Chicago attorney J. Timothy Eaton, a past president of the ISBA, was reappointed to his second three-year term on the board of directors of the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois.

The appointment was made July 20 by the ISBA Board of Governors at the request of LTF executive director Ruth Ann Schmitt.

“Tim currently serves as secretary-treasurer of the board and is scheduled to move into the presidency in FY 2009,” she wrote. “He is a valued member of team LTF.”

Current LTF president is another ISBA past president, Thomas A. Clancy of Chicago. Another ISBA appointee on the board is Joseph B. McDonnell of Swansea.

In her semi-annual report to the ISBA Assembly in June, Schmitt noted that Lawyers Trust Fund grants to 32 not-for-profit legal aid programs in the 2007-08 fiscal year total $7,559,600.

That represents a 26 percent increase over the previous year's total of $5,987,310 and brings to $75,589,860 the total of grants made since 1984.

Schmitt said she expected income from lawyers trust accounts (IOLTA) to reach $4.7 million by June 30 in addition to $2.6 million contributed by Illinois lawyers at $42 of their annual registration fees.

“We anticipate next year's IOLTA income to increase significantly,” Schmitt said, due to a rule amendment that requires trust accounts to be placed only in eligible banks.

To be eligible, a bank would agree to pay interest on lawyers trust accounts at rates comparable to non-IOLTA accounts with comparable balances.

“I am please to report that all participating institutions have qualified as eligible, requiring no lawyer to move (an) account to a different bank,” Schmitt said.

Of the total $7,559,600 allocation for 2007-08, general operating for legal aid programs accounts for $5,854,600, and special projects will receive $955,000.

Another $550,000 is reserved to address the financial pressures that have resulted in the loss of many experienced legal service employees, and $200,000 will support the Illinois Coalition for Equal Justice.

The two largest grant recipients are Prairie State Legal Services ($1,385,000) and Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation ($1,357,500).

Recipients of other large grants are Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation ($575,000), Illinois Legal Aid Online ($550,000), Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago ($550,000), and Coordinated Advice and Referral Program for Legal Services ($517,500).