Connecticut Bar Foundation Inc.

Filing Period

Jan 1, 2011 to Dec 31, 2011

Signed

May 2, 2012

Return Version

2011v1.2

Gross Receipts

$14,792,399

Mission

Major Activities

Activity 2

The interest on lawyers' trust accounts (iolta) program funds legal services to the poor and law school scholarships based on financial need. The program funded ten grants to non-profit organizations providing legal services to the poor and underprivileged, and grants for law school scholarships to the three connecticut law schools. The foundation's efforts help thousands of low-income and disadvantaged residents of connecticut by enabling them to obtain critical legal information, advice and legal representation. The foundation helps the most vulnerable members of our community, including children who are abused, neglected and otherwise disadvantaged, disabled people, elderly victims of consumer fraud and other abuse, immigrants, many of them children, low-income families trying to protect their right to safe housing and fight unlawful evictions, women and children victimized by domestic violence, and nonprofit community organizations. The foundation sponsors programs for the legal community and the public. These programs are made possible by the generosity and commitment of hundreds of volunteers and supporters.

Activity 3

The james w. Cooper fellows program was founded to promote a better understanding of the legal profession and the judicial system among the citizens of connecticut, and to address matters concerning the legal profession and the administration of justice in connecticut. In 2011 the fellows program sponsored an essay contest for high school students, work was accomplished on the oral history project of connecticut women in the legal profession, a truancy intervention project, and a mentoring project for new attorneys in new haven, connecticut. The fellows program sponsored two symposia in the fall of 2011, "limited scope representation" and "judicial independence: a crisis or business as usual". The fellows also began a project to assist newly released exonerees who have been recently released from prison based on proof of actual innocence of the crimes for which they were imprisoned. The fellows began by creating a tax-deductible fund, the connecticut innocence fund, to provide monetary advances to assist exonerees with immediate financial needs.

Filer

EIN

06-6079763