The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Grant to beef up legal aid reserves
By Max B. Baker
November 18, 2002
A state foundation is giving West Texas Legal Services and the
Fort Worth chapter of the NAACP more than $1 million to help
provide civil legal services to the poor.
The Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation announced that the
Fort Worth-based nonprofit groups will receive grants from funds it
controls, including the Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts, or
IOLTA, program.
West Texas Legal Services, which works with clients in 106
counties including Tarrant, Lubbock, Midland and Potter, will get
about $1.03 million. The legal aid group cleared about 8,300 cases
last year.
"It is going to help us out tremendously with our program," said
Kathy Duncan at West Texas Legal Services. "If it wasn't for the
grant, we couldn't continue to do the work we are doing."
West Texas handles such cases as divorces, protective orders in
domestic violence cases and land-lord-tenant disputes. It has a
staff of about 100 employees, including attorneys and support
staff, in 10 branch offices.
The NAACP's Fort Worth Justice Project will get $49,000.
Officials from the group's legal assistance program were not
available to comment.
Created by the Texas Supreme Court, the Equal Access foundation
has distributed about $8 million statewide. Besides the IOLTA
program, the money comes from court filing fees and a state
criminal victims assistance program.
In Texas, 4.2 million people qualify for legal assistance
because they make at or below 120 percent of the federal poverty
guideline. In Tarrant County, 204,000 people are eligible for legal
aid.
The grants come at a time when funding for programs providing
attorneys for the poor are in jeopardy from declining interest
rates, cutbacks in federal funding and legal challenges.
"It needs to be a whole lot more," said Betty Torres, executive
director of the Austin-based foundation. "Although the poverty
population in Texas has increased, statewide and federal funding
for this vital work is in decline."
About $4.9 million being distributed this year comes from the
IOLTA fund, which is interest earned on money paid to lawyers as
retainers or to cover court costs. The funds are held in trust
accounts.
Because of lower interest rates, foundation officials anticipate
having only $3.3 million in that fund next year. To make the money
go further, the group persuaded 25 banks to waive service fees of
about $555,000.
As part of a national overhaul of the Legal Services Corp., the
nine legal aid groups in Texas are being folded into three,
creating huge agencies handling cases in dozens of counties.
On Dec. 31, West Texas Legal Services will merge with Legal
Services of North Texas, which is in Dallas and covers eight
counties. Renamed Northwest Texas Legal Aid, its headquarters will
be in Arlington.
Created by Congress in 1974, Legal Services Corp. is frequently
a budgetary target. It has been requiring states to consolidate
legal aid groups in an attempt to conserve money and improve
services.
The future of the IOLTA program is also in doubt.
On Dec. 9, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments about the
constitutionality of the IOLTA program in the state of
Washington.
Opponents say the interest earned on the trust funds belongs to
the clients and cannot be diverted to charitable groups without
compensating their clients or getting their permission.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled
that the Washington fund is constitutional, while the 5th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans last year ruled that Texas'
fund was an improper taking of assets.
