Board to consider legislative positions and military spouse rule
Board to consider legislative positions and military spouse rule
Adopting legislative positions for the next two years; voting on a rule to allow the lawyer spouses of military personnel stationed in Florida to practice in the state; and considering an ethics request relating to Bar members working with out-of-state lawyers whose firms may have nonlawyer owners will come before the Bar Board of Governors when it meets December 9 in Clearwater Beach.
Legislative Positions
Under Bar policies, the board retired all active Bar, section, and committee legislative positions last July from the 2014-16 biennium. Sections have been busy readopting and updating positions for the 2016-18 biennium and Legislation Committee Chair Gary Lesser said the committee would bring Bar-wide positions to the board in December.
Two long-standing Bar positions that have been consistently renewed are continuing to maintain Supreme Court oversight of the legal profession and advocating for adequate funding for the court system.
Other positions from the 2014-16 sessions included opposition to changing the Supreme Court’s authority over procedural court rules, opposing changes that would undermine the independence of the current judicial nominating commission process, supporting state agencies paying for their attorneys’ Bar annual membership fees and CLE costs, and supporting raising the mandatory retirement age for judges from 70 to 75.
Ethics
The ethics matter came to the board from the Professional Ethics Committee. The PEC in June heard a request from Tim Chinaris, representing the Vision 2016 Bar Admissions Subgroup, to address a problem when Bar members work with lawyers from other jurisdictions.
Chinaris noted that currently two jurisdictions, the District of Columbia and the state of Washington, allow nonlawyer ownership in a law firm while Bar rules prohibit splitting legal fees with nonlawyers. That raises the possibility that Bar members could be hired as co-counsels with lawyers from those jurisdictions and the resulting fees would be shared with the out-of-state lawyers who in turn would be sharing them with nonlawyer owners in their firm.
Chinaris asked the committee to draft a “safe harbor” provision protecting Florida lawyers in such cases. Under Bar rules the committee can only consider questions posed by Bar members about their own potential actions or at the direction of the Board of Governors, so the committee asked the board to direct it to consider the issue. The committee’s request does not address the question of nonlawyer ownership of law firms in Florida. If the board requests such an opinion be drafted, that opinion would specifically state that it is not allowing or addressing nonlawyer ownership of law firms in Florida.
Military Spouse Rule
The military spouse rule would create Chapter 21 in the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar. Lawyers who meet certain conditions would be allowed to practice in Florida while their active-duty spouse is stationed in the state. The requirements include being an active member in good standing of another state bar, not having failed the Florida bar exam or the Florida Board of Bar Examiners’ character and fitness review, reading the Bar’s disciplinary and professional conduct rules, and submitting to the jurisdiction of the Florida Supreme Court.
If approved by the board, the new chapter would go to the Supreme Court for its review. Eighteen other states have a similar rule and another 13 are considering one.
Other Business
The board will also address several other matters, including the annual report from The Florida Bar Foundation. The Bar’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee will give a status report, as will a task force looking into whether lawyers should be able to get continuances in their cases for parental leave.
Such continuances have been endorsed by the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, but the Rules of Judicial Administration Committee rejected a recommendation to amend rules to allow it, with members questioning whether it was an appropriate issue for a procedural rule.
The board will make several appointments including:
• Selecting two members for The Florida Bar Foundation Board of Directors.
• Selecting five members for two-year terms on the Florida Realtor-Attorney Joint Committee.
• Appointing one lawyer from the U.S. Southern District of Florida for a four-year term on the U.S. 11th Circuit Judicial Conference
• Selecting one lawyer for a six-year term on the Judicial Qualification Commission.
