Blog
ELPO Law Attorney Rebecca Simpson Appointed by IOLTA Board of Trustees to Serve as Chair
by Mandy Hicks
The IOLTA Board of Trustees has appointed ELPO Law Attorney Rebecca Simpson to serve as Chair. This appointment comes one year after Simpson was chosen to serve on the IOTLA Board of Trustees.
The Kentucky IOLTA Fund was established in 1986 by the Kentucky Supreme Court through SCR 3.830 which requires every lawyer maintaining a pooled client trust account to offer such account for participation in the Interest On Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) Fund unless otherwise exempt under the provisions of the Rule. The program uses the advantage of pooling client trust funds to generate interest in excess of service fees and administrative costs. Attorneys in the program deposit small or short-term trust funds into interest-bearing accounts with the interest being paid directly to the IOLTA Fund. Client funds remain under the control of the attorney who continues to maintain his or her trust account. Interest paid is not included in either the attorney’s or the client’s gross income.
The interest received by the IOLTA Fund is then disbursed in the form of grants for legal aid to the poor, local pro bono programs, and other projects that improve the administration of justice in Kentucky as may be specifically approved by the Kentucky Supreme Court from time to time. IOLTA is a unique and innovative way to increase access to justice for individuals and families living in poverty and to improve our justice system. Without taxing the public, and at no cost to lawyers or their clients, interest from lawyer trust accounts is pooled to provide civil legal aid to the poor and support improvements to the justice system. The Kentucky IOLTA Fund has awarded over $17 million in grants since 1988.
The IOLTA Fund is administered by the Kentucky Bar Foundation, the charitable arm of Kentucky’s legal community. Subject to the continuing jurisdiction of the Kentucky Supreme Court, the Kentucky IOLTA Fund is governed by an eleven-member Board of Trustees. The ten Trustees who are members of the Bar are appointed for a maximum of two successive three-year terms by the Board of Governors of the Kentucky Bar Association and approved by the Supreme Court. An additional member of the Board of Trustees participates as a representative of the Kentucky Bankers Association.
About Rebecca Simpson
Rebecca Simpson is partner at English, Lucas, Priest & Owsley, LLP practicing in the area of family law. Throughout her career, Simpson has been committed to professional excellence, to public service and to the improvement of the practice of law. To that end, she serves as a Guardian Ad Litem for children, and she previously worked with Kentucky Legal Aid and collaboratively developed and implemented a local volunteer mediation program. Simpson currently serves as both the Family Law Practice Group Chair and the Diversity & Inclusion Chair for her firm. Extensively trained in both mediation and collaborative practice, Simpson focuses her practice on family law and alternative dispute resolution– namely adoption, divorce, and mediation. Simpson is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and using compassion, expertise, and collaboration, she guides clients through some of the most difficult and joyful times in their lives. Outside of her work as a Partner, Simpson is an active member of many local, state, national and international professional associations, and serves a leader within many of these organizations. By appointment of the Kentucky Supreme Court, Simpson currently serves on the IOLTA Board of Trustees and on the Trial Commission of the Kentucky Bar Association, and she is a Kentucky Bar Foundation Fellow. Simpson also serves on the CLE Committee and as the Chair of the ADR Committee for the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association. Her work has been recognized through several awards, and she has held numerous leadership roles in her community. Simpson is a frequent panelist for legal presentations and has also presented to and taught students at local schools and at Western Kentucky University. Simpson earned her undergraduate degree from Western Kentucky University and earned her J.D. from the University of Louisville, Louis D. Brandeis School of Law.
Rebecca Simpson can be contacted at: 270.781.6500 or rsimpson@elpolaw.com
