GSB Vol. 17, NO. 2, Pg. 30. Sen. Johnny Isakson and Jimmy Franklin Honored at State Bar Meeting.

• Author: by Len Horton

Georgia Bar Journal

Volume 17.

GSB Vol. 17, NO. 2, Pg. 30.

Sen. Johnny Isakson and Jimmy Franklin Honored at State Bar Meeting

GSB JournalVol. 17, NO. 2October 2011Sen. Johnny Isakson and Jimmy Franklin Honored at State Bar Meetingby Len HortonSen. Johnny Isakson and Georgia Bar Foundation Vice President Jimmy Franklin were honored at the summer Board of Governors meeting of the State Bar of Georgia for their roles in saving full lOLTA funding for low income Georgians.

"Unlimited insurance on lOLTA trust accounts was coming to an end on Dec. 31, 2010, and many attempts had been made to save that insurance," said Aasia Mustakeem, president of the Georgia Bar Foundation (the Foundation). "Without the renewal of that insurance on those accounts, millions of dollars would have been transferred from these special accounts at smaller, local banks to much bigger national banks deemed too big to fail. This would have hurt community banks throughout America, law firms that had been using those banks and countless disadvantaged citizens who receive assistance because of the interest generated on those account balances throughout the nation."

Within hours before adjournment for the Christmas holidays, the U.S. Senate was deadlocked on solving this problem. Most supporters of the effort to save these charitable funds had given up hope. In fact several leaders of the fight emailed that the effort had failed and that it was time to go to plan B.

"That was when Jimmy Franklin called Sen. Isakson," Mustakeem continued. "Sen. Isakson used the Isakson magic to get unanimous support, which saved important sums of money from these accounts. Without Isakson, it absolutely would not have happened."

Unlimited insurance on these accounts had been scheduled to end before at the end of December, but the Dodd-Frank Act, which President Obama signed into law, accidentally omitted these accounts, causing the problem. This led lawyers nationwide to ask permission either to take money out of these accounts and keep it in non-interest-bearing checking accounts with unlimited FDIC insurance or to consider transferring it to much larger banks.

The impact on thousands of organizations would be devastating. In Georgia, shelters for battered women and their children would be hurt as would programs providing legal representation for low-income Georgians.

The...