Constitutional Challenges to IOLTA Revisited

Abstract

Part II of this article provides a brief sketch of the theory and mechanics of IOLTA, using the Texas program as an example. Part III presents an equally brief overview of prior constitutional challenges to IOLTA programs, with a focus on the First and Eleventh Circuit's rulings, and concludes with a summary of the WLF's successful legal argument in the Fifth Circuit. Part IV presents a more extended critique of the Fifth Circuit's position on the Texas program. The authors conclude that the decision incorrectly interprets Texas property and banking law and fails to defer to the authoritative decision of a state supreme court, operating in its legitimate administrative capacity, on a state law issue.