About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

8 Fla. B. News 1 (1981)

handle is hein.barjournals/flabn0008 and id is 1 raw text is: Bar begins its year of emphasis on older Floridian This month marks the beginning of The Florida Bar Year of the Older Floridian, a year designated by the Board of Governors to bring greater attention to the problems of the state's more than two million elderly and ways Florida lawyers can assist them. Richard Woltmann of Bay Area Legal Services in Tampa was named chairman of a Special Committee on the Elderly by Bar President Leonard H. Gilbert to coordinate special programs of service during the year. President Gilbert has urged all other sections and committees of the Bar to emphasize service to the elderly in at least one of their projects or programs during the next six months. One such program is being proposed by the General Practice Section, whose chairman-elect, William A. Jacob, will go before the Board of Governors at a meeting in Tampa January l5forapproval of a senior citizen wills program. Under the program, a lawyer would be available at senior citizen centers to prepare simple wills at a maximum rate of $50 for a single will and $70 for a husband and wife will. The Soecial Committee on the Elderly worked in cooperation with Randy Berg of the Florida Justice Institute to publish an Older Floridians Handbook: Laws and Programs Affecting Older Floridians. Printed in both English and Spanish, more than 100,000 copies of the handbook were distributed through local and area agencies on aging, The Special Committee on the Elderly vAll continue to work wit the Florida Justice Institute in printing and distribu- tion of the handbook, Chairman Woltmann said. The committee is also coordinating a special issue of The Florida BarJournal on the -legal needs of the elderly for publication in March. Marian H. McGrath of Gulf Coast Legal Services in St. Petersburg is serving as guest editor for the issue. Several ongoing programs of The Florida Bar address the legal needs of the elderk'. An Elderly Referral Panel, as part of the Lawyer Referral Service, provides a free 30-minute consultation to citizens over the age of 60 who meet the program's income guidelines. The Bar has available for free distribution a pamphlet on legal rights of senior citizens, and maes available during its annual Law Week legal checkup program free advice to citizens of all ages. Legislation to change guardianship laws to protect the elderly is being monitored by the Mental Disability Law Committee and the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section. $78,000 is pledged toward building debt Encouraged by response of Florida Bar members for pledges to retire its building debt, Florida Bar Center Commission Chairman Carl R. Pennington, Jr., Tallahassee, announced $78,000 had been pledged by January 5. We are pleased by the response in the short time since letters were mail to members on December 10, Pennington said. I hope the balance of the $250,000 needed will be pledged within the next 60 days so that we can reach our goal without having to impose on circuit committees Chief Justice Sundbe decline response-to F Chief Justice Alan C. Sundberg has advised Florida Bar President Leonard H. Gilbert that it is the considered judgment of the court that The Florida Bar should respectfully decline to respond to the voluntary questionnaire of the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC announced through Director Paul Eyre of its Cleveland Regional Office that a voluntary questionnaire will be mailed to bar associations of each state and the District of Columbia in January 1981 to investigate consumers* access to afford- able, quality professional services. The Commission will ask that the completed questionnaires be returned within 60 days following receipt. In his letter to President Gilbert, Chief Justice Sundberg said the court's advice is based on a number of reasons, not the least of which touches on the proper notions of federalism and the extensive cost and manpower involved in responding. He agreed with The Florida Bar that information on file with the Florida Legislature might be used by the FTC in its investigation. The Florida Bar has recently devoted very substantial resources in responding to a select committee of the House of First statewide grieva is in Tampa on Janua As of January 7, 124 members of The Florida Bar's grievance committees have indicated they will attend the first state- wide grievance institute on January 23 in Tampa. Of the total who have already registered, 87 are lawyer members and 37. are public members, representing a cross section of society, to include tradesmen, the clergy, homemakers, members of the news media, accountants, medical doctors, dentists, veterinarians, pharmacists, insurance executives, and bankers. Patricia Brown, assistant staff counsel, said, Along with the grievance committee members and designated reviewers, several other persons with particular interest in lawyer discipline have been invited to attend. Allen B. Zerfoss, president of the National Organization