Board of Governors Meeting Preview – January 2024
The following items are up for action or discussion at the January 19, 2024, meeting of the Board of Governors as of today; changes may occur before the meeting. Please contact your board representative(s) if you have any input or questions.
Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz is scheduled to address the board with an update from the Court.
The board is expected to review a final set of proposed amendments by the Civil Procedure Rules Committee that are part of a Supreme Court effort to improve “the timely resolution of civil cases through effective case management.” In a January 2023 order, justices declined to adopt a proposal by the Judicial Management Council’s Workgroup on the Improved Resolution of Civil Cases.
More specifically, the Supreme Court asked the Civil Procedure Rules Committee (CPRC) to craft revisions to Rules 1.200 (Pretrial Procedure), 1.201 (Complex Litigation), 1.280 (General Provisions Governing Discovery), 1.440 (Setting Action for Trial), and 1.460 (Continuances). After asking the Supreme Court for further instructions, the CPRC filed the proposed revisions in two tracks, “A” and “B,” in a July petition, SC2023-0962, that remains pending. Read more in The Florida Bar News.
The board will also be reviewing the comments received regarding Proposed Advisory Opinion 24-1, on lawyers’ use of generative AI and its implications for confidentiality, lawyer oversight, legal fees and costs, and lawyer advertising. The Board Review Committee on Professional Ethics posted a notice last month for public comments that were due Jan. 2, 2024. The board can approve the proposed advisory opinion subject to non-substantive changes, reject and withdraw the proposed advisory opinion, or make substantive changes to the opinion and republish for additional comments.
In other business, the board is expected to consider, on first-reading only, proposed amendments to Bar Rule 6-10.3 (Minimum Continuing Legal Education Standards). The proposed amendment would add a new subdivision (h) that would allow a Florida Bar member to receive one hour of general continuing legal education credit for every four hours of pro bono service, not to exceed five hours of continuing legal education credit in a three-year cycle.
In an August 1, 2023, letter, the Supreme Court asked the Bar to consider “authorizing continuing legal education credit or professionalism credit for pro bono participation. The Bar should consider whether there should be a maximum of credit hours that can be earned under this authority.” The Justices issued the letter after reviewing a March 22, 2023, report from the Bar’s Special Committee on Greater Public Access to Legal Services. The board could give approval to the proposed amendments to Rule 6-10.3 when it meets in March before they head to the Court.
The board is also expected to consider a Program Evaluation Committee proposal to amend Rule 6-3.5 (Standards for Certification). The proposed amendment would add a new subdivision (f) that would define a good cause waiver for “any portion of the applicable certification standards,” according to a staff analysis. Lawyers in various certification areas have argued that meeting certain minimum requirements for board certification has grown more challenging as court practices change.
On Thursday, the Board will be at the Florida Supreme Court for the annual Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Awards and Chief Justice’s Awards. Read about the winners and you can watch it live on Thursday, Jan. 18, at 3:30 p.m. on the Court’s Facebook page, WFSU: Gavel to Gavel and the Florida Channel.
In other business, the board is expected to:
- Vote to accept an annual audit of The Florida Bar for FY 2022-23 by the firm Mauldin and Jenkins. “The statements have been reviewed by staff, reconciled to information received from the actuarial and investment providers and no concerns were detected,” according to a staff analysis.
- Make appointments to the Eleventh Circuit Judicial Conference, the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission, the Florida Realtor-Attorney Joint Committee, and the governing boards of Florida Rural Legal Services and FFLA (formerly known as The Florida Bar Foundation).