Board of Governors Meeting Preview – July 2022

The following items are up for action or discussion at the July 29, 2022, 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. This Florida Bar News article provides additional details.

The board is expected to weigh proposed amendments to Bar Rule 1-3.3 (Official Bar Name and Contact Information) designed to better protect the public by ensuring reporting of disciplinary actions in other jurisdictions. The proposed amendment would add a subdivision (b) “Notice of Admission to Other Jurisdictions” that would state, “Each member of The Florida Bar must notify The Florida Bar of each other jurisdiction in which that member is licensed to practice law.” The Florida Bar participates in an ABA-sponsored nationwide database to report discipline. But adding a requirement that Florida Bar members must report their other law licensures would provide another tool to report disciplinary action to those other jurisdictions.

In other business, the board will be asked to approve adding Trip Planet, Inc., to the Member Benefits Program. The online booking tool for business and leisure travel offers discounted airline, hotels, and other services, according to a staff analysis.

The board is also expected to:

• Consider a series of proposed amendments to the Family Law Section bylaws. The changes would, among other things, add the word “civility” to the standards and purposes of the section, expand eligibility for affiliate memberships, facilitate greater use of electronic voting, set a more rigid executive council attendance requirement, and clarify the procedure for choosing the secretary and executive council members.
• Review proposed amendments to the Workers’ Compensation Section bylaws that would add that members who formerly served as section chair may serve as voting emeritus members of the council and delete the requirement for staggered terms for service on the executive council.
• Receive a Board Technology Committee report on their update to a best-practices guide for remote court proceedings, and a project that involves working with the Standing Committee on Technology to provide Bar members with more cybersecurity resources.
• Consider a proposed amendment to Bar Rule 20-5.1 (Generally) that would make any person “who engages in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation in the application or reapplication process” ineligible for the Florida Registered Paralegal program.
• Review and vote on requests from Bar sections for biennial legislative positions.