Board hears Judicial Management Council’s plan for streamlining civil cases and a professionalism enhancement update
Mike Tanner
At a December 3 meeting on Amelia Island, the Board of Governors received presentations on a sweeping Judicial Management Council proposal to speed the resolution of civil cases, and a special committee’s final roadmap for enhancing professionalism in the practice of law.
President Michael Tanner named professionalism one of his top priorities when he was sworn into office in June.
“We are going to make a difference with this,” Tanner said after a presentation by the Special Committee for the Review of Professionalism in Florida. “We are going to be making proposals to the Supreme Court that we think will move the needle.”
The board also weighed a series of proposed rule amendments, including a Family Law Rules Committee proposal that would, under certain circumstances, allow divorcing parties to avoid publicly disclosing their financial affidavits.
And after some members expressed a concern about the possibility of raising a deeply divisive issue, the board voted to reject an Animal Law Section legislative position to ban retail pet sales.
Second Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Robert Morris, who chairs the Workgroup on Improved Resolution of Civil Cases, said the Supreme Court will soon be weighing a 184-page report that recommends major changes to the way Florida resolves some 2 million civil cases a year. (See Bar News story here.)
“People don’t like change,” Judge Morris said. “This is a major paradigm shift.”
Judge Morris urged board members to study the report carefully and to notify their constituents to begin preparing to respond during the anticipated public comment period.
Professionalism
President-elect Gary Lesser said he expects the Special Committee for the Review of Professionalism in Florida to present final recommendations to the board in March.
Lesser, a West Palm Beach attorney, co-chairs the committee with Stuart attorney Elizabeth Hunter, who also chairs the Standing Committee on Professionalism.
The 20-member panel has been meeting regularly since Tanner ordered it to conduct a comprehensive review and recommend ways to improve the definition, education, and enforcement of professionalism.
Lesser said co-chairing the committee has been his most challenging assignment in years of board service.
“It’s been a heavy lift, so far,” Lesser said.
The committee is considering proposals that range from new Florida Bar-produced CLE and a new professionalism resource website, to protocols that would make the state’s local professionalism panels function more uniformly.
“The word is deliverables,” Lesser said. “Professionalism needs to be front and center at all times, because we know it defines who we are as lawyers.”
Family Law Rules
The board voted to recommend approval of a Family Law Rules Committee proposal that, under certain circumstances, would allow divorcing parties to waive the filing of financial affidavits.
The committee proposed the amendments over the objection of the Family Law Section, said Cory Brandfon, who headed a Family Law Rule Committee panel that developed the proposal. The proposal has been under consideration for three years, Brandfon said.
“This is about privacy and self-determination,” Brandfon said. “This is something that has been on everybody’s radar for some time.”
Animal Law Section
The board also voted not to approve an Animal Law Section legislative position to ban the retail sale of pets.
Legislation Committee Chair Sandra Diamond said some committee members were concerned about the potential for raising a “deeply divisive issue.”
Diamond noted that the ban was designed to target pet stores and would not include “a person who sells or offers for sale directly to the public only animals that the person bred or raised.”
Some board members said they failed to see the controversy.
“I’m not seeing this as being divisive,” said board member Wayne Smith. “We should not confuse passion for divisiveness.”
Member Benefits
In other action, the board approved two additions to The Florida Bar Member Benefits Program, which should become available in the first quarter of 2022:
- Discounted access to YMCA programs statewide at 123 sites, including the waiving of a $100 joining fee and 10% savings on monthly membership fees at participating locations. The benefit was proposed by the Mental Health and Wellness of Florida Lawyers Committee.
- Tracers, a legal search engine. Florida Bar members would receive a 10% discount that applies to both one-time search purchases and subscription fees. The company would offer the Bar a 5% revenue share on a bi-annual basis for an agreement upon term for all purchases made within the previous term by law firms that have signed up through the Tracers and Bar dedicated landing page, or with a unique promotional code.
