ALBANY – The state’s judiciary will lead a new effort over the next seven months to identify a more reliable mechanism for funding civil level services for the poor, Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman declared yesterday during Law Day ceremonies.
Judge Lippman said that an unprecedented coalition of judges, legal services providers, law colleges and bar groups will work together to supplement, if not supplant, the Interest on Lawyers’ Account Fund, which is financed by the interest on money lawyers hold in escrow for clients, typically involving pending real estate transactions. Declining interest rates have driven down the fund to less than $8 million this year from $31 million a few years ago.
