NC IOLTA Strengthened By Strategic Plan, Longtime Involvement of NCBA Leadership
Past President Shelby Benton’s recent report to the NCBA Board of Governors on behalf of NC IOLTA had a familiar ring to it. After all, a dozen past presidents of the North Carolina Bar Association have preceded her in serving on the IOLTA Board of Trustees.
Benton, who currently serves as vice-chair, is the 13th president of the NCBA and the North Carolina Bar Foundation to serve on the IOLTA Board of Trustees since its inception in 1983. And the vast majority of IOLTA board members past and present are NCBA members who have also held leadership roles in this organization.
As Benton so aptly states, it’s a natural progression.
“I do believe it is critical that bar association leadership finds themselves in this role because we know so much about what our Foundation does,” Benton said. “There really is a great cross-pollination and you learn so much. It expands what you know about what we do at the bar association with our endowment and the good work of various grants that we fund there.
“And then we see what IOLTA supports, and how they actually support each other, because it takes a patchwork of resources to make the thing happen. It really gave me a positive piece of information I already knew.”
Benton credits Past President Betty Quick for bringing her onto the IOLTA Board of Trustees. She is joined on the current board by Heather Culp and Ted Edwards, former members of the NCBA Board of Governors who continue to serve the NCBA+NCBF in leadership roles.
“I believe the trustees who come into IOLTA who haven’t been involved in NCBA leadership appreciate the synergy of what we have been able to do bar association-wise and how that partnership carries over to the IOLTA board,” Benton said. “Likewise, those of us coming into this from the NCBA appreciate the knowledge and expertise that our fellow trustees bring to the table from their respective bar organizations. Altogether, it provides IOLTA with a much greater statewide perspective.”
Benton cited her law partner, Jean Hollowell, as an example.
“She served on the IOLTA board with (NCBA Past Presidents) Jim Talley and Larry McDevitt, and absolutely loved them. But she had not been in North Carolina Bar Association leadership, so she lacked understanding about grantmaking.” She was from smalltown Eastern North Carolina and a big real estate lawyer, so she brought the real estate perspective onto the board.
“But she will tell you that it was so much harder for her to grasp the concept, understand, and really look at some of these grants with the eye you need to be sure that you are putting your money where it can do the most work. So the benefit of having someone who has been through the leadership at the bar association is tremendous.”
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This is an exciting time for anyone to be serving on the IOLTA Board of Trustees, which recently adopted a strategic plan that will guide its actions through 2025. The strategic plan formed the basis for Benton’s report to the NCBA Board of Governors.
“It has been super rewarding,” Benton said in reference to working on the strategic plan. “One of the pieces that we have worked on is exactly what we are doing right now, which is a little bit of marketing. We have engaged a communications company to help get the word out about what IOLTA does and demonstrate the value of funding to enhance income streams.
“If we could really get lawyers to understand – it is just unfortunate that you are so busy that you don’t think about the ways you can give back. We want you to give back with pro bono service … but you also ought to recognize that the interest on your trust account is going to fund some of these programs.”
Benton said she was led to be involved in IOLTA because the need for civil legal aid is so great, and she wanted to be involved in the grantmaking.
“But what I learned is there are a lot of other pieces to it,” Benton said. “I learned that most lawyers don’t know what IOLTA is. So many of the lawyers who have interest bearing on their trust accounts don’t even know what the funds support and that we award grants every year.
“We as lawyers ought to be letting our clients know that we give back, but really the interest is generated on our clients’ money, so in a way, it is our clients who are giving back to civil legal needs. It is a circle of things that creates an opportunity to provide civil legal needs to people who are left out in the cold and don’t get services.”
Every client in this state who puts a deposit in a trust account, she added, is providing for civil legal needs in North Carolina.
“Why don’t we tout that? And wouldn’t people feel better about the fact that the money is being utilized in our community in such a positive way?”
In her report to the NCBA Board of Governors, Benton reiterated the importance of communications, a sentiment echoed by Executive Director Mary Irvine.
“There are goals in five different areas, and I would say communications is the highlight of that,” said Irvine, who joined IOLTA in 2014 and has served as executive director since 2017. “I think that we have a really important role as a statewide entity that is pretty narrowly focused in supporting civil legal aid and administration of justice efforts to share about that work so that people understand why that it is so important that everyone be able to access the services of an attorney when they need it.
“We certainly have made efforts to communicate that, but I think we can do more to amplify the voices of grantees and amplify the voices of others in the profession about that great work and why it matters.”
The timing, she added, is perfect.
