Florida Bar members found guilty of minor misconduct will be assessed a $1,250 administrative fee effective March 1, while reservists called to active duty can have their annual Bar membership fees waived.
Those are among the Bar rule changes approved by the Florida Supreme Court when it acted December 20 on annual rule amendments from the Bar.
The court approved all of the Bar’s suggested changes but one. That had to do with a proposal to allow hearing of future rule cases in a conference involving the Bar, all interested parties and the justices.
The court didn’t reject the idea, but called on the Bar to study it further, including finding out what other states have done.
The waiving of annual fees for reservists was proposed by the Board of Governors to help relieve the financial difficulties many active duty members face.
The clarification regarding the administrative fee makes it clear that the fee, found in Rule 3-7.6(q)(1)(I), applies to minor misconduct cases.
Among the rule changes approved by the court were:
• Changing the name of the Out-of-State Practitioners Division to the Out-of-State Division.
• Redrafting the rule on board members when they serve as designated reviewers in grievance cases, including procedures for when the designated reviewer refers a case to a grievance committee or asks a grievance committee to reconsider a case. The Board of Governors also is working on a Standing Board Policy to guide designated reviewers in their duties.
• Clarifying the rules on suspended and disbarred attorneys or those who have resigned for disciplinary reasons when they are hired to work at law firms. The rule specifies that those individuals may not handle trust funds and must not perform duties that can only be done by lawyers or hold themselves out as practicing lawyers. It also clarifies the provisions that disbarred or suspended lawyers may not be hired by lawyers they formerly supervised for a period of three years from their suspension or disbarment.
• Barring attorneys from putting in their fee contracts a requirement that any fee disputes be resolved by binding arbitration, unless the contract also has a disclaimer advising the potential client of the impact of that clause and advising the client he or she may want to consider consulting another attorney before agreeing to the arbitration restriction.
• Setting recusal policies for members of the Standing Committee on the Unlicensed Practice of Law and members of circuit UPL committees.
• Simplifying the rules for determining the indigency of a respondent in a UPL case.
• Providing that a Bar member who fails to pay an award, without showing just cause, ordered as part of a Bar fee arbitration case will be considered delinquent after 90 days and lose the right to practice law.
— Courtesy the Florida Bar News