Our legislative role.

Our 2005 survey of Bar membership showed that 74 percent of our members rate our legislative efforts as desirable or highly desirable. That ranked about in the middle of Bar programs and five percent better than the 2003 survey.

As the legislature gets set to begin its 2006 regular session in March, it is critical to remember the important role the Bar's legislative activities play for both the profession and the legal system.

One of our primary tasks will be working with the legislature as it looks at ways to amend the state constitution. The Bar has offered technical assistance for that work, and taken the position that future amendments should solely affect an existing provision of the constitution, deal with the basic rights of citizens, or the structure of government in articles II, III, IV, and V.

The legislature is also engaged in a constitutional streamlining effort, which could see some constitutional provisions, with voter approval, converted into statutes.

We constantly monitor all filed bills for those that could affect the legal system and our profession. We'll be listing those bills on the Bar's Web site for your review and action.

As always, a major challenge will be defending the independence of the judiciary, a process that often is educational rather than adversarial. With term limits, each legislative biennium brings many new faces and fresh ideas. But it also requires that the Bar educate these well-meaning individuals--many of whom have had little contact with the legal system--about the third branch of government, the legal profession, and the independence of the judiciary.

It is common for new lawmakers who were initially hostile to courts or the Bar to become strong supporters after Bar representatives meet with them, answer their questions, and offer to be a resource in their legislative endeavors. And it isn't just the Bar's formal legislative program in Tallahassee that does this. Our Key Contact program that has hometown lawyers contact their lawmakers has been a vital part in this education and communication effort. The key contact program involves you. If you have a good working relationship with any member of the legislature, please let us know so we can further contact you to engage in discussion with your legislator on matters of importance to the legal profession. Your participation in the legislative process is extremely important.

The Bar offered its assistance to the executive and legislative branches of government on the DNA issue, and has offered technical help on a variety of other matters. It has taken strong positions to preserve the independence of the judiciary and maintain the Supreme Court's oversight of the legal profession. The Bar also helped secure $5 million in funding last year from legislators for the Civil Legal Assistance Act (which had received between $1 and $2 million the previous three years). Unfortunately, that was vetoed by the governor, but we will be working with both the legislature and governor's office to reinstate that funding this year.

Many of our members do not understand that, because of our unified nature, the Bar can only take general legislative positions dealing with such issues as adequate funding for the courts, third branch independence, preserving public access to the courts, and the like. Legislative limitations have been spelled out in U.S. and Florida Supreme Court rulings and incorporated in our rules and policies. Much of the heavy lifting and more detailed work is done by the sections, which have broader, but not unlimited, legislative authority.

Unlike the Bar, which uses members' mandatory annual fees to support its legislative activities, sections are voluntary organizations and use their own money. Sections may not take a position that opposes a Bar position, but they may take a position on a substantive matter in opposition to another section (as has happened a few times).

Sections also may not take a legislative position that has the potential of causing deep philosophical or emotional divisions among Bar members.

A prime example of this--which also illustrates some of the misconceptions about Bar legislative activities--came last year when the Family Law Section asked to support a bill to repeal the state's ban against homosexual couples adopting children.

Many Bar members saw this as the Bar endorsing or opposing homosexual adoption--which actually was never the question. The Board of Governors acted only to review the request of one of its sections which wanted to take a controversial position. And while the pros and cons of that position were debated, the board concluded (reluctantly on the part of many board members) that the section's request had to be rejected, not based on the merits, but because it caused a deep philosophical and emotional divide among Bar members.

The Florida Bar and your Board of Governors take their legislative duties very seriously. The board's very active Legislation Committee reviews all Bar and section legislative position requests and monitors bills that are filed and legislative meetings.

A complete list of all Bar, section, and committee legislative positions are listed on the Bar's Web site, floridabar.org. On the left side menu, click "Legislative Activity" for more information, including ongoing reports on filed bills of interest to the legal profession. Remember, we are all in this together.