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Though IOLTA or Interest on Lawyers Trust Account is becoming popular nowadays, there are still a significant number of people who are not familiar about it. It is crucial for the public to know about the different programs introduced by the government. Therefore, you should have a clear understanding about this particular program. Arizona IOLTA is just among the IOLTA programs. Anyway, IOLTA is actualized in all 50 states. There are some states that make IOLTA as optional. Other states make IOLTA as a must-implemented program. Majority of the attorneys possess IOLTA accounts. Attorneys need IOLTA accounts so that they can hold the funds of the client. Take note; lawyers are not allowed to deposit the funds of their client into their personal account, and this fact gave birth to IOLTA.

The public should know that the IOLTA account is a type of ‘Interest Bearing Account’. Don’t think that the interest will go to the lawyers’ pockets because it is not and never will. The interests that will be generated by the IOLTA accounts will be gathered or termed as pooled. These interests will then be subjected to charitable works, mainly for those people who require legal assistance.

In the early 1980’s, the attorneys in United States of America initially utilized IOLTA accounts. The state of Florida is the first one that enabled its lawyers to hold the funds of their client in an IOLTA account. After Florida succeeded in implementing and managing this program, the other 49 states as well as USA territories followed their footsteps. Not so long, IOLTA became present in all 50 states, and they only have one goal, and that is to help the underprivileged obtain legal service.

Once the clients paid their attorneys in order for the latter to perform their legal duties, the money will go to the IOLTA account. Attorneys are not allowed to combine the funds of their clients to their personal funds, that is why IOLTA accounts were procreated. If the payment of the client is quite a small amount, it will be directly subjected to the IOLTA account. If the money of the client will just be held by the attorney for a short period of time, then it will be kept in the IOLTA account.





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