sunEthics
Covering legal ethics, judicial ethics, bar admissions in Florida, Tennessee, and nationally. See our Subject Index to past postings.
A court did not abuse its discretion in denying a post-trial motion to interview a juror . . . (see more) [Added 7/14/26]
The Supreme Court sentences a nonlawyer to 5 months in jail, suspended pending completion of probation, for engaging in the unlicensed practice of law . . . (see more) [Added 7/10/26]
Failure to renew an offer of counsel to a self-represented defendant prior to sentencing is reversible error even though the defendant faces a mandatory life sentence . . . (see more) [Added 7/9/26]
Exercising its conflict jurisdiction, the Supreme Court strictly construes rule 1.442(c)(3) in holding a married couple’s proposal to settle their single, unified breach of contract claim invalid for failing to apportion it between the plaintiff spouses . . . (see more) [Added 7/6/26]
The Supreme Court amends Rule 5-1.1 to require participating financial institutions to pay a specified rate of interest on IOTA trust accounts . . . (see more) [Added 7/2/26]
The Third DCA affirms an award of trial and appellate fees for litigation on a prejudgment writ of garnishment under section 57.105(7) but reverses the award of a 1.5 contingency risk multiplier . . . (see more) [Added 6/25/26]
The Third DCA rules that a murder defendant with privately retained counsel cannot obtain a court-appointed second lawyer, but certifies the question to the Supreme Court . . . (see more) [Added 6/22/26]
Misadvice of counsel created a “manifest injustice” rendering a criminal defendant’s plea involuntary and necessitating its withdrawal . . . (see more) [Added 6/17/26]
In an unusual step, the Supreme Court rejects a referee’s recommendation of a 30-day suspension and instead reprimands a lawyer who pleaded guilty to a Georgia felony that was later discharged under that state’s First Offender Act . . . (see more) [Added 6/15/26]
A pro se litigant’s misuse of “AI-hallucinated arguments” in 2 cases results in the Fourth DCA ordering rejection of the litigant’s future filings unless they are signed by a Florida Bar member . . . (see more) [Added 6/10/26]
An award of “fees for fees” is reversed because neither the contractual provision nor the applicable statutes were broad enough to permit it . . . (see more) [Added 6/8/26]
The disqualification of a former judge from a case over which he had presided for a time period is imputed to the law firm that hired him due to failure to comply with Rule 4-1.12 . . . (see more) [Added 6/4/26]
The Supreme Court amends the Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration to address AI-generated citations to “hallucinated” authorities . . . (see more) [Added 6/1/26]
The Fourth DCA refers 2 more lawyers to the Bar for apparent AI-related misconduct concerning false legal and factual references . . . (see more) [Added 5/28/26]
The Second DCA writes to “sound the alarm” on the dangers of using AI in legal filings, but declines to sanction a pro se litigant whose briefs contained numerous hallucinations . . . (see more) [Added 5/18/26]
The Supreme Court amends various Bar rules, including changes to terminology relating to “substance use" . . . (see more) [Added 5/9/26]
Florida State University leads the way in first-time taker pass rate for the February 2026 general bar examination . . . (see more) [Added 4/13/26]
The Supreme Court amends the Florida Bar Professionalism Expectations in several respects . . . (see more) [Added 3/20/26]
The ABA will no longer be the sole law school accrediting agency for eligibility to sit for the Florida Bar exam, per the Florida Supreme Court . . . (see more) [Added 1/16/26]
The Supreme Court amends Rule 4-8.6 concerning entities authorized to engage in law practice in Florida and nonlawyers holding certain positions or titles in law firms . . . (see more) [Added 12/22/25]
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]
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]
NEW in Florida Legal Ethics . . .