Emery appointed to state board
Washington County President Judge Katherine B. Emery was appointed to the state board that oversees funds that go toward civil legal services for indigent defendants.
She will begin a three-year term Sept. 1 on the state Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts Board.
Emery said she’ll replace Labor and Industry Secretary Kathy M. Manderino on the nine-member board. Members are appointed by the state Supreme Court and meet four times a year.
Emery said she was homored by the appointment, adding it fills an important function by working to give people of limited means access to the civil legal system.
“It’s certainly a worthwhile cause,” she said. With Supreme Court approval, the board distributed $14.4 million in grants during the 2014-15 fiscal year to law school clinics, pro bono initiatives and legal services providers, as well as student-loan repayment assistance for legal aid attorneys, according to IOLTA’s website.
Among the main sources of revenue for the program are interest on nominal and short-term funds given by clients to their attorneys to hold, surcharges on civil filings, admission fees from out-of-state attorneys appearing in Pennsylvania courts, a portion of attorney registration fees and a portion of residual funds from class-action lawsuits in state courts.