Stabilized IOLA Fund Increases Grant to the City Bar Justice Center

CONTACT 
Anthony Johnson 
City Bar Justice Center 
anthonyjohnson@nycbar.org  
  

New York, February 6, 2025 – The City Bar Justice Center, a pro bono civil legal aid affiliate of the New York City Bar Association, is excited to announce that the New York State Interest on Lawyers Account Fund (IOLA) has increased its support to our organization as part of a historic, five-year grant plan intended to boost support for those in greatest need of civil legal assistance across New York State. The Justice Center provides high-quality, free civil legal services benefiting over 25,000 New Yorkers in need each year throughout New York City, Long Island, and the Lower Hudson Valley, helping individuals and families vindicate rights and achieve social and economic stability.  

 Previously, IOLA supported the Justice Center and dozens of other providers with two-year grants. Following the unprecedented raid on IOLA funds by New York State in 2024, however, and a recent settlement agreement among IOLA, New York State, and several bar associations – including the Justice Center’s affiliated New York City Bar Association – IOLA’s new five-year grant program helps to ensure that IOLA grantees have more secure, longer-term support. This extended grant period and overall increase in funding offers legal aid organizations and their volunteers added peace of mind that revenue is more likely to remain available no matter what political or economic turmoil occurs. 

 Between FY 2026 and 2030, IOLA will support the City Bar Justice Center with $6M for the Justice Center’s Legal Hotline, Consumer Bankruptcy Project, Elder Law Project, Immigrant Justice Project, Shelter Advocacy Project (formerly the Legal Clinic for the Homeless), and pro bono and strategic initiatives, as well as a social work support program first launched in part by IOLA’s 2023-25 grant to the Justice Center. In addition, through a sub-grant, IOLA’s award to the City Bar Justice Center will support the Housing Justice Leadership Institute at New York Law School, which trains supervising attorneys who support New York’s expanding housing court right to counsel initiative. 

 The City Bar Justice Center’s Executive Director, Kurt M. Denk, said, “We are thrilled that IOLA recognized the vital need for expanded and more secure legal aid funding, and that so many fought to protect these funds from improper seizure by New York State. The need for civil legal aid is perhaps greater than ever, and our organization knows from experience that pro bono-supported legal services translate into a family or individual securing or remaining in stable housing; accessing medical care or other vital life essentials; the life-or-death outcome of asylum-seekers starting a new life away from the threat of persecution; and more.”  

 The City Bar Justice Center is deeply grateful to everyone involved in the grantmaking—and grant saving—process at IOLA.  

 About the City Bar Justice Center   

The City Bar Justice Center furthers access to justice by addressing unmet civil legal needs of New Yorkers struggling with poverty and other systemic socioeconomic barriers. The Justice Center’s dozen civil justice projects are led by a staff of dedicated attorneys and support professionals who provide high-quality civil legal services through brief advice and information, referrals, and both limited scope and extended representation that benefit more than 25,000 New Yorkers each year who cannot afford to hire counsel. www.citybarjusticecenter.org