“We went through that strategic planning process across the first half of last year, and felt like it was important to initiate that process at a time when the program has navigated different challenges and pursued rule changes and some other positive accomplishments to really put the program in a position to grow our impact,” Irvine said.
“And coming out of the recession, we are finally able to see some of the fruits of that labor. We had our best income year in 2019 and we may be close to it in 2021 – we may surpass that. It really reiterated to me that we were in a different place, and it was time for the board, in partnership with staff and the State Bar leadership as well, to think through what the next opportunity really is.”
Whatever those opportunities may be, the involvement of NCBA leadership and bar leaders, in general, will continue to be important.
“Like many other efforts within the profession to improve access to justice, it is leaders of the bar who are absolutely critical,” Irvine said. “They were critical to initially establishing the IOLTA program in 1983 and also to continue its operations. Three NCBA past presidents actually served on our initial board of trustees – Beverly C. Moore, Charles Becton and William F. Womble Sr.
“Once the program was established and throughout its history, there have been challenges to navigate. IOLTA has had the support of the bar association, and certainly with the leaders who were involved, to share information and talk through issues. Overcoming those challenges and pursuing opportunities for growth would not have been possible without leaders serving on the board and also with the cooperation of State Bar, the Bar Association and other entities.”
Click here to access the NC IOLTA Strategic Plan for 2021-2025. The complete listing of current and former IOLTA board members follows, with NCBA+NCBF Past Presidents denoted by an asterisk.
Current Members of the IOLTA Board of Trustees
Maria Missé, Chair
* Shelby Duffy Benton, Vice-Chair
John S. Arrowood
Anita Brown-Graham
Heather W. Culp
Theodore C. Edwards II
John J. Keane
Sharika Richardson Shropshire
Jacob Kyle Smith
Past Members of the IOLTA Board of Trustees (Years of Service)
* Beverly C. Moore Sr. (1983-1985)
Naomi E. Morris (1983-1985)
James P. Crews (1983-1987)
Clifton W. Everett Sr. (1983-1990)
* Charles L. Becton (1983-1991)
Robinson O. Everett (1983-1991)
* William F. Womble Sr. (1983-1991)
Jeff D. Batts (1983-1992)
C. Woodrow Teague (1983-1993)
Thomas C. Duncan (1985-1992)
Lillian B. O’Briant (1985-1992)
Roy W. Davis Jr. (1987-1993)
Ray S. Farris (1988-1996)
Tommy W. Jarrett (1991-1997)
* George B. Mast (1991-1997)
Geraldine Sumter (1991-1997)
Clifton E. Johnson (1992-1998)
Scott M. Saylor (1992-1998)
John H. Vernon III (1992-1998)
* Rhoda B. Billings (1993-1999)
George W. Hendon (1993-1999)
Raymond E. Owens Jr. (1996-2002)
William H. Lambe Jr. (1997-2003)
Robert J. Robinson (1997-2003)
Lila E. Washington (1997-2003)
* Louis P. Hornthal (1999-2003)
Nancy E. Hannah (1998-2004)
James P. Hutcherson (1998-2004)
James Y. Preston (1998-2004)
Edmund D. Aycock (1999-2005)
James A. Wynn Jr. (2003-2005)
* James M. Talley Jr. (2002-2008)
* Robert F. Baker (2003-2009)
Marion A. Cowell (2003-2009)
Michael C. Miller (2003-2009)
* Larry S. McDevitt (2004-2010)
Robert A. Wicker (2004-2010, 2018-2021)
Jean P. Hollowell (2004-2010)
Robert G. Baynes (2005-2011)
Brenda B. Becton (2005-2011)
Irvin W. Hankins III (2009-2012)
James G. Exum Jr. (2010-2013)
Linda M. McGee (2008-2014)
Hope Connell Bryant (2011-2014)
F. Edward Broadwell Jr. (2009-2015)
* Michael A. Colombo (2009-2015)
E. Fitzgerald Parnell (2012-2016)
* Charles E. Burgin (2010-2016)
Janice M. Cole (2010-2016)
John McMillan (2011-2017)
Joseph A. Smith Jr. (2015-2018)
Edward C. Winslow III (2013-2019)
Steven D. Michael (2016-2019)
Sidney S. Eagles Jr. (2014-2020)
* Elizabeth L. Quick (2014-2020)
Jane V. Harper (2016-2021)
Kerry A. Friedman (2015-2021)
* NCBA+NCBF Past President
Russell Rawlings is director of external affairs and communications for the North Carolina Bar Association.