In re Amendments to Rules Regulating The Florida Bar—Discipline Rules

Summary

The Supreme Court of Florida adopts amendments to the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar and the Code for Resolving Professionalism Referrals, with a minor modification concerning judicial referrals. The amendments address emergency suspension and interim probation, publication of discipline, briefing deadlines, judicial referrals, arbitration proceedings, paralegal eligibility, and professionalism referrals, and take effect October 27, 2025.

Holdings

1. The Supreme Court of Florida adopted the Florida Bar's proposed amendments, with a minor modification to the judicial-referral provision.
2. The amended rules establish procedures permitting a lawyer to move to dissolve or amend an emergency-suspension or interim-probation order, subject to successive-motion restrictions, expedited referee proceedings, and specified standards concerning the Bar's likelihood of prevailing and protection of the public.
3. The amended rule extends the deadlines for answer, reply, and cross-reply briefs in disciplinary review proceedings from 20 days to 30 days after service of the relevant opposing brief.
4. A judicial referral may not address allegations concerning violations of canons, rules, or law relating to judicial elections, and the referring judge must have obtained the information about the lawyer's conduct during the judge's official judicial duties.
5. A person currently on the inactive list due to incapacity is ineligible for registration or renewal as a Florida Registered Paralegal.
6. The Bar must refer back to the appropriate Local Professionalism Panel for informal handling conduct referred by that panel when the conduct does not result in disciplinary proceedings or diversion to a practice and professionalism program in lieu of discipline, but the Bar determines formal prosecution is not warranted.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Supreme Court of Florida should adopt the Florida Bar's proposed amendments to the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar and the Code for Resolving Professionalism Referrals.
2. Whether the proposed judicial-referral provision should be modified to require that the referring judge obtained the information during the judge's official judicial duties.

Disposition

approved