BOG Meeting Preview – January 2020
This email was sent to all Florida Bar members to provide information on items for action or discussion coming up at the January 31, 2020, Board of Governors meeting. Changes may occur before the meeting.
Action Items
The Board Professional Ethics Committee has proposed additional language for the commentary to Bar Rule 4-7.18, Direct Contact With Prospective Clients, expressly allowing for the exchange of contact information at business events and on business-related social media. However, the proposed comment language also warns the lawyer should not discuss a specific legal matter if the prospective client initiates it, “and [to] defer further discussion to a more appropriate location,” when the discussion would endanger a prospective client’s confidentiality. This proposal is up for final approval from the Board.
A proposal will be considered by the Board from the Out of State Division that would amend Standing Board Policy 6.21, Bar Division, Section and Committee Programs, to allow for co-sponsorship of professionally recorded CLE courses by the Bar’s CLE committee. The proposal updates a 2015 redesign of the CLE administrative fee and overhead structure that was undertaken before the massive shift and availability of online video and on-demand CLE. The proposal was unanimously approved by the Rules Committee and the Program Evaluation Committee.
Also on the Board agenda is a request from the Referral and Assistance Committee of the Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice to look at the concept of creating Advanced Florida Registered Paralegals, under the Florida Registered Paralegal Program, to provide limited legal services to clients of a law firm who wish to represent themselves, with the goal of increasing access to civil justice. The BOG Rules Committee and various sections will also be providing input via a report to the Board in May. Read this article from the Bar News for more information on this issue.
JANUARY APPOINTMENTS
- Florida Bar Foundation Board of Directors: Two lawyers to serve three-year terms beginning July 1, 2020.
- Florida Rural Legal Services: One lawyer to serve a three-year term beginning immediately.
- Judicial Nominating Commissions: One lawyer for each of the 26 JNCs for four-year terms beginning July 1, 2020.
Review the schedule of upcoming special appointments and deadlines.