sunEthics
Covering legal ethics, judicial ethics, bar admissions in Florida, Tennessee, and nationally. See our Subject Index to past postings.
Remember those
who gave their all.
A trial court erred in denying litigants prevailing party status on the ground that they recovered only 18% of what they sought . . . (see more) [Added 5/20/26]
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]
A self-represented defendant’s conviction for violation of probation is affirmed but remanded for resentencing because the court did not renew the offer of counsel prior to the sentencing hearing . . . (see more) [Added 5/13/26]
The Supreme Court amends various Bar rules, including changes to terminology relating to “substance use" . . . (see more) [Added 5/9/26]
A trial court erred in requiring an insured’s former lawyer to testify in a first-party bad faith action over privilege and work product objections . . . (see more) [Added 5/5/26]
The Sixth DCA orders a lawyer to show cause why she should not be sanctioned and referred to the Bar for filing a petition containing apparently AI-generated false citations . . . (see more) [Added 4/30/26]
A trial court abused its discretion in prohibiting a key witness’s testimony at a lawyer disqualification hearing . . . (see more) [Added 4/28/26]
The Third DCA “examines the tension between a client’s right to discharge counsel and a referral attorney’s right to be paid under a signed representation agreement" . . . (see more) [Added 4/24/26]
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 Fourth DCA affirms the refusal to allow assertion of a charging lien against a non-party bank that had no interest or participation in the underlying action . . . (see more) [Added 4/3/26]
Breaking with other DCAs, the Sixth DCA rules that trial courts need not always conduct an evidentiary hearing or receive expert testimony on the reasonableness of attorneys’ fees before granting a fee award pursuant to an applicable statute, rule, or contractual provision . . . (see more) [Added 3/24/26]
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 . . .