Advisory Ethics Opinion to be Modified or Withdrawn by Professional Ethics Committee
The Professional Ethics Committee will consider withdrawing or modifying Florida Ethics Opinion 76-37 at its meeting from 2-5 p.m. on Friday, June 28, 2019, at the Bar’s Annual Convention at the Boca Raton Resort & Club.
The opinion concludes that a lawyer must absorb the discount when receiving payment through an approved credit plan and may receive drafts for past or future services and expenses, but any money received for future services and expenses must be kept in a trust account along with an amount, from the lawyer’s own funds, equal to the discount on the draft.
The withdrawal or modification is based on the amendments to Rule 4-1.5(h) to permit a lawyer to charge a client the actual charge a credit plan imposes on the lawyer for the client’s transaction. The withdrawal or modification is due to amendments to Rule 4-1.5(h) that allow a lawyer to charge a client the actual charge a credit plan imposes on the lawyer for the client’s transaction. In re: Amendments to the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar – Biennial Petition, (Fla. Jan. 4, 2019), Case No. SC18-1683.
Comments on the proposed committee action should be submitted to Elizabeth Clark Tarbert, Ethics Counsel, The Florida Bar, 651 E. Jefferson Street, Tallahassee 32399-2300, and must be postmarked no later than 30 days from the date of this publication.
