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Professionalism Resources

Center for Professionalism logoWhether it’s best practices guides (and there are many, from electronic communication to professional conduct), quick tips or codes of trial conduct, you’ll find it here.

#ProTips

Quick snippets of professionalism advice.


Steve Lesser: Maintain confidential communication with your client


Ita Neymotin on the importance of mentoring


Dora Kaufman: Do unto others...


Joseph Bovino: Practice cultural competence


Kalinthia Dillard on managing client expectations


Jason Berger on the art of concession.

Watch previous Pro Tips

So, You Want to Become a Lawyer?

This Law School Handbook is intended to help high school and undergraduate students who are interested in going to law school or are considering law as a career. It covers what to expect on your educational path in pursuit of a law degree, as well as the career opportunities that may be open to you once you obtain your law degree.

So You Want to Become a Lawyer? Law School Handbook
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Professionalism Handbook

This handbook includes a collection of professionalism resources designed to help attorneys and students at Florida law schools learn the importance of civility and professionalism in the legal profession. This guide embodies and reflects the substance of the professional identity, personality, character, and fitness to practice law that each member of the Bar should exemplify.

Also see, Resources For Young Lawyers

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Best Practices for Remote Proceedings

This guide was produced by the Florida Bar Board Technology Committee.

Other Remote Proceedings Best Practices

Workgroup on Continuity of Court Operations and Proceedings During and After COVID-19 Best Practices: This Supreme Court workgroup has developed best practices on the following topics:

  • Facilitating Pro Se Litigants with Remote Appearance Technology
  • Representing Yourself and Using Remote Appearance Technology with the Courts
  • Management of Evidence in Remote Hearings in Civil and Family Cases
  • Out-of-County Inmates
Best Practices for Remote Court Proceedings

Legal Professionalism in the Electronic Age

With the shift to video conferencing, it is crucial to uphold the expectation of professionalism and civility within the legal profession. This guide provides some best practices and recommendations for practicing with professionalism virtually.

Best Practices for Professional Electronic Communication PDF cover
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Best Practices for Professional Electronic Communication

Lawyers use multiple forms of communication on a daily basis to diligently advocate and are in a constant state of communication with clients, opposing counsel, the court and colleagues. This guide provides best practices for the most popularly used forms of electronic communication.

Legal Professionalism in the Electronic Age guide
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Bounds of Advocacy: Goals for Family Lawyers in Florida

Developed by The Family Law SectionBounds of Advocacy is a tool to guide Florida family lawyers through the quagmire of professional and ethical dilemmas that are unique to the practice of family law. The intent is to suggest a higher level of practice than the minimum baseline of conduct required by the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar, and the goal is to elevate professionalism in the practice of family law.

Bounds of Advocacy Goals for Family Lawyers guide
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TRIAL LAWYERS SECTION GUIDELINES FOR PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

Guidelines for Professional Conduct by the Trial Lawyers Section of The Florida Bar were developed as part of a continuous effort increase the level of professionalism in trial practice in Florida.

WELL-BEING TOOLKIT FOR LAWYERS AND LEGAL EMPLOYERS

This Well-Being Toolkit, created by Anne M. Brafford for use by the American Bar Association, offers reasons for prioritizing lawyer well-being as well as information, strategies, and resources for implementing a plan for positive change.

See Resources for Students for more videos.

Pandemic-related Professionalism

American College of Trial Lawyers Videos

Code of Trial Conduct

Annotated Code of Trial Conduct: A Manual for Trial Practitioners and for Use as a Teaching Aid, published by the American College of Trial Lawyers, 2005.

Code of Pretrial and Trial Conduct, published by the American College of Trial Lawyers, June 2009.

CIVILITY INITIATIVE

The American College of Trial Lawyers Civility Initiative Project (February 2020) featuring Eugene K. Pettis, past president of The Florida Bar.

Ethics

Proposed ethics rule would bar lawyers from threatening licensed professionals

The opposing counsel didn’t give Tallahassee attorney Edwin Bayó’s client, a veterinarian, much of a choice. Accept their terms regarding a civil matter or face negative online reviews and a Board of Veterinary Medicine complaint. To Bayo, it had the whiff of extortion. “It really left a bad taste in my mouth,” he said. A…

Jiaying Jiang

Ally or enemy? When it comes to the legal profession, GPT-4 may be a little of both  

When GPT-4 – the latest version of OpenAI’s language model systems – was released in mid-March, several aspiring lawyers and law professors used it to take the bar exam. The Large Language Model chatbot passed every subject and performed better than 90% of human test takers.   This news was a bit shocking, undoubtedly, and raised numerous questions. Preparing for the bar exam, for most unassisted…

Ethics

Can you ‘Reply All’ when opposing counsel includes their client in an email?

Rule 4-4.2, Rules of Professional Conduct, provides that, in representing a client, a lawyer cannot communicate with a person the lawyer knows to be represented by another lawyer in the matter unless the other lawyer gives consent. On the Ethics Hotline, we get questions from lawyers asking if they can “reply all” when opposing counsel…

The Professional, once a triannual publication, is now a blog!

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