Maine Supreme Judicial Court's IOLTA Program Challenge Dismissed by U.S. District Court
The U.S. District Court for the District of Maine has dismissed an as-applied challenge to Maine's Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program. The plaintiffs, Russell Johnson Beaupain, a law firm, and E. David Wescott, a client, argued that the program violated their First Amendment rights. The defendants in the case included the Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, the State Court Administrator for Maine's Judicial Branch, and the Maine Justice Foundation. The court dismissed the claims against the Chief Justice and State Court Administrator on the merits and dismissed the claim against the Maine Justice Foundation for lack of jurisdiction. The plaintiffs appealed the decision, but the court affirmed the dismissal, citing a lack of plausible allegations that the IOLTA program required the deposit of funds into an IOLTA account or that such deposits would accrue interest. 
