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![handle is hein.barjournals/flabn0030 and id is 1 raw text is:
By Gary Blankenship
Snior Editor
Tallahassee attorney and Board of' Governors member Kelly
Overstreet Johnson has become president-elect designate of T'he
Florida Bar.
Johnson was the only candidate to file lor Bar president in the
upcoming 200t3 elections. liling ended 5 p.m. December 16. She
will be sworn in as president-elect at the June Annual Meeting,
when President-elect Miles McGrane takes the oath as president,
and will become president in June 2104.
Wonderful, it's a relief, Johnson said of her unopposed run
'or the Bar's top position. I prepared as it' I was going to get
opposition, and I was committed to going torward with a con-
tested election if necessary.
With io election to run, Johnson said she will focus on lhe
issues that prompted her candidacy.
1 want to continue the efforts of Bar President lod Aronovitz
and earlier presidents to improve the image of lawyers and let tihe
public know tile many positive things lawyers do on a daily ba-
sis, she said. I want to work with President-elect Miles McGrane
and tile Supreme Court on Article V funding issues.
Noting recent legislative changes that gave the goverior all
the appointments to judicial nominating commissions (tlete Bar
does recommend slales of' candidates for four o' the nine seats),
Johnson said she hopes to review tile new process and work
toward getting the most qualified candidates out of the JN('s.
TheiJNC process is vitally important and must Iunction cor-
rectly to ensure the public benetits 'rom the process by having
judges who are tair and well-qualitied sitting on the bench, she
said.
And Johnson will seek to take anotlher look at liar advertising
rules. Many lawyers still dislike or oppose lawyer advertising,
believing it's the largest cause of public discontent wvith the pro-
'ession. But the U.S. Supreme ('ourt has said advertising cannot
be banned, and she wants to make sure tile Bar's rules are as
consistent and simple as possible ani enl'orced.
We just ieed to get a handle on the advertising rules,
Johnson said, noting tlhe Board of 'Governors has spent hours
debating appeals on advertising cases. It seems we spend an
inordinate amount of' tinme interpreting tie rules, and there are
consistency problems.
She plans to talk with McGirane about appointing a special
See Johnson, page 5
Volume 30, Number 1 www.FLABAR.org January 1, 2003
By Mark D. Killian
Managing Editor
The U.S. Supreme Court appears
poised to answer the S160 million ques-
tion: Is the use of pooled interest from
lawyers' trust accounts a compensable
taking, and, if so, is the only remedy to
shut down the IOLTA programs in all 50
states'?
h'le Court December 9 heard arguments
in the case of' Vashinglon Legal IPounda-
tionv. Legal l'ou/lda-
lion 0/ ' lishington,
case no. 01-1325, the
appeal of the decision
of the U.S. Court ot
Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit challenging
the constitutionality
of the state of
Washington's IOLTA
program.
THOMPSON The San Francisco-
based Ninth Circuit
ruled more than a year ago that
Washington's IOLTA program does not
violate the Fifth Amendment, reasoning
that while the plaintiff, have the right to
control the accrued interest generated in
theory, as a practical matter, that right will
never come ito fruition on its own because
without IOTA there is no interest. T' e
Bar's Commite
TEreference 1om
mu t Be Fftitedt(u
This year the Bar's committee
preference form will only be
available on The Florida Bar's Web
site: www.FLABAR.org. It was
posted December 1 (instead of
being an insert in the News) with a
January 10 deadline. You will have
the ability to fill it out and submit it
online, which will eliminate the
previous mailing or faxing of the
completed form. It is in the same
format as usual and should only take
a minute to complete and submit.
The form cannot be submitted
without your attorney number.
Who should file a preference fotm?
new members (not currently
serving)
current members whose term
ends 2003 (who are not term
limited) if seeking reappointment
current members whose term
ends 2003 and wishing to move
to another committee
court applied the ad hoc or regulatory
takings analysis to the case rather than a
per se analysis, as was employed by the
New Orleans-based UJ.S. Fifth Circuit
Court ol' Appeals in another IOLTA chal-
lenge that found in 21)01 that the Texas
IOLTA program anounts to an unconsti-
tutional taking without just compensation.
'The WLF, a Washington, D.C., based
organization that has battled IOLTA pro-
grams across the country in the courts
for many years, argues that mandatory
By l)aniel Staesser
Assistant E ditor
In 1971, 22-year-old Kathryn Ressel
walked in awe through the main doors of
the Supreme Court of Florida to interview
for a job with the Florida Board of Bar Ex-
aminers.
With the post-WWII baby boom came
a considerable increase in the number of
law students in Florida. The board's first
executive director, Jim Tippin, and his as-
sistant director John Moore, decided they
needed more help. Ajob that required high
standards, good communication skills, and
101,I'A programs do deprive clients of the
interest their ioney caris while in tle
trust of a lawyer without just compensa-
tion. In 1998, the WIF won a 5-4 victory
in the Supreme Court in Philips v. IVL
(which arose from litigation against the
Texas IOL.TA program) when the court
l'ound that clients have a protected prop-
erty interest in funds created by pooled
IOLITA accounts. The Court, however,
See IOLTA, page 4
realistic salary expec-
tations, they agreed,
described English i
teachers. They sent
letters to all English .
teachers in Leon
County. ;'%%
Kathryn Ressel re- ',::,uj
sponded to one such ' .,.>
letter. An unemployed
English teacher at the , ,
time, Ressel recalls herL
See Ressel, page 9
S~??;'1~ ~~' a*~~ * * ' 1'~i , ]LI '~kI'V zl
The Florida Bar
Worling tot' You
Reporters' Workshop
prepares journalists
to cover the courts
T['wenty-four reporters from Florida's
major daily newspapers and television sta-
ions atteuded The Florida lBar's recent 13th
Annual Reporters' Workshop in St. feters-
burg.
Ali unprec-
edented partner-
ship With tie
Poynter Institute
allowed the jour-
nalists to attenmd
two workshop ses-
sions at Poynlter,
which 'ere coil-
ducted by Poynter
faculty members,
said the lBar's
('irisli N. C ao, who
coordiitated the
event.
'Hie Poynter insti-
tute is recognized
worldwide Ior ielp-
ilug .journalists seek
'The true
beneficiaries
are the people
of Florida who
read and
listen to news
reports,
expecting
accurate and
complete
coverage of
legal issues.'
Mnd atchieve excellence, she saud.
'he Florida liar deeply appreciates the
cotributions of Poytiltu,' stid l'resident
'ild Ar'ltlt l,, l\ 1 gave ,,pellllg Itn ks
at tile e\'eit. ' Ihlie true beiteficiaies .re the
people oF lhoid;a vNIto read :l)nd listen to
leo '\S repot ls, ,e2pcttu .cit. itell a n~ll';ld c..titl
plete coveragc o le i l uIsieC.
T ei l -tetu rks \\ol,:shop is 'i t m,-djv
See Reporters, page 5
THE FLORIDA BAR'S Tallahassee employees help load a trolley with more than 200
toys they donated to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program, one of the
nation's flagship Christmas charitable endeavors and the U.S. Marine Corps' premier
community action program. Over the past 52 years, U.S. Marines have distributed more
than 257,000,000 toys tol127,000,000 needy children throughout the nation.
Totin. g Toys. for Tots
Kelly Overstreet Johnson named presmdentmelect
USSC hears IOLTA arguments](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.barjournals/flabn0030&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)