The Florida Bar News December 7, 2023

‘Funding Florida Legal Aid succinctly describes what we do, making it easier for everyone to understand the role we play’

The Florida Bar Foundation on December 7 officially changed its name to FFLA — which stands for Funding Florida Legal Aid — to underscore its mission of supporting critical civil legal aid programs.

“Funding Florida Legal Aid succinctly describes what we do, making it easier for everyone to understand the role we play,” said Murray Silverstein, FFLA president. “Though our name has changed, our mission, staff, board members, and operations remain the same.”

The organization is responsible for administering money swept from the interest earned on trust or IOTA accounts that attorneys use to store their clients’ money as civil legal aid grants. As part of that program, FFLA will distribute roughly $32 million in December to about 34 groups offering free representation to Floridians in need. It has also distributed $3.8 million in civil legal aid support this year.

Silverstein noted that the nonprofit is well known in the legal community for its role in “increasing access to the civil justice system,” and was focused with this rebranding on raising their public profile.

“Now, we begin our work to educate those outside of the legal community about our mission, the critical need for legal aid funding, and the valuable economic impact of accessible, free legal counsel,” Silverstein said.

The Florida Bar Board of Governors, under authority granted by the Florida Supreme Court, voted to explore creating “a Florida Bar Foundation,” in 1955; it was established in 1956.

In 1981, the court created Florida’s IOTA rule, with the Foundation as the named administrator, which was the first in the nation. The first civil legal aid grants in 1982 totaled $291,000.

The court made Florida’s IOTA program mandatory in 1989. Since then, the court has amended it three times: in 2001, 2021, and 2023. The goal of the 2001 and 2023 changes were to bring in more civil legal aid funding through higher interest rates on IOTA accounts.

The latest change is still being contested by the Florida Bankers Association.

A study by Temple University in the early 1990s showed that just 22% of low-income Floridians’ civil legal needs were being met, according to the Foundation’s history. Today, just 8% of their civil legal needs are being met, consistent with the nation, per a report published last year by the Legal Services Corporation.

In 2016, the Foundation’s board unanimously voted to not only offer expertise in and funding for civil legal aid, but also to act as a “strategic leader and catalyst in the cause of increased access to justice for all,” according to the organization.

Today, FFLA estimates that two million Floridians benefit from its civil legal aid grants each year. Those grants pay for salaries of attorneys who provide these Floridians living near the poverty line with free legal representation to resolve matters affecting their basic needs: health and shelter; personal safety; protective and corrective security; family, community, and legal stability.

“When issues like eviction, domestic violence protection, identity theft, and healthcare benefits are resolved, lives are stabilized,” states FFLA’s press release on the name change.

Check out FFLA’s new website which officially launched on December 7.

VIEWS AND CONCLUSIONS EXPRESSED IN ARTICLES HEREIN ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS AND NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF FLORIDA BAR STAFF, OFFICIALS, OR BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FLORIDA BAR.