The battle over a new amended rule governing attorney trust accounts with tens of millions of dollars at stake each year for free civil legal aid to Floridians near the poverty line has led to a fissure between Florida bankers and their longtime former teacher, Jody Hudgins.

Hudgins taught at the Florida Bankers Association’s school of banking for 30 years. But now he and the association are at odds over the updated rule, of which he is the architect, that is already bringing in tens of millions of additional dollars in legal aid funding for poor Floridians.

Hudgins, a public member of The Florida Bar Board of Governors at the time, proposed in 2020 to require attorneys to keep trusts storing client money in higher-yield accounts. The changes were modified and approved this year by the Florida Supreme Court on March 16. The bankers association asked for a rehearing on March 31, and in response, the court allowed the public to weigh in on the modified rule until November 1.