An organization representing most of Florida’s local legal aid programs is warning that a proposed amendment to The Florida Bar rule on IOTA trust accounts would severely hamper those legal aid offices.

The Task Force on the Distribution of IOTA Funds, set up by the Supreme Court in October 2019, has recommended amendments to Bar Rule 5-1.1(g), which governs how IOTA trust funds are collected and the proceeds distributed through The Florida Bar Foundation. (See https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-news/iota-task-force-sends-final-report-proposed-rule-to-supreme-court/.)

“To change a major funding structure for our legal aid agencies in the middle of a pandemic with a major economic crisis is a major concern,” said Monica Vigues-Pitan, president of the Florida Civil Legal Aid Association, which includes most of the state’s local legal aid programs, and also executive director of Legal Services of Greater Miami.