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26 Fla. B. News 1 (1999)

handle is hein.barjournals/flabn0026 and id is 1 raw text is: FINAL MIDYEAR SCHEDULE INSIDE Vthe Floida BarJar Volume 26, Number I www.FLABAR.org January1, 1999 The FloridaBar working for you- Lawyer Referral Service launches membership.drive Attorneys participating in the Bar's Lawyer Referral Service reported earning more than $4 million in fees last year, and the Bar is looking to spread the wealth by encouraging more lawyers to participate in the pro- gram, according to LepAdams of Jack- sonville, chair of theBar's Lawyer Referral Service Committee. We are always trying to improve the service and one rof the ways to im- :1 provethe service is to get more law- yers to partici- - pate,Adams said. Karen Kelly, ADAMS manager of the Bar's Public Ser- vice Programs, said while there are more than 58,000 members of the Bar, just over 900 lawyers participate in the service. In 1998, Kelly said, the service made more than 100,000 re- ferrals to areas of The Bar the state which are not covered also Is by local bar asso- ciation lawyer re- woring to ferral programs. n~e.~~s .aid.the ........ ar also is work- the public ing to encourage to look to the public to look to the Bar first the Bar when they need assistance find- first when ing a lawyer they need qualified to meet their needs. assistance One of the filidinga thingswe learned from the adver- lawyer. tising campaign we did last year was that the pub- lic was not aware of the Lawyer Re- ferral Service and that when we told them about it, they felt that it was a significant benefit the Bar was pro- viding the public and they appreciated that. Last year the Bar ran a series of newspaper and radio advertisements in Alachua, Sarasota and Dade coun- ties that emphasized the need for those looking for a lawyer to learn about a lawyer's qualifications and ex- perience, explained the role of the Lawyer Referral Service and encour- aged consumers to look first to the Bar to help them find a lawyer. Adams said the referral service en- courages lawyers to recognize their obligation to provide services to the public and advises people of the value of lawyer consultations. Many lawyers say they joined the service as a public service because they want to help people for a mini- mum fee and possibly prevent legal problems from happening, Kelly said. Others join because they are solo practitioners or new lawyers who want to build up a client base. The referral program is computer- ized and panel members are grouped by county and area of practice. The ser- vicecovers counties that do not have a local bar association service, includ- ing Dade, Volusia, Lee, Polk, Alachua, Sarasota and Manatee. If calls come in from areas with local bar referral programs, the Bar refers those call- ers to the local service. Any member in good standing with See Referral, page 12 Candidates qualify for board races Russomanno, Rydberg file for president-elect Herman Russom- anno of Miami and Marsha Rydberg of Tampa have filed nominating petitions and qualified to run for Florida Bar presi- dent-elect. Filing closed on Decem- ber 15. Both candidates are members of the Board of Governors and former local bar presidents who have been active in Bar, legal and civic ac- tivities and who say they want to lead the Bar as it faces the challenges in a changing legal, tech- RY5 nological and soci- etal climate. Ballots should be received by Bar members around March 2 and must be received back to the Bar's election com- pany by midnight March 21. The winner will be sworn in as president-elect dur- ing the Bar's June Annual Meeting, and will become president in June 2000. Candidates also have filed for Board of Governors races. (See story page ?) Russomanno called it a privilege and a responsibility to be both a lawyer and to lead the Bar. I believe our legal profes- sion has changed dramatically over the past 25 years, causing every law firm and lawyer to examine what drives his or her organization, he said. As a leader of the Bar, I would have the opportunity to be an effective advocate and help shape the fu- ture of our profession and this call to ac- tion would be something I would welcome. Rydberg said the legal profession and the justice system must be ready to deal with coming changes that could radically change how lawyers practice. I believe the third branch of govern- Bar offers online Y2K help By Mark D. Killian The 40-page handbook is divided into Associate Editor several sections. The first, titled 'Educa- • Lawyers face a series of risks from the tion and Awareness, outlines what the Y2K problem and the time is now to as- year 2000 problem is and how it affects sess your practice's vulnerability and the law firm, going into detail about com- take action to minimize those risks, ac- puter hardware and software and what cording to J.R. Phelps, director of the some of the problems may be. A section Bar's Law Office Management Assis- on Inventory and Assessment enables tance Service. lawyers to assess their firm's Y2K com- Those who don't heed the Y2K warn- pliance status, using worksheets, ques- ing could find themselves confronting a tionnaires, and summary sheets that range of computer problems next year, allow them to determine whether they from simple business interruptions to have a problem and how big of a problem legal malpractice, Phelps said. it is, saidAndrewAdkins, director of UFs That's why LOMAS and the Univer- Legal Technology Institute. sity of Florida College of Laws Legal Phelps said the handbook can be Technology Institute have produced a downloaded free from the Internet at self-help resource and a planning guide, www.FLABAR.org or from www.law.ufl so lawyers can understand what the year .edu/lti/year2000 in WordPerfect, 2000 problem is and how it affects them. MicrosoftWord and HTML formats. Print Lawyers are so involved in their day- copies will be available through LOMAS to-day involvement with clients that of- for $25. ten their own needs and concerns don't oIb beY2K compliant, you must assess get the attention they should, Phelps every piece of equipment, said Adkins, said, adding that's why LOMAS joined adding the handbook also can be used as forces with LTI in trying to assist law- a budget tool to determine how expensive yers and firms in understanding the di- See Y2K page 12 mensions of the Y2K problem. lll . i. l. rui s . nOOUIaUUsI, I IoIUo Ljaa IIUIItJay IUI nIIoI IrUI I L, IIIUI CII at ja.I.&, Jill Nursery in Broward County. The association also gave enough gift certificates for food to feed 10 families whose children attend the nursery. Pictured at the luncheon is member Kimberly K. Ward chatting with one of the youngsters. ment, including the legal profession, is in a state approach- ing crisis if not actu- ally in a crisis, she said. It is easy to see the economic and societal impacts on other professions like medicine and banking. We are not as aware sometimes that the same forces are challenging our own profession. I feel it is ab- solutely critical that we enter into the dialogue as to how our profession should change and IANNO how we can retain that which is pre- cious to our fundamental rights and to our American system of government, while re- sponding to the pressures of society. Change will come. The question is whether the Bar will be a participant in the way it will occur. I want to help lead See President, page 6 Judicial diversity is Chiles' legacy By Mary Smith Judd Associate Editor From his first appointment to a circuit court to his last on the Florida Supreme Court, the late Gov. Lawton Chiles sent a message loud and clear: Women and mi- norities are welcome here. During his eight years as the -state's chief executive, Chiles made more than 250 judicial appointments. The judges appointed include 23 African American men, 16 black women, 45 Cau- casian women, 21 His- panic men and four Hispanic women. Ten years from now, that probably will be looked at as his CHILES most significant accomplishment, said friend and colleagueW Dexter Douglass, who served as Chiles' general counsel during much of his second term, until the Governor appointed him to lead the Con- stitution Revision Commission. Douglass said Chiles accomplished his goal of diversifying the courts without See Chiles, page 5

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