sunEthics
Covering legal ethics, judicial ethics, bar admissions in Florida, Tennessee, and nationally. See our Subject Index to past postings.
The Second DCA refers a lawyer to the Florida Bar for “failure to comply with this court’s directives and the attendant delays" . . . (see more) [Added 8/14/26]
Two DCAs warn pro se litigants about the dangers of using generative AI . . . (see more) [Added 8/12/26]
An order denying disqualification of a lawyer is reversed by the Fourth DCA . . . (see more) [Added 8/5/26]
The Supreme Court holds Rule 4-8.2 unconstitutional as applied to comments about his election opponent made by a lawyer who was running for state attorney . . . (see more) [Added 8/3/26]
A prevailing party fee award that included a contingency fee multiplier is reversed where counsel disclaimed existence of a contingent fee agreement . . . (see more) [Added 7/30/26]
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]
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 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 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 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]
NEW in Florida Legal Ethics . . .