In Re: Amendments to Rules Regulating The Florida Bar - Rules 11-1.2 and 11-1.3

Supreme Court of Florida
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No. SC2024-0236
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IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO RULES REGULATING THE FLORIDA
BAR – RULES 11-1.2 AND 11-1.3.

August 29, 2024

PER CURIAM.

The Florida Bar has filed a petition proposing amendments to

the Rules Governing the Law School Practice Program, namely

Rules Regulating The Florida Bar 11-1.2 (Activities) and 11-1.3

(Requirements and Limitations).1

The proposed amendments were approved by The Florida Bar’s

Board of Governors, and in accordance with rule 1-12.1(g), the Bar

published formal notice of its intent to file the petition in The

Florida Bar News. The notice directed interested parties to file

comments directly with the Court. One comment was received from

1. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 15, Fla. Const.; see also
R. Regulating Fla. Bar 1-12.1.
the Florida Board of Bar Examiners in support of the proposed

amendments.

Having considered the Bar’s petition and the comment filed,

we amend the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar, as proposed by the

Bar. Among other things, the amendments to rule 11-1.2 allow a

client to orally consent to representation by a certified legal intern

on the record at a hearing. Moreover, they allow a supervising

lawyer to remotely supervise a certified legal intern in virtual

proceedings. The amendments to rule 11-1.3 streamline and

abbreviate the process for certifying legal interns. They also reduce

the number of completed semesters and credit hours required

before a law student can apply for certification as a legal intern.

Grammatical changes are also made to improve clarity and promote

consistency throughout the rules.

Accordingly, the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar are

amended as reflected in the appendix to this opinion. New

language is indicated by underscoring; deletions are indicated by

struck-through type. The amendments shall become effective

October 28, 2024.

It is so ordered.

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MUÑIZ, C.J., and CANADY, LABARGA, COURIEL, GROSSHANS,
FRANCIS, and SASSO, JJ., concur.

THE FILING OF A MOTION FOR REHEARING SHALL NOT ALTER
THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THESE AMENDMENTS.

Original Proceeding – Florida Rules Regulating The Florida Bar

Roland Sanchez-Medina, Jr., President, Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes,
President-elect, Joshua E. Doyle, Executive Director, Elizabeth
Clark Tarbert, Division Director, Lawyer Regulation, and Kelly Noel
Smith, Senior Attorney, The Florida Bar, Tallahassee, Florida,

for Petitioner

Melinda L. McNichols, Chair, Michele A. Gavagni, Executive
Director, and William Pafford, General Counsel, Florida Board of
Bar Examiners, Tallahassee, Florida,

Responding with comments

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APPENDIX

RULE 11-1.2. ACTIVITIES

(a) [No Change]

(b) Appearance in Court or Administrative Proceedings. An
eligible law student may appear in any court or before any
administrative tribunal in this state on behalf of any indigent
person if the person on whose behalf the student is appearing has
consented orally on the record or in writing to that appearance and
the supervising lawyer has approved that appearance orally on the
record or in writing. In those cases in which the indigent person
has a right to appointed counsel, the supervising lawyer must be
personally present at all critical stages of the proceeding. In all
cases, the supervising lawyer must be personally present when
required by the court or administrative tribunal, which determines
the extent of the eligible law student’s participation in the
proceeding.

(c)-(e) [No Change]

(f) Personal Appearance for Virtual Proceedings. A
supervising lawyer’s personal presence in a virtual proceeding
includes remote audio-video supervision only if the supervising
lawyer and eligible law student maintain a separate, confidential
communication channel during the proceeding.

RULE 11-1.3. REQUIREMENTS AND LIMITATIONS

In order to make an appearance under this chapter, the law
student must:

(a) registerfile a Registrant Bar Application or Florida Bar
Application with the Florida Board of Bar Examiners as a certified
legal intern registrant; pay a $75 registration fee if the registration
is filed within the first 250 days of the registrant’s law school
education or $150 if the registration is filed after the 250-day
deadline (any fee paid under this subdivision will be deducted from

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the applicable application fee if the certified legal intern registrant
later applies for admission to The Florida Bar); and receives a letter
of clearance as to character and fitness from the Florida Board of
Bar Examiners;

(b) pass a criminal fingerprint check conducted by the Florida
Board of Bar Examiners or receive a letter of clearance as to
character and fitness from the Florida Board of Bar Examiners;

(bc) be enrolled in an American Bar Association approved law
school in the United States in, and appear as part of a law school
practice program of, a law school approved by the American Bar
Association;

(cd) have completed legal studies amounting to at least 42
semesters or 63 quarters for which the student has received not
less than 4824 semester hours or 7236 quarter hours of academic
credit or the equivalent;

(de) be certified by the dean, or the dean’s designee, of the
student’s law school as being of good character and competent legal
ability and as being adequately trained to perform as a legal intern
in a law school practice program;

(ef) be introduced to the court in which the student is
appearing by a lawyer admitted to practice in that court;

(fg) neither ask for nor receive any compensation or
remuneration of any kind for the student’s services from the person
on whose behalf the student renders services; although this does
not preventexcept that a state attorney, public defender, legal aid
organization, state officer, or governmental entity from payingmay
pay compensation to the eligible law student nor does it prevent
them from chargingand charge for services as they may require; and

(gh) certify in writing that the law student has read and will
abide by the Rules of Professional Conduct as adopted by the
Supreme Court of Florida.

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