sunEthics
Covering legal ethics, judicial ethics, bar admissions in Florida, Tennessee, and nationally. See our Subject Index to past postings.
An insurer who paid policy benefits after being sued by insureds must pay prevailing party fees under F.S. 627.428 even though the insureds sued without demanding appraisal under the policy . . . (see more) [Added 12/4/25]
An insurer’s payment of policy benefits after the filing of suit but before service is not a confession of judgment and thus the trial court erred in awarding fees under F.S. 627.428 . . . (see more) [Added 12/1/25]
The Supreme Court issues its annual opinion addressing the need to increase or decrease the number of judgeships for fiscal year 2026-2027 . . . (see more) [Added 11/28/25]
The Third DCA reverses an order awarding fees for establishing the amount of fees owed to opposing counsel (“fees for fees”) because it is not supported by F.S. 61.16 . . . (see more) [Added 11/25/25]
A trial court properly denied a motion for fees after a rejected offer of judgment in a proceeding to enforce a lawyer’s charging lien . . . (see more) [Added 11/21/25]
The Fifth DCA rules that a party cannot appeal a fee award judgment based on lack of Rowe factual findings unless that issue was raised in a motion for rehearing . . . (see more) [Added 11/18/25]
The Florida Bar Professional Ethics Committee publishes an advisory opinion regarding lawyers’ use of listservs and online discussion groups . . . (see more) [Added 11/14/25]
While recognizing that an opposing party sometimes may raise an alleged conflict through a motion to disqualify opposing counsel, the Third DCA rules that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion . . . (see more) [Added 10/27/25]
An order prohibiting a party (who is a lawyer) to a lawsuit from representing herself and prohibiting her husband (a lawyer) from representing her is reversed . . . (see more) [Added 10/14/25]
The Supreme Court disbars, rather than suspends, a lawyer for intentional misconduct including undisclosed conflicts of interest and diverting trust funds to an entity with which he was affiliated . . . (see more) [Added 9/25/25]
The University of Florida posts the state's highest first-time taker pass rate for the July 2025 general bar examination . . . (see more) [Added 9/22/25]
The Supreme Court amends Bar rules regarding judicial referrals to the Florida Bar and the provision of the Code for Resolving Professionalism Referrals dealing with Bar referrals back to Local Professionalism Panels when no discipline or diversion was imposed . . . (see more) [Added 9/2/25]
The Fourth DCA points out that the standards for use of generative AI (artificial intelligence) in court filings apply equally to pro se litigants and lawyers . . . (see more) [Added 8/15/25]
NEW in Florida Legal Ethics . . .