Coleman: the Bar is making great strides forward.

Question: "Where can I go to get help with a hardware or software problem?"

Answer: "You can go to your local church, synagogue, civic organization, or library to help get you assistance with hardware and software problems."

That Q-and-A once appeared on The Florida Bar's Law Office Management Assistance Service (LOMAS) webpage and was first brought to outgoing Bar President Greg Coleman's attention a couple of years ago.

Coleman's reaction: "Seriously? That was our answer?"

Coleman shared that motivating discovery in his State of The Florida Bar Address at the General Assembly June 26, to tout one of the year's biggest accomplishments: the Bar's new Practice Resource Institute.

"We immediately expedited the creation of the Practice Resource Institute, which is one of the best member benefits I think the Bar has ever provided," Coleman said.

"I cannot take credit for it. Kevin Johnson chaired this very important committee, and within six months had the PRI website up and going, where you can get every imaginable resource, including free continuing legal education in the areas of technology. It provides guidance in accounting and finance, market, management, and opening a new law office," Coleman said.

"I also must thank and recognize Adriana Linares, our consultant who was critical to the success of this project." During his year as Bar president, Coleman made technology his first goal, targeting the vast majority of Bar members in firms of 10 lawyers or less, by creating "a toolbox of technological resources for our members, so they can use them in enhancing their practices."

Another hot topic during his year as president is a national issue: access to civil justice, not only for the indigent but the middle class.

More than 60 percent of Floridians are the working middle class, Coleman said.

"They work at Publix; they fix your air-conditioner and your car when it breaks down. They live paycheck to paycheck and cannot hire a lawyer at even $25 an hour, if they have to get divorced."

Because of historically low interest rates that generate monies on Florida lawyers' trust accounts, legal aid providers are drastically underfunded, he explained. While Florida lawyers are generous with pro bono dollars and time, it is simply not enough.

"This crisis actually brought this issue to the point where Chief Justice Labarga realized that we needed to create a commission to work on solutions," Coleman said. "It represents a cross-section of the state...