Background
The Florida Bar petitioned the Supreme Court of Florida to amend several Rules Regulating The Florida Bar and a Bar bylaw. The Board of Governors approved the proposals, and the Bar published them for comment. Five comments addressed the proposed amendment to rule 4-7.20, governing exemptions from advertising filing and review requirements, and the Bar responded.
The proposals addressed reinstatement to Bar membership, rule-amendment procedures, lawyer advertising, confidentiality of basic-skills proceedings, electronic filing, post-graduation supervised practice, Florida Registered Paralegals’ reporting duties, and electronic meetings and voting.
The Court’s Holding
The court adopted the Bar’s proposed amendments with minor revisions, except that it declined to adopt the proposed amendment to rule 1-12.1. Among the adopted changes, Bylaw 2-3.11 permits the Bar and specified constituent bodies to vote by email or other electronic polling in defined exigent circumstances, subject to a meeting requirement if 10% of those entitled to vote request one.
The court also exempted certain sponsored search-engine results from advertising filing requirements when they contain no images, audio, or video beyond content permitted by rule 4-7.16. It clarified the confidentiality of proceedings concerning failures to satisfy basic-skills requirements and required Florida Registered Paralegals who become ineligible for renewal to notify their employing or supervising lawyers of registration-status changes. The amendments took effect immediately. Justice Tanenbaum concurred in part and dissented in part because he would also have adopted proposed rule 1-12.1(h).
Key Takeaways
- Specified Bar entities may conduct electronic votes without a meeting only in the circumstances defined by the amended bylaw.
- Qualifying text-based sponsored search-engine results are exempt from the filing requirements applicable to lawyer advertisements.
- The court adopted the package with revisions but declined the proposed amendment to rule 1-12.1.
Why It Matters
The amendments immediately change administrative, advertising, confidentiality, supervised-practice, and registration obligations within Florida’s legal profession. Lawyers and Bar entities should review the amended text, particularly the limits on electronic voting and the conditions governing the new advertising-filing exemption.
The decision also places an affirmative notice obligation on Florida Registered Paralegals whose registrations become ineligible for renewal, requiring them to inform their employing or supervising lawyers of the resulting status change.