Board weighs-in on supervised practice program, rules development, and new IOTA rule
Kicking off a new Bar year in Sarasota, the Board of Governors on July 28 endorsed a new supervised practice program and a sweeping proposal to streamline court rules development.
The board also voted to negotiate with the Florida Bankers Association about potential revisions to a new IOTA rule the bankers say is too costly for its members.
But with the rule generating millions more in revenue for legal aid organizations after years of near-zero interest rates on trust accounts, board members cautioned the bankers to temper their expectations.
“The amount of money the banks are still able to make on these deposits is more than fair and equitable. It’s 5%,” said board member Joshua Chilson, who also serves on The Florida Bar Foundation. “I’m not oppose to talking to the Bankers Association, but I don’t see a lot of room for movement.”
Earlier, Bank of Tampa President and CEO Corey Neil told the board that banks are facing a 2,000% increase in interest paid on IOTA accounts since the new rule went into effect and hinted that banks’ voluntary participation in the IOTA program may suffer.
The FBA values its relationship with The Florida Bar and The Florida Bar Foundation and supports the benefits legal aid brings to low and middle-income Floridians, Neil stressed.
But, he added, “Anything that goes up by 2,000% requires someone in my position to start making different decisions about how we manage our business.”
In other business, President Scott Westheimer reminded board members that the Supreme Court recently formed a “Judicial Circuit Assessment Committee,” with a mission to consider consolidation of the state’s 20 judicial circuits.
Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz issued Administrative Order No. AOSC23-35 which noted that while the state just realigned the district courts of appeal, “Florida’s judicial circuits have been unchanged for decades despite significant population and demographic changes” and suggested that consolidation might “lead to greater efficiencies and uniformity in the judicial process.”
The order was prompted by a letter from House Speaker Paul Renner, who suggested consolidation might leader to greater efficiencies and uniformity in the judicial process.
Muñiz agreed the issue “deserves thoughtful consideration and careful study,” but stressed that the Supreme Court has made no decision on the merits of consolidation.
The procedure is contemplated in Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.241 and was employed last year when the Supreme Court approved a previous assessment committee’s recommendation to add a new Sixth District Court of Appeal.
Westheimer reminded the board the committee is on a tight deadline to complete its work before making recommendations to the Legislature.
Lawmakers begin interim committee meetings in September ahead of the 60-day regular session that convenes in January.
Board members Laird Lile and Braxton Gilliam serve on the assessment committee. Florida prosecutors and public defenders are already expressing their opposition to consolidation.
“We are monitoring it closely,” Westheimer said.
The board also voted unanimously, without discussion, to recommend approval of a Florida Public Defender Association proposal to amend Rule 11-1.9 (Practice After Graduation).
It goes next to the Supreme Court for final consideration.
The revisions would permit a law school graduate to practice for up to a year – under the supervision of an attorney – while awaiting Bar admission.
The board was scheduled to consider the proposal in May but delayed a final vote to give the Florida Bar Board of Examiners more time to review it.
The proposal would add a subdivision that states: “A graduate of an American Bar Association approved law school who has filed an application to The Florida Bar and received an initial clearance letter as to character and fitness from the Florida Board of Bar Examiners may make appearances for the maximum term of certification of 12 months from graduation for the same entities and under the same restrictions that are applicable to law school practice programs under this chapter….”
Failure to take the next available Florida bar exam, or failure of any portion of the bar exam on the second administration, if necessary, would terminate the registration.
“Essentially, it opens up all [law school graduates] to us, not just the ones who [completed] a law student practice program,” 11th Circuit PD Carlos Martinez told the News earlier this year.
Martinez said the program would help public defenders and state attorneys deal with skyrocketing turnover and a lack of recruitment that both groups have deemed a “crisis.”
The proposal would also help legal aid organizations, Martinez added.
“To me, it’s primarily an access to justice issue,” he said.
In other action, the board voted to recommend acceptance of a proposal by the Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration Committee to amend Rule 2.140 (Amending Rules of Court).
The proposal was prompted by a Bar consultant’s recommendations for expediting the rule-development process and developed by a working group of mostly court rules committee chairs.
Bar consultant Lisa Kiel, a former State Courts Administrator, conducted a Bar-commissioned review and concluded the process, which involves painstaking review by volunteer lawyers on a handful of rules committees, requires no major overhaul.
Keil suggested a range of proposals for making the process more efficient, everything from establishing “time frames” for completing rules referrals, to capping the size of committees, and allowing chairs to serve longer terms.
Orange County Judge Steve Jewett, the RGPJA chair, said earlier this summer that the working group wanted to ensure that moving faster does not diminish the careful deliberation embedded in the process.
However, Jewett noted the Supreme Court eliminated three-year reporting cycles in 2021 to boost efficiency, and said he considers the consultant’s review a worthwhile exercise.
One of the most significant changes would require the Board of Governors to weigh in at the beginning of the review process, when amendments are first publicly noticed, instead of voting “acceptance,” “rejection,” or “amendment,” as a final requirement before proposals are filed with the Supreme Court.
The board meets every other month, and the need to agenda a rule proposal can cause months of delay, Keil’s report noted.
The consultant’s report also noted that a board vote to recommend rejection does not prohibit sponsors who are determined to proceed from filing the proposal with the Supreme Court.
Bradenton attorney Jeff Goethe, an RGPJA Committee member, presented the proposed amendments to the board.
“We can hear the [board’s] comments up front and get better work done,” he said.
But board member Michael Gelfand questioned the premise of the Bar study, saying he was not sure the rule-development process needs to move faster.
“I have a concern about this,” he said. “Efficiency is a wonderful thing, but we still should not be driven by the fastest means available.”
Commenting might not be as easy as it sounds, Gelfand warned.
“The concept of the Board of Governors providing comments to the court, in theory, that’s wonderful,” he said. “Are we going to be a committee of 50 drafting a comment to the court? I’m not sure how that’s going to work.”
Another streamlining proposal would eliminate a requirement that rules proposals be publicly noticed in the monthly print editions of the News before they can be filed with the Supreme Court.
The public and the legal community would still have ample opportunity to review proposals online and in print, but sponsors could eliminate the months-long delay that can result from missing a print deadline, supporters say.
“We’re still going to get notice by the Bar News, we’re going to get notification through email and online,” Westheimer assured the board.
In other action, the Board of Governors:
- Approved a Member Benefits Committee recommendation to authorize “Member Benefits, Inc.,” the longstanding third-party administrator and broker for The Florida Bar Insurance Retirement Programs, to add group excess personal liability options for personal and business coverage to the options available to members. “The addition of group excess liability options for personal and business will help round out the insurance options available within the program,” according to a staff analysis.
- Heard Budget Committee Chair Michael Orr report that The Florida Bar’s fee schedule will be amended to eliminate rush and late fees for voluntary bar associations applying for CLE credit and a subcommittee has been formed to evaluate general fees charged to voluntary bar associates for CLE credit.
- Approved or renewed various legislative advising services agreements between various law firms and The Florida Bar, the Elder Law Section, the Criminal Law Section, and the Workers Compensation Section.
