He served as chairman of the Utah State
Bar Fee Arbitration Committee as well as chairman of the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee for the Utah State Bar.
The email from the Bar arrived with "Official Notice: Your Florida
Bar Fee Statement" in the subject line.
The "
Bar fees" article focused primarily on the legal debate surrounding the petition, but did include a quote from Raul Cantero, who represented the
Bar fee petitioners before the Supreme Court, which explained that a lack of funding for legal aid will mean that more people will lose their homes and fewer people will be able to access government benefits.
Bar President Jesse Diner said the
Bar fee language was inserted during budget wrangling in the session's last days.
Also, in the April 15 paper, a story on the board approving a no new
Bar fees budget incorrectly reported the current annual
Bar fee as $275.
* Clarifying the
Bar fee arbitration rule that allows during the Bar's grievance intake process for complaints against lawyers to be referred, when appropriate, to the Bar's fee arbitration process, and conforms
Bar fee arbitration procedures to those of the Bar's grievance mediation program.
This is not a good use of
Bar fees or other revenues, which should be directed to more needy programs.
Of those,
bar fees range from $250 in West Virginia to $660 in Alaska.
Sorry, I don't agree with the notion to raise Florida
Bar fees to assist in funding indigent legal services.
As a member of The Florida Bar for going on 35 years with no disciplinary history whatsoever, I am appalled that disciplinary costs start at only $1,250; instead of thinking about raising my
Bar fees to subsidize enforcement of our rules against those who continually ride the ethical and legal fencerow, start those costs at $5,000.
We ought not raise Florida
Bar fees one more penny.
Further, I was unaware that $25 of our
Bar fees go toward the fund's budget.