The Florida Bar’s Practice Resource Center gets a lot of questions about trust accounting and technology, but one of the most popular topics members contact us about is Continuing Legal Education (CLE). They want to know how to find our free CLEs, or they are having trouble posting credits, or they are confused about the CLE requirements. New attorneys have questions about the Basic Skills Course Requirements (BSCR) and more experienced attorneys are looking for courses to maintain their Board Certification status. So, to help us bring clarity to all things CLE, we have brought in the expert.

In today’s episode hosts Christine Bilbrey and Karla Eckardt welcome Director of The Bar’s Legal Specialization and Education (LSE) Department, Maritza McGill, to discuss all things CLE.

Maritza McGill is the Director of the Legal Specialization and Education (LSE) Department of The Florida Bar. Maritza graduated from The Florida State University and was a Program Administrator at The Florida Bar from 1982-1997. She returned to the Bar in 2012 as Assistant to the Director of LSE and in 2015 she was promoted to Certification Specialist. In 2018 Maritza became the Assistant Director of LSE and then in 2022, was named Director.  As the LSE Director, Maritza has oversight of the certification program, course accreditation and CLE/BSCR compliance of members.

This podcast has been approved by The Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Department for 1.0 hour of General CLE credit. Course #­­5877.

REFERENCED RESOURCES:

• Florida Bar Member Portal
  • Your CLE Records
• Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education
  • On-Demand CLE Catalog
  • General CLE Info & Requirements
    • CLER Forms and Applications
      • Petition for Removal of CLER Delinquency
    • CLER FAQs
  • Order CLE CD/DVD Products
  • Basic Skills Course Requirement (BSCR) FAQs
  • BSCR Forms and Petitions
• BSCR Phase 1: Practicing with Professionalism (PWP)
• BSCR Phase 2: Basic Courses
• Article: ABA CLEs Ineligible for FL CLE Credit
• LegalFuel Free CLEs

Disciplinary Actions are likely the most closely read section of each edition of The Florida Bar News. However, total discipline cases are actually on the decline. According to the Bar’s website, in a typical year, the Attorney Consumer Assistance Program (ACAP) receives over 16,000 requests for assistance; and only about 25% of those inquiries result in the opening of a disciplinary file. Last year 3,364 files were opened which resulted in only 318 Supreme Court Discipline cases.

In today’s episode hosts Christine Bilbrey and Karla Eckardt welcome back Deputy Director of Lawyer Regulation, Patricia Savitz, to discuss The Florida Bar’s lawyer discipline process. If your questions or issues are not addressed, you can contact LegalFuel: The Practice Resource Center of The Florida Bar for guidance.

Patricia Savitz has been with the Bar since 1997 and was previously Bar Counsel with the Orlando Branch of The Florida Bar where she handled all aspects of Bar disciplinary proceedings. She was recently promoted to Deputy Director for the Lawyer Regulation Department of The Florida Bar. Patti received both her undergraduate and her law degree from the University of Miami. Prior to working at the Bar, Patti was an Assistant Public Defender in the 20th Judicial Circuit in Fort Myers and was a Senior Attorney with the Department of Children and Families. She has done extensive appellate work including oral argument before the Fifth District Court of Appeal and the Florida Supreme Court.

This podcast has been approved by The Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Department for 1 hour of General CLE credit including 1 hour of Ethics CLE credit. Course #5838­­.

 REFERENCED RESOURCES:

• The Florida Bar – Attorney Discipline
  • Florida Bar Attorney Consumer Assistance (ACAP) Hotline 866.352.0707 
• The Rules Regulating The Florida Bar
  • Chapter 3
  • Chapter 4
  • Chapter 5
• LegalFuel: The Practice Resource Center of The Florida Bar

Every year, there are updates and changes to the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar and new Ethics Opinions. We are fortunate to have knowledgeable attorneys standing by on the Ethics Hotline responding to calls from our members. Because it’s a new year, we are going to discuss some of the changes that have recently gone into effect as well as review other important ethics and advertising rules.

In today’s episode hosts Christine Bilbrey and Karla Eckardt welcome back Florida Bar Ethics Counsel, Jonathan Grabb, to review rules and opinions that members frequently have questions about. If your questions or issues are not addressed, you can contact The Bar’s Ethics Hotline or LegalFuel: The Practice Resource Center of The Florida Bar for guidance.

