BOARD LAUNCHES BAR-WIDE REVIEW OF COMMITTEES, SECTIONS, AND DIVISIONS

The Florida Bar will undertake a comprehensive review of its committees, sections, and divisions in an effort to streamline operations, President Michael Fox Orr told the Board of Governors July 17.

Orr said the Program Evaluation Committee will develop recommendations for the board to consider this fall, with the goal of acting on proposed changes before the board's January 2027 meeting with the Florida Supreme Court.

Orr said the review reflects discussions with the court about improving the Bar's efficiency and demonstrates that the organization is willing to examine its operations.

“The PEC under Chair [Gordon] Glover's leadership is going to review all the committees and all the sections — essentially all internal operations at the Bar, and we've never done that before.”

The “aggressive” timeframe will be challenging, Orr said, but it will demonstrate the Bar’s commitment.

“Being able to go into that meeting and explain to the court that we didn't just talk about something for a year or talk about something for 2 years or create a committee that's going to talk about something for 3 years — that we've actually taken action on a number of items, and we've already progressed in various areas to become more efficient.”

Presiding over the first board meeting since his June swearing-in, Orr said he already identified potential efficiencies while vetting thousands of applicants for appointment to the Bar’s 74 committees.

Orr said the PEC will review and determine whether, "for example, some committees are operating outside of their scope, some are duplicating efforts and should be merged, or some may not be meeting their goals such that the goals should be amended or maybe we should pivot in some other way."

The board also voted to eliminate Policies Governing Continuing Legal Education Committee 2.02 (Speaker Diversity) and adopt new Standing Board Policy 5.10 governing committees, sections, and divisions.

CLE Committee Policy 2.02 stated that Bar sections, divisions, and committees should "recognize the diversity of the legal community and shall select qualified speakers who reflect that diversity."

According to a staff analysis, the policy's removal from the Policies Governing the Continuing Legal Education Committee was inadvertently overlooked during a 2024 review undertaken at the direction of the Florida Supreme Court.

The new policy states that Bar committees, sections, and divisions are subject to a policy of nondiscrimination, inclusivity, and equal opportunity, and that related activities must be focused on and titled accordingly.

Proponents of the change argued that the new policy simply addresses the oversight and conforms to Bar practices. Opponents expressed concern that the policy needed more time to be vetted.

Disposition of Frozen Trust Funds

The board unanimously approved proposed changes to Rule 3-7.12 (Disciplinary Revocation of Admission to The Florida Bar) to delay the dismissal of pending disciplinary cases following a member’s disciplinary revocation until frozen trust funds have been disposed. The Florida Supreme Court referred the issue to the Bar in March, directing the Bar to report back to the court by September 14. To meet the deadline, the board voted in favor of the Disciplinary Procedure Committee’s motion to waive the first reading and proceed to a vote. The proposed rule amendment will now be sent to the Supreme Court for its consideration.

The proposed changes separate the Bar’s response and the Supreme Court’s judgment into individual subsections, adding new language to subsection (b) Petition for Disciplinary Revocation that “[t]he petition must include a stipulation to the freezing of the petitioner's trust accounts. A copy of the petition and stipulation must be served upon the executive director of The Florida Bar.” The changes also add a new subdivision (e) Referee Authorization; Frozen Trust Funds, specifying “The referee appointed in an existing discipline case that precedes the filing of the disciplinary revocation is authorized in that matter to determine entitlement to trust funds in any frozen account under the procedures set forth in these rules, including after the disciplinary revocation has been granted,”  as well as new language exempting the automatic dismissal of pending disciplinary cases involving frozen trust funds that specifies, “Pending cases in which disposition of frozen trust funds are to be determined will be dismissed after all frozen trust funds have been disbursed.”

Member Benefit – Lua Legal

The board also voted unanimously to add Lua Legal, an AI notetaker for lawyers, to the member benefits lineup. Bar members will receive a 10% discount on basic and pro licenses. The Lua Legal benefit will move forward to the contracting process.

Lua Legal is a privilege-protecting notetaker for attorneys, providing  transcripts, summaries, and action items for phone calls, in-person meetings, and video conferences. Users can ask Lua questions, have it draft their follow-ups, manage privilege and discovery review, and control where their data lives, according to the company. Lua Legal was founded at Harvard Law School by a team of attorneys and engineers with backgrounds at Google, Amazon, McKinsey, and Salesforce.

First Amendment Rights

Rules Committee Chair Philip Bonamo said Supreme Court has called into question some of the Bar rules limiting First Amendment free speech rights of individuals, and the committee will be examining that issue going forward.

Other approved items included:

• Rule 3-7.2, Procedures on Criminal or Professional Misconduct — updated and simplified language in subdivision (f), necessitated by a prior amendment to Rule 3-5.1, and stating the respondent is "suspended from the practice of law."

• Unanimous approval of the contracts for The Florida Bar’s legislative, policy and strategic advisors, and for legislative advisors for the Business Law, Criminal Law, Elder Law, Tax, Family Law, and Worker’s Compensation sections.

• Unanimous approval for a Budget Committee request to rollover unspent fixed asset fund balances from fiscal year 2025-26 to FY2026-27 for four projects: cupola repairs; generator; Tallahassee HQ A/C air handler; front entry repairs; and annual IT computer replacement. The board also approved a rollover in unspent FTE funds allocated for job vacancies, raises, and fringe benefits.

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