Spring 2010-#9. Vermont Bar Foundation Stories.

• Author: by Carol Ode, Esq.

Vermont Bar Journal

2010.

Spring 2010-#9.

Vermont Bar Foundation Stories

THE VERMONT BAR JOURNALVolume 36, No.1Spring 2010Vermont Bar Foundation Storiesby Carol Ode, Esq.In this issue of the Vermont Bar Journal, the Vermont Bar Foundation (VBF) is proud to share three stories about how Vermont Bar Foundation grantees serve Vermont.

"Most Vermont Bar Foundation funding comes from interest earned on attorneys' IOLTA accounts, so the more interest generated on those accounts, the greater number of dollars we can put to work improving access to justice in Vermont," said VBF President Joe Cahill. "Attorneys make a difference by choosing banks and credit unions on the IOLTA Honor Roll for their IOLTA accounts. It is also very important to thank IOLTA Honor Roll banks and credit unions for their participation on the IOLTA Honor Roll. Don't hesitate to ask banks and credit unions not on the IOLTA Honor Roll to join."

"The Vermont Bar Foundation is especially grateful to the banks and credit unions who participate on the Vermont Bar Foundation IOLTA Honor Roll because these institutions are remitting the most generous interest rates in Vermont on monies on deposit in IOLTA accounts," said Vermont Bar Foundation Executive Director Deborah Bailey.

Thank you for helping us in our efforts to improve access to justice for all in Vermont by supporting and thanking these IOLTA Honor Roll institutions.

Vermont Stories: IOLTA Dollars Make a Difference

Vermont Legal Aid and its Health Care Ombudsman

The first story is about a woman whose access to health care was preserved by longtime, respected grantee, Vermont Legal Aid (VLA), and its Health Care Ombudsman, Jakki Flanagan. It was in the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, the centerpiece of the War on Poverty, that the need to provide civil legal assistance to citizens unable to afford private legal advice was recognized. And it was in 1968 that the EOA led to the creation of Vermont Legal Aid. Since then, VLA has been attorney, advocate, and partner to disadvantaged Vermonters through a system of statewide offices in Burlington, Montpelier, Rutland, St. Johnsbury, Springfield, and the state hospital in Waterbury. In 1995, Vermont Legal Aid's partner agency, Legal Services Law Line, began providing legal services to Vermonters over the telephone. Together, Vermont Legal Aid...