• Proposed Bar rules which govern lawyer and law firm Web sites will be before the Bar Board of Governors for final action at its December 8 meeting. The board will also be making several appointments at the meeting, which will be held in Key Biscayne in Miami. Proposed advertising rules on lawyers’ Web sites has become a higher profile issue with the Supreme Court’s recent action on other advertising rules. The board was unable to reach agreement last year on how to treat lawyer and law firm Web sites when it sent other amendments to the Bar’s advertising rules to the Supreme Court. Instead it set up a special committee to further study that issue.
• In The Florida Bar’s first meeting after the November 7 elections, the board will be considering what legislative positions it should renew. Under Bar rules, all legislative positions expired as of July 1. The Legislation Committee will be recommending which of those positions should be rolled over for the 2006-08 biennium.
In addition, the board will be making appointments to three organizations: Two lawyers will be chosen for six-year terms on the Judicial Qualifications Commission; five lawyers, one from the jurisdictions of the district courts of appeal, will be chosen for two-year terms on the Florida Realtor-Attorney Joint Committee; and one lawyer will be selected for a three-year term on the Florida Rural Legal Services, Inc., Board of Directors.
• Stopped buying Florida Bar produced CLE tapes because your new car no longer has a cassette tape deck? No problem. The Florida Bar is now offering audio CDs for all its recorded Continuing Legal Education programs.
“Many of our members are not aware that we have CDs available,” said Yvonne D. Sherron, director of the Bar’s Professional Development Department. “This is just another step in our efforts to make it easier for our members to stay current on changes in the practice of law and meet their CLE requirements.” Sherron said The Bar also now has an inventory system in place for CLE products to expedite getting the products into its members’ hands faster. Because so many members participate in CLE, it has grown to be the largest single program of The Florida Bar, with some 80 different CLE programs offered 400 times each year.