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17 Fla. B. News 1 (1990)

handle is hein.barjournals/flabn0017 and id is 1 raw text is: 98 gon_ see , dog o 8 2 January 1, 1990 Vol. 17, No. 1 IjIB ©pampogno©fferig The south side of the- Florida Supreme Court building, with the state Capitol in the background, shows s6Ae of the signs of the building's expansion. 7he older part at the front of the building still has its white paint. But the newer addition at the rear is still awaiting its coating, even though some of the offices inside are occupied. More pictures of the work are on page 10. 1 0: The y ear in review By Gary Blankenship Assoiwe' Editor From advertising rules to lobbying, from Florida Medical Association clallenges to IOTA, and from guardianship to disputes with the Internal Revenue Service, 1989 was a busy year for The Florida Bar. The Bar Board of Governors proposed Lawyers wanting to be involved in the work of The Florida Bar have until January 26 to return their committee preference forms. The 1990-91 Committee Preference Form, which invites members of the Bar to list the committees they would like to serve on during the administration of President James Fox Miller, were distributed to Bar members in the December 15 issue of The Florida Bar News. Miller has indicated that no one will be appointed to more than one committee, and preference will be given to new appointees, except for committee chairmanships. Present committee members whose terms expire in 1990 must complete the form to be considered for reappointment. Terms are listed in the September directory issue of the lournal on pages 423-438. Persons whose terms have not expired and who have been active participants will be reap- pointed. However, Miller asks that they, too, return a form so he knows if they desire to continue. Miller cautioned those committee roem- hers who have not fully participated in the past or have a record of habitual absentee- ism that they will be replaced, even if their terms have not ended. A waiting list will also bc established to replace members who regularly miss meetings during the year. Miller will be in Tallahassee for at least three days a week beginning February 28, to review committee appointnents. He said the process should be completed by April 6. controversial rules regulating lawyer adver- tising that garnered challenges not only from within the Bar, but from an advertiser association as well. The legislature over- hauled guardianship laws and repercussions are still being felt. The Bar's lobbying authority was a popu- lar topic, popping up before tire Florida Supreme Court, the I Ith U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and in an amicus brief at the U.S. Supreme Court. It was a year when some issues got re- solved, some fresh ones arose, and others continued through the year, awaiting reso- lution sometime in the 90's. Here are some of the topics that occupied the Bar during 1989. Advertising The Bar studied how its own ads were affecting public opinion, but the big adver- tising fight came over proposed new rules. A Young Lawyers Division study showed widespread ambiguities and misleading state- ments in lawyer ads and tire Bar's Special Commission on Advertising and Solicita- tions also found abuses. The commission recommended tough new regulations and in July the Board of Gover- nors agreed and sent them to the Supreme Court. The proposed rules would ban anyone but the lawyer from appearing in an ad, ban dramatizations, prohibit targeted mail- ings for personal injury or wrongful death cases, and restrict fictional names used to get a lawyer better placement in Yellow Pages advertising. The rules would also require a review of most ads and all solicita- tion letters by a Bar committee, and require many ads to carry a written disclaimer that advertising alone is not the best way to choose an attorney. Opponents said there was insufficient evi- dence of abuse to warrant the tough restric- tions and that tie rules infringed on free speech rights. The American Association of Advertising (Please see 1989, page 8) By Gary Blankenship Asmoiiate Editor If trial judges must recuse themselves when lawyers before them have been campaign contributors, then attorneys could avoid certain judges by making campaign contri- butions and qualified judges might find it hard to raise campaign funds. It would also lead to an administrative nightmare in assigning cases, according to The Florida Bar, which is arguing all those points before the Florida Supreme Court. The Bar has filed an amicus curiae brief in an appeal pending at the court involving I lth Circuit Court Judge Mary Ann MacKenzie. The Third District Court of Appeal has ruled that Judge MacKenzie should have recused herself in two cases involving an attorney who made a $500 contribution to her husband's unsuccessful circuit court race, SC 74,800. THE REAL question, though, according to the Bar's and other briefs, is whether judges should remove themselves from cases where