Court Directs the President-Elect to Appoint a Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Service to the Poor

In Amendments to Rules Regulating the Florida Bar--1-3.1(a) and Rules of Judicial Administration--2.065 (Legal Aid), 630 So. 2d 501 (Fla. 1993) (hereinafter Amendments), the Court adopted Rule Regulating the Florida Bar 4-6.5, Voluntary Pro Bono Plan. See 630 So. 2d at 510-13. This rule directed the president-elect of the Florida Bar to appoint a standing committee on pro bono legal service to the poor. See R. Regulating Fla. Bar 4-6.5(b). The Standing Committee was charged with the following duties: (a) receiving reports from circuit committees submitted on standardized forms developed by the Standing Committee; (b) reviewing and evaluating circuit court pro bono plans; (c) beginning in the first year in which individual attorney pro bono reports are due, submitting an annual report as to the activities and results of the pro bono plan to the Board of Governors of the Florida Bar, the Florida Bar Foundation, and the Supreme Court of Florida; and (d) presenting to the Board of Governors of the Florida Bar and to the Supreme Court of Florida any suggested changes or modifications to the pro bono rules. See R. Regulating Fla. Bar 4-6.5(b)(2). In Amendments, the Court declined to broaden the definition of "legal services to the poor" so that judges and judicial staff could participate in the program because the Court found that a narrow definition was necessary to "ensure that the purposes behind the implementation of these rules are in accordance with our authority." 630 So. 2d at 504.