# Phillips v. Washington Legal Foundation *United States Supreme Court case (1998) on whether interest on IOLTA accounts is the client's property* **Phillips v. Washington Legal Foundation**, 524 U.S. 156 (1998), is a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States. It is the first of two takings cases concerning [[IOLTA]] accounts. The Court divided 5–4 and held that the interest earned on such accounts is the property of the client.[^1] The [[Washington Legal Foundation]] is a named party in the caption.[^1] The second of the two IOLTA takings cases, [[Brown v. Legal Foundation of Washington]], 538 U.S. 216 (2003), was also decided by a 5–4 vote.[^2] ## Related matters In *Brown v. Legal Foundation of Washington*, 538 U.S. 216 (2003), the Court upheld the IOLTA arrangement by a 5–4 vote. It measured just compensation by the owner's loss and found that loss to be zero.[^2] ## Notes [^1]: *The Instrument No One Will Name* (densified, 2026-06-18), validated master, item 66 — *Phillips v. Washington Legal Foundation*, 524 U.S. 156 (1998), decided 5–4; the interest is the client's property. The row is marked primary-confirmed against supreme.justia.com, but the pack's `allowed_urls` list carries no URL for it. [^2]: *The Instrument No One Will Name* (densified, 2026-06-18), validated master, item 66 — *Brown v. Legal Foundation of Washington*, 538 U.S. 216 (2003), decided 5–4 and upheld; just compensation equals the owner's loss, which was zero. The row is marked primary-confirmed against supreme.justia.com, but the pack's `allowed_urls` list carries no URL for it.