Session under way: State funding of the courts is on the front burner.

Those gathering in Tallahassee for the spring legislative session aren't making any summer vacation plans, according to Steve Metz, the Bar's chief legislative counsel.

On top of a budget deficit that could reach $4 billion, lawmakers are wrestling with the impending takeover of funding for the state court system, dealing with the class size amendment, and the bullet train, just to name a few.

The session kicked off March 4 and is slated for 60 days, but not many expect the lawmakers to wrap up business in that short time frame.

Aside from budget and court funding issues, the legislature is expected to tackle a rewrite of workers' compensation laws and medical malpractice laws. On the latter issue, doctors and others are pushing for a $250,000 limit on noneconomic damages.

"Anybody who is involved in the legislative process is not making any kind of plans for summer vacations until at least August, and I predict that they can easily be here until July," Metz told a group of Bar leaders gathered in Tallahassee last month for the Bar's legislative summit.

Metz said while the challenges ahead are many, the good news is legislators will look to the legal community and the Bar for advice on how to adequately meet the needs of the judicial branch.

"They are crying out for resources, people who are not on staff," Metz said. "They are looking for good lawyers they can bounce ideas off."

"The lawyers in the legislature have dealt with this system and they know about it, and I think they are going to be advocates for a good system," Metz said.

For many other legislators, court funding is a new issue, said Kent Spuhler, executive director of Florida Legal Services, and that gives lawyers an opportunity to put themselves in a position to serve as a resource--to give the lawmakers an honest appraisal of how their plans will affect the system as a whole.

"That is the big piece that is missing," Spuhler said. "They know they are dealing with something substantial and are looking for help they can trust. You are in a position locally to establish that relationship."

Second Circuit Chief Judge-elect Charles Francis, a member of the Trial Court Budget Commission, said it also is imperative for lawyers to remind legislators that they are not just funding another state agency.

"We are talking about funding, for the first time at the state level, the third branch of government and making sure it works," Judge Francis said.

Metz also said this is not the year to...