Annual Reports of Florida Bar committees.

Admiralty Law

The Admiralty Law Committee serves as an active forum for discussion of current issues in admiralty and maritime law. Some of the issues discussed in committee meetings this year included the federal salvors' license statute, uniformity in local admiralty rules for civil procedure, and problems of keeping vessel arrest papers confidential under the court's electronic filing system. New cases, statutes, and regulations were mentioned at each meeting. Reports of activities at other maritime law organizations, such as the Southeast Admiralty Law Institute, the Maritime Law Association, The Mariners Club, and The Marine Council, were also presented.

Each committee meeting included CLE courses, with Dr. Richard Brown discussing human resource factors in maritime accidents and Stephen Darmody presenting maritime environmental issues in the Fall meeting. At the Midyear Meeting, Capt. Alan Richard provided a review of regulation of vessel traffic for safety purposes and Kenneth Gale Hawkes outlined the transportation workers identification credential status for maritime interests.

Members of the committee are preparing a new edition of the popular reference book, Maritime Law and Practice. Along with the Trial Lawyers Section, the committee is conducting a seminar titled, "Maritime Law Update."

Vice chairs Demetrios Kirkiles and Jacob Munch, along with many committee members, were involved in the success of these activities.

JOHN H. THOMAS, Chair

Advertising

The Standing Committee on Advertising is responsible for advising members of The Florida Bar on permissible advertising and marketing practices. The committee, which meets monthly, reviews appeals of opinions issued by staff counsel, offers guidance to staff in evaluating lawyer advertisements, makes recommendations regarding rule changes, and provides guidance to Bar members concerning both the substantive and procedural requirements of the advertising rules.

The committee advises Bar members on the substance of the advertising rules through a variety of different methods. An in-depth analysis of the filing requirements, substantive regulations, and committee interpretations is provided by the committee's Handbook on Lawyer Advertising and Solicitation, which is regularly updated by Bar staff and is posted on the Bar's Web site for easy access by members. The handbook is currently being revised to comport with the changes to the advertising rules that were adopted by the Florida Supreme Court in Amendments to Rules Regulating The Florida Bar--Advertising, 31 Fla. L. Weekly S767 (Fla. Nov. 2, 2006) (No. SC05-2194, 11/2/2006). The changes were effective 12:01 a.m., January 1, 2007. The Supreme Court of Florida issued a revised opinion on December 20, 2007, effective February 1, 2008. The most significant change to the advertising rules requires that all television and radio advertisements required to be filed for review must be filed at least 15 days prior to the lawyer's first dissemination of the advertisement. The changes also including applying the lawyer advertising rules to out-of-state lawyers who advertise in Florida; exempting communications between lawyers and their family members from the rules; exempting communications between lawyers and prospective clients at the prospective client's request from the rules; adding permissible content to the "safe harbor" rule; deleting prohibitions against "unfair" advertising; deleting the prohibition against unjustified expectations; adding a prohibition against promising results; adding a prohibition against claiming expertise unless board certified; deleting the size requirement for required information; deleting the hiring disclosure requirement for print advertisements; making Bar opinions binding on the Bar; expanding public service announcements to include any permissible content; deleting the rule on information on request; and requiring lawyer referral services to state they are lawyer referral services in advertisements.

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The Bar filed proposed amendments to Bar Rule 4-7.6 (computer accessed communications), which would require that home pages comply with all the general ad requirements of Rule 4-7.2. The remainder of the Web site would have to comply with the general ad requirements of Rule 4-7.2, except they may include statements characterizing the quality of legal services, and may, with client consent, include testimonials and past results. An appropriate disclaimer would be required if testimonials or past results are posted. No proposed changes would require Web sites to be submitted to the Bar for review.

The committee, through its staff, continues to publish a column in The Florida Bar News from time to time, titled "Advertising Updates." Articles have been published explaining the most recent revisions to the advertising rules and providing information regarding recent opinions of the Board of Governors and the committee regarding advertising. The committee further updates the Bar's Web site with new material and information when needed in order to provide Bar members with as much information as possible to assist them in compliance with the attorney advertising rules.

The committee has been active in assisting other Bar committees this year. The committee continues to serve in an advisory capacity to the statewide grievance committee on lawyer advertising, assisting the members of the grievance committee in understanding the advertising rules and the advertising review process. The committee has also been active reviewing the advertising rules and recommending changes where appropriate.

By far, the most time consuming task of the committee this year, as in past years, has been reviewing advertisements filed by members of The Florida Bar to determine whether they comply with the advertising rules. The committee reviews decisions of its staff regarding lawyer advertisements if the staff 's interpretation of a particular rule or advertisement is appealed by an advertising attorney. Advertisers can appeal decisions of the committee to the Board of Governors if they wish to do so. The committee also provides guidance to its staff and advertisers, pursuant to requests for guidance, in order to foster compliance with the rules and to permit advertisers to accomplish their legitimate advertising goals. The committee works hard to apply the advertising rules fairly to all types of advertisements and to balance the rights of advertisers with the needs and concerns of the public.

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As in previous years, the committee has taken an active role in ensuring that lawyer advertising in Florida is filed with the Bar and is properly reviewed. When complaints are filed with the Bar pertaining to advertisements, committee staff reviews the advertisements to determine whether they have been filed and whether they comply with the advertising rules. Attorneys who have not filed their advertisements as required pursuant to Rule 4-7.7 must pay a $250 late filing fee and may be subject to further discipline from the Advertising Grievance Committee.

The Standing Committee on Advertising is made up of nonlawyers as well as lawyers. We believe that this has contributed substantially to our work and our broad perspective on advertising and marketing. I would like to thank each of our committee members, Rene Gorman (vice chair), John Bales, Sharon Barnett, Natalie Jackson, John Remsen, Michael Seminario, and Ray Casas for their tremendous contribution to the work of the committee.

Finally, the committee thanks our board liaison, Dominic Caparello, who has been an active participant in our work this year, division director Mary Ellen Bateman, and our hardworking staff headed by ethics counsel, Elizabeth Tarbert. Without the participation and hard work of these individuals, the business of this committee could not be accomplished.

HALLEY B. LEWIS III, Chair

Annual Convention

The committee has met several times over the last eight months relative to planning the convention, which will be held at the Boca Raton Resort and Club starting June 18. Our convention theme is "Practicing with Honor."

The diverse committee includes members of all ages and several former convention chairs. A great convention has been planned with a host of strong CLE offerings and outstanding entertainment including the nationally famous political satire group The Capitol Steps, who will perform at the Friday evening dinner on June 20. The committee has raised a record number of sponsorships for the judicial luncheon which will be held on Thursday, June 19. The featured luncheon speaker is Yale Law Dean Harold Koh.

Convention attendees are encouraged to make their reservations early for the events and CLE programs they wish to attend.

SCOTT G. HAWKINS, Chair

Antitrust and Trade Regulation Certification

The Antitrust and Trade Regulation Certification Committee had an active and productive year in 2007-2008. We had at least six well-attended meetings by conference call in which the committee discussed and thoroughly considered various recommendations to revise the qualifications for certification to emphasize more clearly the requirements of experience and education in antitrust law and antitrust litigation. After considering the views of all members, the committee concluded that the existing statement of qualifications for certification should remain unchanged.

The committee also conducted several meetings concerning the importance to The Florida Bar of continuing to recognize antitrust and trade regulation as an essential area for board certification. The committee submitted two lengthy written statements to BLSE evaluation committees regarding the importance of antitrust and trade regulation and recommendations to promote and publicize certification in antitrust and trade regulation to increase applications for certification in this highly specialized practice area.

The committee is...