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![handle is hein.barjournals/flabn0003 and id is 1 raw text is: VOL 3, W~ I
- ~ 4070
Committee
Asked To
Study Advertising
A special committee to study
advertising by lawyers has been
named by Bar President J. Rex
Farrior, Jr. Chairman Raymond
Royce, West Palm Beach, convened
the committee on December 18 to
respond to a request by the American
Bar Association for The Florida Bar's
position regarding the elimination of
the ban on lawyer advertising.
Royce attended a hearing the ABA
held in Chicago on December 6 to
prepare a tentative draft amendment
to the Code of Professional
Responsibility. The Florida Bar was
asked to submit its recommendations
for the amendment to the ABA by
January 15.
Appointed to the special committee
with Royc2 were Samuel Smith,
Miami Beach; L. DavidShear, Tampa;
Leonard H. Gilbert, Tampa; William
C. Grimes, Bradenton; Michael J.
Herron, Miami Beach.
Elimination of the ban on lawyer
advertising as a means to improve
delivery of legal services to the public
is reflected in a tentative draft
released last month by a committee of
the American Bar Association.
Emphasizing that the drafthas been
released to stimulate discussion
among lawyers and the public, the
ABA Standing Committee on Ethics
and Professional Responsibility has
proposed amendments of the Code of
Professional Responsibility to remove
all restrictions against advertising,
except any public communication
containing a false, fraudulent,
misleading, deceptive or unfair
statement or claim.The amendments
would not affect the code's
prohibitions against lawyers soliciting
business on a one-to-one basis.
The amendments were submitted
by committee chairman Lewis H. Van
Dusen, Jr., Philadelphia, during an
ABA national conference on lawyer
advertising.
Van Dusen said his committee,
which held two public hearings on the
subject, was soliciting further
comments from the bar and the
public, and would make a further
evaluation before submitting its
formal proposal to the ABA's
policymaking House of Delegates.
The House will probably consider the
matter at its midyear meeting,
February 16-17, in Philadelphia.
Under the suggested changes,
lawyers also would be allowed to state
that they limit their practice to a
particular area or field of law, or that
they concentrate their practice in one
or more areas.
A third change would allow lawyers
who are also certified public
accountants to publicly identify
themselves as such and to practice law
and accounting in the same office.
Florida Lawyers May Offer
Clients Credit Card Charging
Florida lawyers may now offer their
clients an opportunity to cha ge cost
- of legal services and proceedings on
American Express credit cards.
The Supreme Court of Florida on
December 4 approved a contract
form submitted by the company as a
convenience to those members of the
public who are unable to absorb
immediate cash costs of legal services.
Panelists discussing gag orders at a Meoia-Law Conference last month in Tampa are (I- The Supreme Court order provides
r): Circuit :edge hobert E. Beach, Sixth Circuit, chairman of the Bar Public Relations that all legal fees may be charged
Committee; Judge Paul Rrvy, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; Bar President J. except contingent fees and fees
Rex Farrior, Jr.. panel mocroator: Jack Nelson. bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times relating to bankruptcy proceedings.
and Robert Stiff, president of the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. Lawyers may obtain copies of the
contract form from Staff Counsel,
- The Florida Bar, as prepared by
American Express. They may display
in their offices a small card furnished
by American Express indicating that
such credit card use is welcome and
may answer specific inquiries from
clients or prospective clients
'A concerning their participation in the
T credit card service.
-- No other form of advertising or
announcements of their participation
t in the American Express card service
.is sanctioned by the court.
Women and Law
___ I' ~ .Conference Set
Asking a question from the audience at the Media-Law Conference, which was presented
for members of the Bar and news media December 13, is Derrick A. Janise from WSUN The Fourth Southeastern
Radio. Over 100 lawyers, judges and newsmen attended the conference to gain a better Conference on Women and the Law is
understanding of mutual problems. being held January 16-18 in
Gainesville. The Law Association for
Flurry of Applicants Initiates ~'Women at the Holland Law Center,
University of Florida, is sponsoring
Designation of Practice Plan the conference for students, attomeys
By Ellen Bradford
More than 2,000 completed
designation applications have been
returned to The Florida Bar Center
since the designation materials were
mailed to some 14,000 in-state lawyers
at the end of November. Several
applications have been requested by
Bar members residing in other states.
The response is about what was
expected by this time, Peter J.
Fannon, assistant director, programs,
said.