of Bar Counsel, has been invited, as well as members of the Florida Legislature: Rep. George H. Sheldon, chairman of the House Govern- mental Operations Committee; Rep. Bill and Board of Governors members to make personal contacts for pledges, he maid. One hundred fifty-four pledges totaling $78,000 and gifts totaling $1,500 came duriag the first month of the campaign. Many of the pledgors paid their pledge in full at the outset. This response came as a result of two letters written by President Leonard H. Gilbert to the membership and dissemination of information about the pledge program in Florida Bar News and the Journal. rg advises Bar to TC questionnaire Representatives inquiring into essentially the same matters sought to bereviewed by the Federal Trade Commission, the Chief Justice wrote. In a letter to CongressmanJim Wright of Texas, made available to The Florida Bar, Director Paul Eyre of the Cleveland Regional Office attempted to allay concern of state bars that itsinvestigation is an attempt to regulate thelegalprofession. The Commission's investigation of alternative legal delivery systems is in a fact-gathering stage, and is not a rule- making matter, he wrote. This a narrowly focused investigation concerned with increasing the public's access to legal services. We are not examining the standards for admission to the practice of law, nor are we looking at bar examinations. The Commission certainly does not intend to undertake the wholescale regulation of the practice of law, Eyre wrote Congressman Wright. Eyre said the Commission will notify each bar that answering the questionnaire will not be asserted as a waiver to a future jurisdictional challenge. The questionnaire had not been received by The Florida Bar as this issue of the News went to pre. nce institute ry 23rd Sadowski, chairman of the House Regula- tory Reform Committee; Sen. Mattox S. Hair, chairman of the Senate Judiciary- Civil committee; and Rep. Hamilton Upchurch, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District Alcee L. Hastings has also been asked to attend. Judge Hastings is a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Professional Discipline and has liaison and communication responsi- bility for lawyer disciplinary enforcement in District' Five which encompasses Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Ms. Brown added that United States Attorney for theSouthern District AtleeW. WamplerlIf, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District Gary L. Betz, and U.S. Attorney for the Northern District Nicholas P. Geeker, as well asState AttorneysJamesT. Russell of the Sixth Circuit, James A. Gardner of the 12th Circuit, and E.J. Salcines of the 13th Circuit have been invited. (Continued on page 4) Fund raising for the Bar Centeraddition, constructed in 1975, was reopened by the commission when it became apparent that a shortfall of funds needed to retire the mortgage had occurred as a result of delinquent pledges and slow receipt of contributions in the pledge program of 1975. These affected the amortization schedule and created additional costs due to accelerated interest payments. In the reopened campaign, all members of the Bar may make pledges of $500 each payable over a five-year period, or former donors may make a cash contribution in any amount. Pledgors in the 1975 campaign who were behind in payments were contacted by their Board of Governors representatives in November. As a result, accounts receivable were reduced by $3,215 in November with a similar amount coming in during December though those payments were not totaled as this issue of the News went to press. Approximately 400 persons are still paying on pledges from the 1975 campaign, having begun at the end of the campaign. A bronze plaque, listing names of 2,953 persons who paid or are still paying pledges from the 1975 campaign, has been ordered and will hang in the foyer of the new addition of The Florida Bar Center. Assistant Executive * Director for Administration John A. Books said names of 231 pledgors who indicated they would not pay the pledge were deleted from the list. If they change their mind and submit payment within the next two weeks, their names can still be added when the proof is received from the plaque manufacturer, Rooks said. Another plaque will-be ordered later listing persons who pledge in the present fund raiing effort. Persons desiring to pledge in the new campaign may obtain a pledge card by calling John Rooks at Bar headquarters (904) 22.-5286, or may writea letterstating their pledge to The Florida Bar Center Pledge Program, The Florida Bar, Tallahassee, Florida 32301. Those who had pledged or made a contribution in the current drive by January 5 are listed on page 2. Others pledging subsequently will be listed in future issues of the News. (See donor list on page 2) Media4.anw Coiference previeed .............page 2 Bar Center Dkonors Saed ......... ........ page 2 Bect6 or reelected jiudg Ested ...................... page 3 Me and Coe oms Depariment featured ..... page 5

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most