Fee statements hit the mail.

Florida Bar members soon will receive their 2001-02 annual fee statements reflecting an increase in fees and only minor modifications to the form.

Bar finance director Allen Martin said the statements have changed little from last year, are payable July 1 and are late after August 15.

Members will receive one of two fee statements: one designed for active members and another for those who have elected inactive status. Annual fees are now $265. Inactive members pay $175.

This year members also will have the option to complete their annual fee statement and pay their fees online via the Bar's website at www.FLABAR.org.

Members also have an option to make a voluntary contribution to The Florida Bar Foundation's Lawyers Challenge for Children campaign and the Supreme Court Historical Society.

"Members should be aware that the fee statements are two-sided and must be completed both front and back and be mailed along with their payment to cover their fees and sections joined," Martin said. Under the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar, fees postmarked after August 15 will be assessed a $50 late fee (up from $25 a year ago). Members who do not pay by September 30 will be deemed delinquent. The delinquency may be cleared by petitioning the Bar, paying the fees, the late fee, and a $150 reinstatement fee.

Under the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar, members delinquent for five years will lose their Bar membership on October 1. To be reinstated, those members must meet all the requirements of the Florida Board of Bar Examiners.

Pro Bono Reports

This year's fee form again includes a pro bono section for Bar members to report if they have met the Supreme Court's aspirational pro bono goals. The court asks lawyers to provide 20 hours of pro bono service or donate $350 to a legal aid program each year.

A series of questions promulgated by the court appears on the fee statement, depending on what option the attorney selected. The court wants to know:

* How many hours of pro bono service the lawyer donated and if the work was done through an organized legal aid program or on the lawyer's own.

* If the lawyer's firm provided pro bono collectively under a plan operated by a circuit pro bono committee.

* If the lawyer has contributed to a legal aid organization in lieu of performing pro bono work.

* Whether the attorney was unable to provide pro bono service or met the provision for being deferred.

* How the lawyer fulfilled his or her service if done in some...