In Re: Amendments to Rule Regulating the Florida Bar 4-7.19
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
Supreme Court of Florida ____________ No. SC21-775 ____________ IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO RULE REGULATING THE FLORIDA BAR 4-7.19. September 9, 2021 PER CURIAM. This matter is before the Court for consideration of proposed amendments to Rule Regulating the Florida Bar (rule) 4-7.19 (Evaluation of Advertisements). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 15, Fla. Const.; R. Regulating Fla. Bar 1-12.1. The Florida Bar filed a petition proposing amendments to rule 4-7.19. Prior to filing the petition, the Bar published notice of its intent to file the proposed amendments, but no comments were received. Having considered the Bar’s petition, we adopt the amendments to rule 4-7.19 as proposed by the Bar. Subdivision (a) is amended to allow the Bar to post on the Bar website the location for submission of advertisements for review. This change from requiring advertisements be filed at the Bar’s headquarters address in Tallahassee to designating the submission requirements on the Bar’s website will allow the Bar to implement procedures for online submission of advertisements. Additionally, we adopt the proposed grammatical changes, which simplify the language of the rule. Accordingly, we amend the Rules Regulating the Florida Bar as reflected in the appendix to this opinion. New language is indicated by underscoring; deletions are indicated by struckthrough type. The amendments shall become effective immediately. It is so ordered. CANADY, C.J., and POLSTON, LABARGA, LAWSON, MUÑIZ, COURIEL, and GROSSHANS, 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 Joshua E. Doyle, Executive Director, Michael G. Tanner, President, Gary S. Lesser, President-elect, and Elizabeth Clark Tarbert, Ethics Counsel, The Florida Bar, Tallahassee, Florida, for Petitioners -2- APPENDIX BAR RULE 4-7.19. EVALUATION OF ADVERTISEMENTS (a) Filing Requirements. Subject to the exemptions stated in rule 4-7.20, any lawyer who advertises services shallmust file with The Florida Bar a copy of each advertisement at least 20 days prior to the lawyer’s first dissemination of the advertisement. The advertisement must be filed atwith The Florida Bar headquarters address in Tallahasseein the manner specified by The Florida Bar as posted on its website. (b) Evaluation by The Florida Bar. The Florida Bar will evaluate all advertisements filed with it pursuant tounder this rule for compliance with the appliable provisions set forth in rule 4-7.11 through 4-7.15 and 4-7.18(b)(2). If The Florida Bar does not send any communication to the filer within 15 days of receipt by The Florida Bar of a complete filing, or within 15 days of receipt by The Florida Bar of additional information when requested within the initial 15 days, the lawyer will not be subject to discipline by The Florida Bar, except if The Florida Bar subsequentlylater notifies the lawyer of noncompliance, the lawyer may be subject to discipline for dissemination of the advertisement after the notice of noncompliance. (c) [No Change] (d) Opinions on Exempt Advertisements. A lawyer may obtain an advisory opinion concerning the compliance of an existing or contemplated advertisement intended to be used by the lawyer seeking the advisory opinion that is not required to be filed for review by submitting the material and fee specified in subdivision (h) of this rule to The Florida Bar, except that a lawyer may not file an entire website for review. Instead, a lawyer may obtain an advisory opinion concerning the compliance of a specific page, provision, statement, illustration, or photograph on a website. (e) [No Change] -3- (f) Notice of Compliance and Disciplinary Action. A finding of compliance by The Florida Bar will be binding on The Florida Bar in a grievance proceeding unless the advertisement contains a misrepresentation that is not apparent from the face of the advertisement. The Florida Bar has a right to change its finding of compliance and, in suchthose circumstances, must notify the lawyer of the finding of noncompliance, after which the lawyer may be subject to discipline for continuing to disseminate the advertisement. A lawyer will be subject to discipline as provided in these rules for: (1) failurefailing to timely file the advertisement with The Florida Bar; (2) dissemination ofdisseminating a noncompliant advertisement in the absence of a finding of compliance by The Florida Bar; (3) filing of an advertisement that contains a misrepresentation that is not apparent from the face of the advertisement; (4) dissemination ofdisseminating an advertisement for which the lawyer has a finding of compliance by The Florida Bar more than 30 days after the lawyer has been notified that The Florida Bar has determined that the advertisement does not comply with this subchapter; or (5) dissemination ofdisseminating portions of a lawyer’s Internet website(s) that are not incompliance with rules 4-7.14 and 4-7.15 only after 15 days have elapsed since the date of The Florida Bar’s notice of noncompliance sent to the lawyer’s official bar address. (g) Notice of Noncompliance. If The Florida Bar determines that an advertisement is not in compliancedoes not comply with the appliable rules, The Florida Bar will advise the lawyer that dissemination or continued dissemination of the advertisement may result in professional discipline. -4- (h) Contents of Filing. A filing with The Florida Bar as required or permitted by subdivision (a)this rule must include: (1) a copy of the advertisement in the form or forms in which it is to be disseminated, whichthat is readily capable of duplication by The Florida Bar (e.g., video, audio, print media, photographs of outdoor advertising); (2) – (7) [No Change] (8) a fee paid to The Florida Bar, in an amount of $150 for each advertisement timely filed as provided in subdivision (a)this rule, or $250 for each advertisement not timely filed. This fee, which will be used to offset the cost of evaluation and review of advertisements submitted under these rules and the cost of enforcing these rules; and (9) [No Change] (i) Change of Circumstances; Refiling Requirement. If a change of circumstances occurs subsequent toafter The Florida Bar’s evaluation of evaluates an advertisement that raises a substantial possibility that the advertisement has become false or misleading as a result of the change in circumstances, the lawyer must promptly re-file the advertisement or a modified advertisement with The Florida Bar at its headquarters address in Tallahasseein the manner specified by The Florida Bar as posted on its website along with an explanation of the change in circumstances and an additional fee set by the Board of Governors, which will not exceed $100. (j) Maintaining Copies of Advertisements. A copy or recording of an advertisement must be submitted to The Florida Bar in accordance with the requirements ofunder this rule, and the lawyer must retain a copy or recording for 3 years after its last dissemination, along with a record of when and where it was used. If identical advertisements are sent to 2 or more prospective clients, the lawyer may comply with this requirement by filing 1 of the -5- identical advertisements and retaining for 3 years a single copy, together with a list of the names and addresses of persons to whom the advertisement was sent. Comment All advertisements must be filed for review pursuant tounder this rule, unless the advertisement is exempt from filing under rule 4-7.20. Even when an advertisement is exempt from filing under rule 4-7.20, a lawyer who wishes to obtain a safe harbor from discipline canmay submit the lawyer’s advertisement that is exempt from the filing requirement and obtain The Florida Bar’s opinion prior tobefore disseminating the advertisement. A lawyer who files an advertisement and obtains a notice of compliance is therefore immune from grievance liability, unless the advertisement contains a misrepresentation that is not apparent from the face of the advertisement. Subdivision (d) of this rule precludes a lawyer from filing an entire website as an advertising submission, but a lawyer may submit a specific page, provision, statement, illustration, or photograph on a website. A lawyer who wishes to be able to rely on The Florida Bar’s opinion as demonstrating the lawyer’s good faith effort to comply with these rules has the responsibility of supplying The Florida Bar with all information materialnecessary to a determination ofdetermine whether an advertisement is false or misleading. -6-
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
