All Vision 2016 recommendations will be carefully vetted
All Vision 2016 recommendations will be carefully vetted
Senior Editor
The Bar Board of Governors is not about to enact admission by motion for out-of-state lawyers, and in fact does not even have that proposal formally before it.
The board will only consider that issue as part of its regular, careful, and thorough process for considering new ideas and concepts, according to board member Jay Cohen.
Cohen is the administrator of Vision 2016, and a committee of one of Vision’s four subgroups has a preliminary report which proposes that the Florida Board of Bar Examiners recommend and the Supreme Court adopt an admission by motion rule for lawyers from other states that have reciprocity for such admission to Florida Bar members.
Cohen said that is so far only a suggestion and is only one of many issues being studied under the aegis of Vision 2016, all of which will follow the Bar’s normal, careful vetting process — which includes ample opportunities for input by Bar members — before any final decision is made.
“Let me say this loud and clear, so there’s no misunderstanding by anyone. This Board of Governors and therefore this Florida Bar has not recommended nor endorsed reciprocity. This Florida Bar, this Board of Governors, has not recommended nor endorsed nonlawyer ownership of law firms. This Board of Governors has not recommended nor endorsed a uniform bar exam or alternative methods of delivering legal services,” Cohen said. “We have a process and that process is critical and important, and that process has not taken place.. . .
“To date, there is no position of The Florida Bar on any of these controversial positions. As a matter of fact, there isn’t even a motion before you.”
All recommendations will be evaluated according to the Bar’s core principles, including promoting a fair and impartial judiciary, protecting the public, and promoting the interests of lawyers, he said. The Bar has followed that process, he added, in making several important decisions in recent years, including The Vote’s In Your Court merit retention education program, creating the Leadership Academy, setting up Vision 2016, overhauling Bar advertising rules, and establishing a committee to look at unlawful solicitation.
“What never changes. . . is the process that we go through as we evaluate ideas, proposals, concepts, and yes, recommendations,” Cohen said. “That process requires that no matter what we evaluate. . . there is a thorough, thorough investigation and study, an appropriate and detailed vetting of the issues, honest and rigorous debate.. . and, of course, all of this is before any valid and considered vote is taken.”
Noting concerns that have been raised by Bar members about admission by motion, he added, “You, as a Board of Governors, need to assure and in most cases reassure our Florida Bar members that the process. . . has not changed and it won’t change. Our process will be adhered to in its entirety.”
Cohen added that the recommendation on admission by motion will only reach a vote after it is fully vetted.
“The only thing that continues to matter to this Board of Governors is. . . that the public is protected and the best interests of Florida lawyers are considered,” he said.
After the board acts, any approved rule changes will go to the Supreme Court, where lawyers will again have a chance to comment, Cohen said.
“Keep your constituents informed. Keep them at peace with what we do as a deliberative body,” he said. “We are responsible. We know what’s going on. We hear you, and we want to continue to hear you.”
