Bar association
The Florida Bar |
| Formation | April 1950 |
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| Type | Lawyer Regulation |
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| Headquarters | 651 East Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, Florida |
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| Location | |
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Membership | 110,000+[1] |
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President | F. Scott Westheimer [2] |
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Key people | 52-member Board of Governors |
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| Website | floridabar.org |
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The Florida Bar is the integrated bar association for the state of Florida. It is the third largest such bar in the United States.[3] Its duties include the regulation and discipline of attorneys and the governance of Florida Registered Paralegals.[4]
As elsewhere in the United States, persons seeking admission to the bar must pass a moral character screening, in this case administered by the Florida Board of Bar Examiners. Admission to the Bar includes passing a background investigation, the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination, and the bar exam, which tests both the common law through the Multistate Bar Examination[3] and Florida law through written state essays and state-specific multiple-choice questions.
The Florida Bar's headquarters building and annex are located in Tallahassee, three blocks from the Florida State Capitol. It operates under the terms of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar.[5]
History
In 1889 the first, small, voluntary group of lawyers formed in Florida.[6] This developed into the Florida State Bar Association in 1907. This remained a voluntary organization, publishing a legal journal, drafting court procedures, and presenting occasional educational courses for lawyers. Its membership never exceeded a few thousand.
As the number of lawyers rose after World War I, joining the Florida State Bar Association was proposed as a prerequisite to create a line of communication within the profession and introduce a mechanism for disciplining unethical lawyers. However, the Florida Supreme Court did not approve such a resolution until 1949.
In April 1950, the Florida State Bar Association met for the last time. The name was shortened to "The Florida Bar" and the state's 3,758 lawyers automatically became members. Its first president was Richard H. Hunt of Miami.
In 1989, The Florida Bar went to the U.S. Supreme Court to defend restrictions on attorney advertising. The court found in favor of the narrowly tailored rules in Florida Bar v. Went For It, Inc..
In January 2024, The Florida Bar issued ethics guidelines for attorney use of artificial intelligence (AI), as did the State Bar of California in November 2024.[7]
