Lawyers’ Trust Accounts Board Helping to Secure Equal Access to Justice
Eligibility & Applications
The IOLTA Board awards grants in the following categories. Expand each category to learn more. If you have questions about the IOLTA Board’s grants process, please contact Jim Swoyer, IOLTA’s Grants Manager, at James.Swoyer@pacourts.us.
This grant is awarded annually to the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network, Inc.
PLAN, Inc. is an administrative and support agency that also receives annually-appropriated Commonwealth and federal block grant funding through a contract with the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. Except for funds to cover its own administrative and support budget, PLAN, Inc. subcontracts all funding to eight legal aid organizations that provide a full range of civil legal aid for the indigent and abused and to six projects focused on specialized areas of the law or clients with special needs.
These discretionary grants – often referred to as “zone grants” – support the delivery of specialized legal services to targeted groups of people such as the disabled, non-English speaking communities, and victims of domestic violence. Funding is allocated to geographic zones based on the proportion of people living in poverty throughout the state. Applicants compete with one another in the zone where the proposed services would be delivered. Learn more about the geographic boundaries of our funding zones by viewing the IOLTA Funding Zone Map.
A Qualified Recipient must:
- Be a not-for-profit Pennsylvania Corporation.
- Be tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
- Operate primarily within Pennsylvania.
- Have as its primary purpose* the provision of civil legal services without charge.
*An organization meets the primary purpose test if it expends at least 50% of its total audited resources (including the audited value of pro bono legal services) on the delivery of free civil legal services to Pennsylvanians living at or below 187.5% of the Federal Poverty Level.
Applications for the grant year beginning July 1, 2024 closed on December 15, 2023. Applications for the 2025-2026 grant cycle will open on November 12, 2024.
Applicants are invited to view instructions for completing the grant application at IOLTA Specialized Legal Services (Zone) Grant Application – Instructions.
Applicants must sign and submit a Signed Assurances Page with their application.
Application and reporting cycles for the Specialized Legal Services (Zone) Grant are managed using an online grants management system.
Learn more about using our online system through this technical support guide.
Discover the geographic boundaries of our funding zones by viewing the IOLTA Funding Zone Map.
For Period Ending September 30, reports are due by October 31.
For Period Ending December 31, reports are due by January 31.
For Period Ending March 31, reports are due by April 30.
For Period Ending June 30, reports are due by July 31.
Audit reports are due to the Board no later than October 15, 2024.
The deadline for budget amendment requests is May 31, 2024.
Grants are made to each of the nine law schools operating in Pennsylvania to help support clinical and/or externship programs that provide free civil legal assistance to indigent persons. The grants provide practical skills training to students, help serve some of the unmet need for civil legal services, and inculcate a pro bono ethic in future attorneys. Each law school must demonstrate that the grant funds will be used to address a current civil legal need of the indigent and will support live-client or other real-life practice experience. The law school must consult with local area programs that provide free or low-fee civil legal services to the poor, and it must demonstrate its own financial commitment to the programs that will be funded by the IOLTA grant.
Applications for the grant year beginning July 1, 2024 closed on January 19, 2024. Applications for the 2025-2026 grant cycle will open on December 16, 2024.
Applicants must sign and submit a Signed Assurances Page with their application.
Application and reporting cycles for the Law School Grant are managed using an online grants management system.
Learn more about using our online system through this technical support guide.
For Period Ending December 31, reports are due by January 31.
For Period Ending June 30, reports are due by July 31.
The Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) is administered by the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation (PBF) under a three-year grant funded by pro hac vice admission fees. The LRAP benefits attorneys employed full-time by an IOLTA-funded legal services organization.
Visit the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation’s website for more information about applying for assistance.