by Jake Schickel
Florida Bar Board of Governors member
At its May 28 meeting in Key West – the final meeting for the 2009-10 Bar year – The Florida Bar Board of Governors:
• After an extensive discussion including concerns it may be impractical, approved proposed amendments for advertising rules governing attorney and law firm websites, as ordered by the Florida Supreme Court. The approval included requesting a delay on the July 1 effective date on website rules until the court acts on the amendments. The proposed amendments require website visitors to take an affirmative action by clicking a link or similar action before they can view sections of the websites that contain testimonials, refer to past results, or characterize the quality of the lawyer or firm’s legal services, or otherwise do not comply with lawyer advertising rules.
• The Board made no changes to the proposed 2010-11 Bar budget, which now goes to the Florida Supreme Court.
• The Board approved a proposed rule change regarding hiring law firms to resolve medical liens in personal injury cases. The change would allow hiring such firms in some cases, but the fees paid would still be limited by contingency fee restrictions in Rule 4-1.5 and referral fees could not be paid by the hired firm.
• Approved, as amended, a Standing Board Policy on public reprimands. The policy says that all reprimands do not have to be administered in person, but those that are will be done by the Bar President at Board of Governors meetings. The designated reviewer in the case, with advice from Bar staff, will decide which reprimands will be personally administered.
• Approved to be sent to the Supreme Court a rule amendment prohibiting: attorneys from signing blank trust account checks; nonlawyers from signing trust account checks; or using a signature stamp on trust account checks. Board members acknowledged the rule could pose problems for small and solo firms, but said those would be no more difficult that complying with other rules that require lawyers to personally sign pleadings, motions, or other legal documents. They also said the benefits of the improved check procedures would outweigh the drawbacks.
• The Board requested the Professional Ethics Committee to prepare an ethics opinion on the proper ways to handle hard drives from discarded computer equipment to protect confidential client information. President-Elect Mayanne Downs noted that recent news reports have found that hard drives from high speed scanners and other like computer equipment keeps records of scanned documents that can be accessed after the equipment is discarded. That, she said, raises concerns about protecting client information.
• Approved several rule and regulation changes for the Clients’ Security Fund.
• Approved a resolution that the Bar strongly supports the implementation of a mandatory e-filing system for state courts.
• Heard a recommendation from the Communications Committee that attorneys not be allowed to include any rating from an attorney rating service on their profile page on the Bar’s website. Currently, attorneys are allowed to list their Martindale Hubbell rating. Committee Chair Juliet Roulhac noted that Avvo.com had requested that attorneys be allowed to include their Avvo ratings on the profile pages – and other rating services could make the same request – and that no other state bar allows ratings to be listed on their bar websites. The board will vote on the recommendation in July.