the attorneys or the parties have made contributions either to them, or to election opponents. The Bar has also asked to participate in oral arguments in the case. No date for oral arguments had been set as of early Decem- ber. The Bar's brief notes that lawyers are encouraged to participate in judicial elec- tions and make donations, and that lawyers have a great interest in electing qualified judges. Further, the legislature has capped donations to trial court judges at $1,000, and that would be presumed to be a legisla- tive finding that such a donation does not pose a conflict of interest for a judge, the Bar said. But the Third DCA's ruling, 14 FLW 223, changed that. Lawyers would now effectively have an absolute veto over judges. By the simple device of contributing $500 each, a lawyer can remove all judges consid- ered by the lawyer to be undesirable from sitting on the cases in which the lawyer (or presumably another member of the firm) is involved, the Bar argued. Conversely, a lawyer would be able to veto any judge who received a contribution of $500 or more from the opposing counsel (or presumably the opposing counsel's law firm). (Please sete MacKenzie, page 4) FLM IC has, od first year By Gary Blankenship ,tssmhi aw Editor With its first year's operations over, the Florida Lawyers Mutual Insurance Com- pany is gearing up to renew its policies January I and sign up more attorneys for insurance coverage. Gene Young. vice president for under- writing for FLMIC, said almost 800 lawyers bought insurance from The Florida Bar- created company since January I, 1989, when it started writing policies. In 1989, the company took in around $1.5 million in premiums, and paid out one claim for $8,500, Young said. The extra went to defray operating costs and into required reserves. It's anticipated the company will show an underwriting profit for the first year, Young noted. WITH THE new year will come a change in policy requirements. At tile start, Young said, the company required policyholders to buy three surplus certificates in most areas of Florida, or four if they lived in Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach counties. Each certificate costs $500, and the money goes to build up reserves. As of January I, that will go up to five certificates in Broward, Dade and Palm Beach, and four in the rest of the state. Young said the certificates do not provide insurance, but merely qualify the buyer to purchase FLMIC's coverage. In June, the company's board decided that lawyers could qualify for coverage if they bought only one certificate, but agreed to buy the others before the end of the year. (If you receive this issue of the News before January I, you can still get the lower certifi- cate rate. FLMIC will close December 29 at 5 p.m.) Besides the one-time cost of buying the certificates, the average policy has been running $2,500 to $3,000 per attorney, Young said. The certificates can pay up to five percent annual interest, but only at the discretion of the board and if tlie company has enough money in its reserves. FILMIC did not pay any interest in its first year. The company can also refund the certificates when its reserves meet certain state-required mini- norris. . All policies end in ,lauuary. Attorneys who sign op for coverage alter ,lanuary have their rates prorated for the remainder of the calendar year. EVEN LAWYERS who chose otler in- srance benefitted from the company. according to Young. The lawyers who are still insured with other commercial carriers should be thank- BEST COPY AVAILABLE ful for us because I think our presence in the market is seen as a competitive threat. lie said. Consequently, some other carriers have cut premiums to tile bones, Young said. When the Bar began forming FLMIC in 1985, there was a hard insurance market, Young said. Companies were dropping coy-' erage for lawyers and leaving tile state Many attorneys were seeing premiums-- when they could find coverage-double and triple. In the past year or so, the crisis has eased, more companies have begun selling cover- age, and some have cut rates, Young noted. Despite that, lie's confident FLMIC has gotten off to a good start and will eventu- ally insure the majority of insured attorneys in Florida. We're not always the cheapest policy, and we don't want to be the cheapest, Young said. Our policy gives the broadest coverage of any policy available in tie state. Our intent is to be here all the time, for the soft markets and tile hard markets. And lie does see signs the insurance mar- ket will begin to tighten and rates increase for commercial companies. Much of that comes as the insurance industry adjusts rates in property coverage to make up for losses from Hurricane Hugo and the San Francisco earthquake. The changes will likely affect other lines of insurance, lie said. We haven't felt it yet, but the ripples are (Please see FLMIC, page 4) 'Ioo. S Cr0& 0 i I.n- 0, = C 00 a: C), --J M 0. , M . L

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