By Kim MacQueen
Associate Editor

The state is in such dire straits right now that those lawyers blessed with the gift of a little spare time are apt to find long lists of people needing help. A new measure by The Florida Bar’s Administrative Law Section and Florida Legal Services is aimed at helping Florida’s disabled adults and children rise to the top of that list. And they’ve made it quick, free, and relatively easy for lawyers to get up to speed in time to roll up their sleeves and pitch in.

The state’s disabled adults and children have seen their Medicaid benefits slashed over the last few years due to state cost-cutting measures. Effective last year, the Florida Legislature reclassified all of them into a new tier system, imposing strict caps on each tier. Addressing The Florida Bar Board of Governors at its January 30 meeting in Tallahassee, Administrative Law Section Chair Elizabeth McArthur called the cuts “painful, in the long-term sense of actually being counter-productive.”

At least 10,000 of them decided to challenge their reclassifications, only to find that a 2006 court decision, J.M. v. Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities, meant they couldn’t use the informal hearing process that had been in place for years, where they argued their cases before agency hearing officers, arguing either on their own behalf or enlisting the help of legal aid attorneys. Since J.M., disabled adults need to plead their cases before Department of Administrative Hearings judges.

The combined effect of the ruling and the 2008 law is that now, developmentally disabled people and their families, suddenly unable to pay the full bill for the care they need to live independently, now must go out and find lawyers — and preferably experienced administrative ones. Many legal aid attorneys aren’t well-versed in the detailed procedures in place over at DOAH.

Contrast that with what’s been going on lately with pro bono in Florida, as a growing number of lawyers report being uncomfortable providing pro bono services for cases outside of their practice area. That’s one of the reasons the section has gone on what McArthur calls a “twofold attack” on the problem.

“On the one side, we’ve developed linkages with the legal services organizations and advocacy centers that have been handling these types of cases, and we have now available on our section’s Web site a link for administrative lawyers to register to volunteer to take on cases pro bono,” McCarthur said. “The other side of the coin is helping those legal services attorneys become more comfortable with the procedure that administrative lawyers are very comfortable with.”

The section held training for both groups in November and December in Tallahassee to educate future volunteers, but those who missed it shouldn’t worry: all the documentation for both trainings, as well as video, are available both at floridaprobono.org and the Administrative Section’s Web site, www.flaadminlaw.org.

Sheila Meehan of Florida Legal Services coordinates the program, which is just getting off the ground now and very actively seeking volunteers. Meehan credits McArthur and former administrative law section chair Andy Bertron with being the first to sign up. The two are awaiting their first cases.

“These are the people who are least able to help themselves — they are in financial need and have been disabled before they reached adulthood — they’re in this situation through no fault of their own,” Bertron said. “I can’t think of a more deserving class of people for us to help.”