Better funding for necessary legal services for low-income Floridians is a goal worth pursuing and a new Bar rule requiring lawyers to keep their trust accounts in institutions that tie interest rates for IOTA accounts to specific indexed rate points is a free market approach to achieving that goal.

That was The Florida Bar’s response to a motion for rehearing filed by the Florida Bankers Association (FBA) in Case No. SC22-1292 decided March 16 and slated to take effect May 15.

While not participating in the rulemaking process, the FBA contends they were not given adequate notice of the proposed amendments, that the changes will have “real world, negative impact and risk of harm to Florida’s banks and law firms,” and the IOTA rule amendment is preempted by federal law and impermissibly encroaches on the executive branch’s authority to regulate the banking industry in Florida. (See story, here.)

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