RALEIGH, N.C. — Three civil legal aid nonprofits have sued North Carolina’s legislative leaders over a budget clause that steers millions away from free civil help and into payments for private lawyers appointed in criminal cases.
The Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy filed alongside Pisgah Legal Services plus Legal Aid of North Carolina. Defendants include the state, House Speaker Destin Hall, Senate leader Phil Berger and others. Their filing says the General Assembly rewrote how Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts money may be spent without authority to do so.
The groups put the yearly diversion near $15 million. They call that a tiny slice of the overall budget but a severe cut for veterans, domestic violence survivors, trafficking victims, disaster survivors and others who need civil counsel. The case also challenges eligibility rules that could bar groups from leftover grants because of advocacy paid with other dollars.
IOLTA is not a tax appropriation. It collects interest on client funds lawyers must hold in trust during deals such as real estate closings. The North Carolina Supreme Court created the program and later made participation mandatory, with the State Bar distributing grants for civil legal help and related justice work.
After freezing IOLTA grants for 2025-26, lawmakers used this summer’s budget to send receipts from July 1, 2025, onward to the Private Assigned Counsel Fund. Money gathered before that date can still fund administration-of-justice grants under tighter rules, capped near $2.5 million a year until the pool runs dry.
Legal Aid of North Carolina bills itself as the statewide firm for people who cannot hire civil lawyers, and Pisgah Legal Services has spent two years helping western counties unwind Helene-related legal problems. Both say demand still outruns staff.
A ruling could decide whether civil aid groups regain a stable interest-funded stream or stay dependent on thinner leftover pools and private fundraising.
Section: More Raleigh NC politics news
Filed under: Raleigh NC Politics News
