Video clips added to the Bar's Web site: the first clip is an excerpt from an education videotape prepared by the Office of the State Courts Administrator on the importance of funding for the Florida court system.

The Florida Bar has begun broadcasting video clips on its Web site on topics of interest to lawyers and the public.

The first clip is an excerpt from an education videotape prepared by the Office of the State Courts Administrator on the importance of funding for the Florida court system. A clickable button on the Bar's home page at www.flabar.org will take viewers to the video.

The clip features Supreme Court Chief Justice Harry Lee Anstead talking about the importance of the legal system to all Floridians and instructions on how viewers may contact their lawmakers to encourage full funding for the courts.

Other potential upcoming subjects are broadcasting part of the Board of Governors' December meeting when they take up multijurisdictional practice rules and the ABA's Ethics 2000 recommendations.

The board, at its October meeting, approved an $11,340 budget amendment to experiment with the clips for the remainder of this Bar fiscal year. The plan was endorsed by both the Communications and the Budget committees.

Board member Mayanne Downs, a member of the Communications Committee, and her husband, Barry Rigby, who used to oversee the Bar's grievance operations, came up with the idea at a board meeting earlier this year in Orlando.

They both enjoyed a welcoming speech by Mayor Buddy Dyer, a former state senator and member of the Young Lawyers Division Board of Governors, and an inspirational talk by Chief Justice Anstead on the need for adequate court funding.

"It was such a wonderful talk, and on a break Barry and I said, 'Gee I wish the entire Florida Bar could have heard that.' And then it was, "Well, why couldn't they?'" Downs recalled.

"We could take inspirational talks and activities. What a great opportunity not...