Mission accomplished (or, at least, begun).

• Author: Coleman, Gregory W.
• Position: Florida Bar - President's page

When I ran for office, one of my principle platforms was technology because I recognized we didn't have a good, current, web-based resource for our Florida Bar members.

I knew this was especially important for small firms of five lawyers or less, where IT experts are generally not part of the law firm team, which is 66 percent of our membership.

If lawyers want to make their offices more efficient and cost-effective, they have to stay current with emerging technological trends.

So, I appointed a Technology Committee, chaired by Kevin Johnson of Tampa, the outgoing chair of the General Practice Solo and Small Firm Section.

Additionally, I charged the Member Benefits Committee, working with Bar technology consultant Adriana Linares, to address the scarcity of member benefits that would fit the new service.

I am happy to say that within six months, we were able to create a brand new resource for our members called The Florida Bar Practice Resource Institute.

Anyone with a Florida Bar number can go to www.floridabar.org/PRI and receive help with all of the business aspects of setting up, managing, merging, or closing a professional practice.

The new director of PRI is Jonathon Israel, who describes the offerings as a variety of shareable electronic tools, web-based archives of articles, blog posts, and resources. The website's five sections--office technology, finance and accounting, marketing, management, and new practices--have links to articles, videos, and podcasts that will constantly be updated with the latest available information.

Your questions can be answered in real time with a live chat feature.

Many of you will remember the Bar's Law Office Management Assistance Service that had been around for more than three decades. LOMAS staff members were dedicated, but times have changed, and the program needed to be modernized.

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