BOG Meeting Preview – December 2019
This email was sent to all Florida Bar members to provide information on items for action or discussion coming up at the December 6, 2019, Board of Governors meeting. Changes may occur before the meeting.
Action Items
On the agenda for final action is a proposal by the Disciplinary Procedure Committee (DPC) to amend Rule 1-3.8 to pay a limited number of inventory attorneys. The rule requires nearly every Florida Bar member to designate an inventory attorney to take possession of their files in the event they unexpectedly die or otherwise become unable to practice so that their clients are protected. Due to a scarcity of volunteers to serve as inventory attorneys, the DPC has been working with Bar disciplinary counsel, the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section, the Budget Committee, and others to find a solution. If adopted by the board, the proposal would still require Supreme Court approval.
Amendments to Florida Bar procedures for ruling on questions of ethics will be considered. A change would authorize the Ethics Department to give advice to out-of-state lawyers who are authorized to provide legal services in Florida, including authorized house counsel, foreign legal consultants, or out-of-state lawyers practicing in federally preempted areas like ICE, IRS, U.S. Patent Office, or U.S. Social Security Administration. Under current procedures, ethics counsel can only give an opinion to a current Florida Bar member in good standing.
Four new member benefits on the agenda, if approved, will be added to the more than 70 free or discounted products and services — such as financial services, travel accommodations, shipping, practice management resources and legal research — already offered to Florida Bar members.
DECEMBER APPOINTMENTS
- Florida Realtor-Attorney Joint Committee: Six lawyers, one from each state appellate district, and one at-large member to serve two-year terms beginning Jan. 1, 2020.
- Florida Rural Legal Services: One attorney to serve a three-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2020.
- Eleventh Circuit Judicial Conference/Middle District: One lawyer for a four-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2020. Review the schedule of upcoming special appointments and deadlines.