Member services expanded since last Bar fee increase.

With a desire to improve programs supported by and benefiting Bar members -- and citing declining reserves -- the Board of Governors is now considering increasing annual membership fees.

The Bar Budget Committee has recommended fees for active members be increased from $190 to $265, and for inactive members from $140 to $175 annually. (See story in November 1 News.)

It has been 11 years since the Bar's last fee increase and a number of major programs have been added -- and existing programs expanded -- to improve the Bar's effectiveness, efficiency and member services. Among those improvements have been the creation of an Ethics School for errant lawyers, a grievance mediation program, more aggressive prosecution of the unlicensed practice of law, the opening of the Center for Professionalism and the expansion of the Law Office Management Assistance Service.

Lawyer Regulation

When the last Bar annual membership fee increase was approved, the Bar's grievance operation basically performed three functions, according to Tony Boggs, director of the Legal Division. "We could investigate, discipline or dismiss cases," he said.

A lot has changed.

"Now we've got a lot of tools in the tool belt," Boggs said. "We've got mediation tools, we've got probation tools, we've got remediation tools, and we've got restitution tools."

Ethics School

One notable change came at the behest of 1991-92 Bar President Ben Hill, who steered the Ethics Schools through the board. There lawyers facing minor grievance charges can get the cases dismissed in exchange for attending classes aimed at helping them avoid future problems.

Boggs said on average around 150 lawyers a year attend the Ethics School and most have praised its lessons and benefits.

The grievance program also took over the running of the Bar's fee arbitration program, which led to better coordination between that operation and the grievance process.

Grievance Mediation

In 1997-98, then Bar President Edward Blumberg inaugurated the grievance mediation program. That is frequently used, commonly for communication-related problems, to resolve disputes, Bogga said, and has proven to be a success.

Just started is the Attorney-Client Assistance Program (ACAP), which seeks to screen grievance complaints to determine which can be settled cooperatively between clients and attorneys. A trial program run in the Tampa branch office won high praise from both attorneys and consumers.

But with all those new programs, the...