March 06, 2026

1. The Florida Bar

   BUDGET, ELECTRONIC VOTING, PRO BONO CLE FOR PARALEGALS HEADLINE BOARD AGENDA

   The Florida Bar | Article | March 06, 2026

   When it meets March 13, The Florida Bar Board of Governors will review a proposed Fiscal Year 2026-27 Bar budget and consider several policy changes, including to eliminate paper ballots for Bar elections, allowing paralegals to earn continuing education credit for pro bono work, and modifying restrictions on military spouses practicing law in Florida. The proposed Bar budget, which incorporates changes following committee feedback and executive review, details projections for the Bar’s general fund, client security, certification, litigation, fixed assets, and sections. The general fund reflects a projected $5.4 million gap, though part of that amount would be offset by the consolidation of the certification fund on July 1, which is projected to operate at a surplus of approximately $80K, the balance would result in a drawdown from reserves accumulated from prior years. Therefore, the current rate of $265 for active members and $175 for inactive members will remain unchanged for another fiscal period.

   Also in The Florida Bar News:

   • SUPREME COURT CONSIDERS WHETHER SOLO CRIMINAL CONDUCT CAN TRIGGER RICO

   • COURT CLARIFIES RULE ALLOWING APPEALS OF PRESERVED SENTENCING ERRORS AFTER PLEAS

2. Legislature

   HOUSE PASSES HOA BILL ALLOWING OWNERS TO DISSOLVE BOARDS, CLARIFYING DISPUTE RESOLUTION PATHS

   Florida Politics | Article | March 05, 2026

   Legislation designed to overhaul how condo and homeowners association (HOA) disputes are resolved — described by its sponsor, Miami Republican Rep. Juan Porras, as the largest reform bill of its kind — just won overwhelming House approval. It’s now on the way to the Senate, where its upper-chamber analogue has been less successful in advancing this Session. The measure (HB 657), which would implement three major changes to Florida laws governing community associations. First, it would address transparency issues by creating a state-funded court process to address condo and HOA disputes, which would replace an existing pre-lawsuit mediation process required today. Second, it would provide processes for the dissolution of HOAs. Third, the measure would address a lack of accountability that malfeasant HOA Board members now enjoy by mandating that HOAs include “Kaufman language” in their governing documents that require organization bylaws to change in accordance with changes in state law automatically.

3. Civil Justice Legislature

   INJURED BY YOUR CITY OR COUNTY? FLORIDA LAWMAKERS MAY HELP YOU GET MORE MONEY

   Miami Herald | Article | March 05, 2026

   Under state law, no one can get more than $200,000 from a judgment or settlement against the government in cases of negligence without the Legislature passing a bill to pay out the rest. Lawmakers have taken up the call eight times this legislative session to pay out injured Floridians and tourists—who together are owed a collective $47.2 million—for injuries caused by local governments, distinct from other claim bills moving this session for injuries caused by state agencies. With session scheduled to wrap on March 13, the Legislature has passed just two of those bills. But some lawmakers think it should be easier for injured Floridians and tourists to get a bigger slice of the money they are owed from settlements and judgments against state and local governments. Florida’s payment caps haven’t increased since 2011. But lawmakers have been trying to raise them for years.

4. Criminal Justice Legislature

   MARSY’S LAW MAY EXPAND TO SHIELD CRIME VICTIMS’ AND OFFICERS’ IDENTITIES

   Fresh Take Florida | Article | March 05, 2026

   The Florida Legislature is set to pass a measure that would protect the identities of police officers and crime victims, more than two years after the state Supreme Court struck down portions of the legislation known as “Marsy’s Law.” Marsy’s Law was initially a constitutional amendment that Florida voters approved in 2018, intended to protect crime victims from having their identities revealed under Florida’s public records law. However, some police agencies began invoking Marsy’s Law for officers who used lethal force in the field, under the idea that the officers were victims as well. In a legal challenge over those practices, the Supreme Court struck down the portion of the amendment that protected the identities of victims. However, it left the door open for the Legislature to expand the law.

5. Civil Justice

   FLORIDA COURT FAULTS JUDGE FOR GRANTING SUMMARY JUDGMENT WITHOUT NOTICE

   Daily Business Review | Article | March 05, 2026

   Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal reversed $10,000 in attorney fees and remanded a lien dispute Wednesday [March 4], raising questions about what proper notice and reasonable time for granting summary judgment to a nonmovant really look like under a relatively new rule of civil procedure. The appellate court affirmed Miami-Dade County Court Judge Maria D. Ortiz’s decision to deny the motion for summary judgment from the movants, finding that issues in the case were not moot. But the appellate panel reversed the portion of Ortiz’s ruling that granted final judgment in favor of nonmovant A&P Air Conditioning Co.—including the award of$10,000 in attorney fees—finding that proper notice and time had not been given for the other party to respond as required.

6. Obituary

   BROWARD LAWYER RICHARD ROSENBAUM DIES AFTER CANCER BATTLE

   Sun Sentinel | Article | March 05, 2026

   In the last months of his life, attorney Richard Rosenbaum knew that other attorneys would need to step in to finish the cases he could not. His son, Ryan, was tasked with reaching out to Rosenbaum’s colleagues to find attorneys who could argue as passionately as he did against the death penalty. “They told me, ‘Your dad is a unicorn. We can’t replace him,’” said Ryan Rosenbaum. Richard Lawrence Rosenbaum died Tuesday [March 3] after fighting cancer for the last 26 years. In a legal career that spanned more than four decades, Rosenbaum took on some of South Florida’s toughest, most hopeless cases. He argued the appellate case of Lionel Tate, the Pembroke Park youth who at 14 was the youngest American ever sentenced to life in prison. Rosenbaum won Tate’s release and the respect of the legal community. “His honesty and integrity and professionalism were unmatched,” said friend and colleague Bruce Raticoff.