Prominent civil rights litigator Randall “Randy” Berg Jr., credited with pioneering a popular approach to funding legal representation for the indigent, died Wednesday morning at the age of 70.

Berg had retired from his position as executive director with the Florida Justice Institute in January after a yearslong battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a neurodegenerative disease that erodes muscle functions. After co-founding the Miami-based civil rights litigation and public advocacy firm in 1978, he spent four decades representing the underserved and disadvantaged. He also helped spearhead the creation of interest on lawyers’ trust accounts, which allows the use of interest accrued on clients’ trust accounts held by attorneys to funding legal representation for low-income residents.