discussion concerning the Violence Against Women Act funding. The Legal Aid of West Virginia is waiting to hear from the federal government concerning that funding source.
There was then a report from the Legal Aid of West Virginia Program. Ms. Worthy said that the merger into the new organization continues to move forward. The budget considerations are important and ongoing with an exceptional amount of planning being done.
Professor DiSalvo then gave a report from the special grantees. He said that the Senior Legal Aid Program is dealing with funding reductions, there was no report from the CASA Program, there will be 16 public interest interns during the summer and may be less next year and that the Appalachian Center is using some of its funds to upgrade its website.
The next item on the Agenda was a financial report. There was an extensive amount of discussion on this topic. A report was given that there is $299,000 available for distribution as of May 22, 2002 – from July 1, 2001 to April 30, 2002, a total of $616,488 has been received as opposed to approximately $1 million which had been received as of April 30, 2001 during last fiscal year.
After more comments were made, a motion was duly made, seconded and passed for there to be meetings with Supreme Court Chief Justice Davis, the West Virginia Bankers Association, the West Virginia Bar Foundation and the West Virginia State Bar requesting that support be given that the IOLTA Program receive an interest rate tied to a nationally recognized interest rate that would be below the federal fund rate and that there be no service fees or charges on IOLTA accounts.
After more discussion, a motion was duly made, seconded and passed to take the following action on the $299,000 available for expenditure:
- $85,000 – Rainy Day Fund
- $22,000 – Special Grantee Payment
- $15,000 – Special Grantee Payment from the Rainy Day Fund disbursement made in December, 2001
- $5,000 – Set aside for automation of program
- $50,000 – Annual Management Fee
- $122,000 – Distribution to Legal Aid of West Virginia and Mountain State Justice
Under the topic of Other Business, it was agreed that there would be a discussion at the next Committee Meeting of the participants on the IOLTA Advisory Committee.
A motion was duly made, seconded and passed to set the next Committee Meeting for August 22, 2002 at 11:00 a.m. and December 19, 2002 at 11:00 a.m.
There being no further business to transact, the meeting was adjourned.