What We Do

The Maryland General Assembly established a voluntary IOLTA program and created MLSC to administer it.

MLSC made its first round of grants, totaling $307,500.

The Maryland General Assembly designated $500,000 annually from the state Abandoned Property Fund for the activities of MLSC.

Then-Congressman Benjamin L. Cardin chaired an advisory council to study legal services needs. The resulting “Action Plan for Legal Services to Maryland’s Poor” served as a blueprint for the future of legal services in Maryland.

Stemming from a recommendation in the Cardin Action Plan, the Maryland General Assembly enacted legislation converting IOLTA to a mandatory program.

MLSC funded the Advisory Council on Family Legal Needs of Low Income Persons, which led to the creation of Family Court and many new laws to address domestic violence and improve the practice of family law.

The Maryland General Assembly established modest filing fee surcharges to support MLSC and created the MLSC Fund to house IOLTA, filing fee surcharge and abandoned property funds.

MLSC and the Maryland State Bar Association partnered to create the IOLTA Honor Roll.

The Supreme Court of Maryland (then called the Maryland Court of Appeals) began requiring attorneys to file annual reports on their compliance with the IOLTA program.

In response to falling interest rates on IOLTA accounts, the MLSC received a one-time general revenue appropriation of $300,000.

As interest rates continued to fall, the Maryland General Assembly increased filing fee surcharges to avert a crisis in Maryland’s civil legal services.

MLSC celebrated its 25^th anniversary and created a video presenting our history and achievements.

After a pilot project, MLSC and the Administrative Office of the Courts initiated the Judicare project to expand private bar representation in contested family law cases.

The Supreme Court of Maryland (then called the Maryland Court of Appeals) implemented the IOLTA Comparability Rule, requiring banks to pay rates on IOLTA comparable to other accounts.

As interest rates hovered around 0%, the Maryland General Assembly increased filing fee surcharges, but set the increase to expire in 2013.

With interest rates not budging, the Maryland General Assembly extended the filing fee surcharge increases to 2018 and increased the Abandoned Property Fund distribution to $1.5 million.

After receiving one-time, restricted funding from a Department of Justice settlement, MLSC implemented the temporary Foreclosure Prevention and Workforce Legal Services projects.

The Maryland General Assembly removed the sunset provision on the filing fee surcharge increases and increased the Abandoned Property Fund distribution to $2 million, stabilizing legal services funding.

In response to an evolving legal services delivery system, MLSC launched a pilot Extended Representation Project with funding dedicated to providing low-income Marylanders with an attorney in court.

MLSC’s two major revenue sources – IOLTA and surcharges on certain court filing fees – were significantly reduced by the COVID-19 pandemic due to near zero interest rates and a dramatic decrease in court filings. In response, Governor Larry Hogan and Attorney General Brian Frosh announced one-time, emergency funding of $11.7 million to fund legal services related to housing security and other issues arising from the pandemic.

In response to the continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Maryland General Assembly increased MLSC's annual distribution from the Abandoned Property Fund to $8 million and provided one-time funding of $3 million to fund legal services for tenants facing eviction.

The General Assembly also passed legislation creating an Access to Counsel in Evictions Program, naming MLSC as the administrator of the program.

The Maryland General Assembly and Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development provided funding for the launch of the Access to Counsel in Evictions Program, and MLSC worked with partners to kick off the program.

MLSC also worked with Baltimore City to administer their Right to Counsel in Evictions program, separate from but complementary to the state law.

MLSC celebrated its 40th anniversary!