by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
Miles McGrane III brought his campaign, “For the Children,” to the Jacksonville Bar Association’s luncheon Thursday, encouraging attorneys and their firms to do whatever they can to help children in need.
“It’s really something that, at the end of the day, you’ll feel good about doing,” said this year’s president of The Florida Bar.
McGrane, of Coral Gables, heads the firm of McGrane and Nosich. He has been active in The Florida Bar since 1982 and has served on the Board of Governors (1992-2000).
He has served on the executive committee and was appointed to the Board of The Florida Bar Foundation by the Florida Supreme Court in 2000.
He has been working to fulfill the recommendations of the Bar’s Commission on the Legal Needs of Children, from rule changes to engaging more lawyers in pro bono programs for children.
He said the Bar had committed substantial resources to form the commission. After two years, he said, the commission issued a lengthy report that had been “sitting on a shelf,” waiting for someone to do something with it.
“That is my goal, to implement as much of that commission’s report as we can,” he said.
He also knows he needs help. Lots of it.
“With any worthwhile project,” he said, “one person can’t control what’s done. There’s no benevolent dictator.”
Every attorney in every section of the Bar should ask what can they do, he said.
“I’m here using the bully pulpit to get people to think outside the box,” said McGrane, stressing that everybody can do something. “That is the whole purpose of the program, For the Children, to start people thinking about what can they do, how can they get it done, how can we start working . . . to realize our goals.”
The Bar’s board of governors helped get the program rolling by establishing a standing committee on the Legal Needs of Children, he said.
The fastest, most efficient, way to help may be through the use of The Florida Bar’s website, he told his audience.
Organizations that provide services to children have been encouraged to register their need for pro bono services, and nearly 40 have done so already. In addition, about 60 lawyers have come to the site, saying they want to help children’s groups.
“Some lawyers want to help, but they don’t know where to start, where to go with their concern,”said McGrane. “Tell them about the website.”
When the State Legislature meets next, a priority for The Florida Bar will be funding, he said.
“It is estimated that, with the roughly $250 million that probably will be appropriated, we will probably be about $100 million short,” he said.
And that shortfall, McGrane insisted, represents a clear and present danger to the judiciary.
“If the courts are going to be treated solely as an agency,” he said, “we’re all in trouble. “The first thing that’s going to go is civil jury trials. If the civil system shuts down, we’ll be like Oregon, where maybe they go a month without any civil trials.
“We need to protect the judiciary.”
A need for 38 additional judges across the state has already been certified, and none have been approved, said McGrane.
“We have a funding shortage and a very real judicial shortage,” he said. “We need to get people involved.
“I know what I’m going to do. I’m going to be in Tallahassee, doing what has to be done to guarantee the independence of the judiciary.”
Finally, McGrane said, a new commission is going to study the Bar’s disciplinary practices “from top to bottom.”
“It’s not because something is wrong, but it hasn’t been done in 15 years,” he said.
While supporters say the Bar has set “the gold standard” for the way it disciplines its own, others think it’s “too punitive,” said McGrane. “And some think it moves too slowly.
“We need your feedback.”
If changes are proposed, they will be submitted to the Florida Supreme Court for approval.