The greatest area of concern for
most applicants so far has been the
yellow page deadline in different
areas of the state. Priority is being
given to applications from areas with
earliest telephone directory deadlines.
Phone companies have been
advised of the proper format to use for
attorneys to list their designations in
the yellow pages, says Fannon. This
format permits attorneys to list their
areas of designation after their names
in the alphabetical listing in the yellow
pages. It also permits attorneys to list
their names under the approved
categorical headings [areas of
designation] in the yellow pages.
Since the forms were mailed out,
somse lawyers, confronted with
immediate yellow page deadlines,
wished to have waiver requests
approved before listing with the
yellow pages. The Designation
Coordinating Committee must pass
on all waiver requests in accordance
with present procedure, and lawyers
have been advised that waiver
requests will take four to five weeks
for action.
Some lawyers not pressed by
yellow page deadlines are adopting a
wait-and-see attitude, Fannon feels.
However, it should be noted that in
the 1975 Bar survey there was strong
indication that a majority of the
attorneys in Florida would be
designating, even though all these
designations may not appear in the
Bar offices until the end of the year,
Fannon says.
Only small problems have occurred
so far, and Judy Baldwin, designation
coordinator for the Designation Plan,
says she feels they stem simply from a
misinterpretation of directions on the
forms. Some lawyers are requesting to
designate in four areas instead of
three; some fail to send the $30 fee;
some fail to sign the forms or checks
All such oversights slow down the
approval process.
business professions throughout the
Southeast.
Women in Politics is the theme of
this year's conference. U.S.
Congresswoman Pat Schroeder of
Colorado will be the keynote speaker.
Individual workshops will address the
problem of electing women to
political office and of taking action on
specific political issues.
This part of the conference vill
culminate in a major legislative
workshop led by Representative
Elaine Gordon. Oneof the majorgoals
of this workshop is to draw up
platform proposals to be submitted to
the delegates to the national
conventions.
A series of seminars in areas relating
to women in the legal professions will
be offered.
The conference will provide an
opportunity for direct personal
contact between law students,
practicing attorneys, and leading
political figures. For additional
information and registration forms
write to the Law Association for
Women, Holland Law Center,
University of Florida, Gaine 'lle,
Florida 32611.
Each lawyer entering into an
agreement with American Express
must file an executed copy with The
Florida Bar.
The December implementing order
of the Supreme Court specifically
approved American Express's
contract form. The Bar expects
additional credit card companies to
submit contract forms for approval by
the Supreme Court in the near future.
The court's implementing order
gave final approval to a proposal
under study by the legal profession for
several years. Ethics opinions
rendered in 1970 and 1973 rejected the
concept based upon the old Canons of
Ethics or the Professional Ethics
Committee's interpretation of newer
Ethical Considerations in the Code of
Professional Responsibility.
The Florida Bar petitioned the
Supreme Court to amend portions of
the Code on December 11, 1974,
having concluded that propely
regulated and ethically supervised
credit plans are a service to a large
segment of middle-class persons who,
in aidition to being caught in inflation
and the normal cash-flow squeeze, are
not financially able to absorb the
immediate cash costs of most legal
matters, and who are also ineligible
for free legal aid.
The Supreme Court on July 10,
1975, adopted amendments to Ethical
Consideration 2-16 and Disciplinary
Rules 2-1112, 2-106,3-102,4-101,5-103,
5-108 and 9-102 to sanction credit card
use for legal services.
Boards of Govemors
Plan Joint Meeting
Jan. 16-17, Talahassee
A joint meeting of The Florida Bar
Board of Governors and the Young
Lawyers Section Board of Governors
will beheld in Tallahassee, January16
and 17. Scheduled in the Senate
Chambers in the Capitol, the session
will be concerned with legislative
involvement by The Florida Bar
during 1976.
The key function of the joint
meeting will be to discuss programs to
be initiated by the Bar to keep
practicing lawyers informed of
pending legislation and to ensure that
their positions are fairly heard by the
legislators prior to the enactment of
any new laws. The two Boards will
also meet separately, with the YLS
Board holding the remainder of its
meeting in the Senate Office Building.
YLS President A. Lamar Matthews,
Jr., asks that any suggestions,
comments, or agenda requests from
members of the Young Lawyers
Section be forwarded to him at P.O.
Box 3254, Sarasota, FL 33578, and to
YLS Secretary Richard Langford,
P.O. Box 964, Bartow, FL 338.30.
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