Jonathan Grabb became the Ethics Counsel for The Florida Bar in November 2021 after serving the Ethics & Advertising Department for 8 years as an Assistant Ethics Counsel. Jonathan has fielded more than 20,000 calls on the ethics hotline, reviewed thousands of lawyer advertisements, and issued dozens of staff opinions. Prior to working at The Florida Bar, Jonathan was a Senior Attorney in the Agency for Persons with Disabilities. Jonathan graduated cum laude from Florida State University’s College of Law in 2008. In his free time, Jonathan enjoys going to the local rock-climbing gym with his wife and two daughters.

This podcast has been approved by The Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Department for 1 hour of General CLE credit including 1 hour of Ethics CLE credit. Course #­­5771.

REFERENCED RESOURCES:

•  Florida Bar Ethics Hotline 800.235.8619
• LegalFuel: The Practice Resource Center of The Florida Bar
• The Rules Regulating The Florida Bar
  • Chapter 1
  • Chapter 4
• Florida Bar Ethics Opinions
  • Proposed Advisory Opinions
  • Subject Index of Ethics Opinions
  • List of Florida Ethics Opinions by Number
  • Opinion 20-1
  • Opinion 21-1
• Ethics Informational Packets
  • Interstate Law Firms
• Florida Bar Unlicensed Practice of Law Program
  • UPL Formal Advisory Opinions

The Florida Supreme Court has partnered with the Bar to declare November “Legal Professionalism Month” and is asking members to rededicate themselves to the highest ideals of professionalism and civility in all they do.  To close out the month and as reference going forward, we thought we'd discuss how to navigate the new normal as it pertains to our virtual or socially distanced workplace interactions with colleagues and clients.

In today’s episode hosts Christine Bilbrey and Karla Eckardt are joined by Mr. Manners himself, Thomas Farley, to discuss all our modern professional etiquette dilemmas.

Thomas P. Farley is a keynote speaker, workshop leader, syndicated columnist, and TV commentator. His clients have included the United States Department of Commerce, the Estée Lauder Companies, JPMorgan Chase, the Walt Disney Corporation, Bank of America, the American Automobile Association (AAA), the U.S. Army, Viacom, Toyota, and UPS. Thomas is a regular and popular guest on the NBC Today show, where he fields questions on modern-day manners issues. In 2017, he debuted “Manners on the Move,” a special multi-part Today show series that examined incivility in America. His syndicated weekly column, “Ask Mister Manners,” appears in Tribune publications throughout the United States. His insights appear regularly in other media as well, including the Rachael Ray show, Inside Edition, Dr. Oz, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Wired and Money magazines, USA Today, CNN, VH1, and ABC. Thomas is a graduate of New York’s Fordham University. He has been a guest lecturer at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies, and he edited the anthology “Modern Manners: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Social Graces.”

This podcast has been approved by The Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Department for 1 hour of General CLE credit including 1 hour of Professionalism CLE credit. Course #5680.

REFERENCED RESOURCES:

• Thomas P. Farley - Mister Manners
  • Workshops
  • Ask Mr. Manners
• The Florida Bar's Henry Latimer Center for Professionalism
  • Legal Professionalism in the Electronic Age
  • Best Practices for Professional Electronic Communication

Don’t let popular headlines fool you into thinking that only large firms with enormous bank accounts and ties to potentially criminal activity are at risk of cyberattacks. The reality is that firms small and large store client files full of confidential and personally identifiable information making them valuable targets to cyber criminals. October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month so this month’s episode will focus on one of the tenants of cybersecurity, protecting your files.    

In today’s episode hosts Christine Bilbrey and Karla Eckardt are joined by Rick Stiles to discuss and demystify secure file storage and file sharing. They’ll also discuss basic cybersecurity practices that even solo and small firms can implement to secure the data they store and share in the cloud. If your questions or issues are not addressed, you can anonymously contact LegalFuel: The Practice Resource Center of The Florida Bar for guidance. 

Rick Stiles is a communications technology veteran with decades of experience, Rick was Vice-President of some major telecom companies like HyperEdge and NA Communications, where he spearheaded and led the development of many innovative communications technologies, some of which are still commonly used today. As senior VP of Products and IP at AXEL, Rick brings real-world implementation and deployment experience with a deep understanding of networking disciplines. Rick has extensive expertise in the creation of intellectual property and is named in several significant U.S. patents including four current blockchain-specific pending patents. 

This podcast has been approved by The Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Department for 1 hour of General CLE credit including 1 hour of Technology CLE credit. Course #5660.

REFERENCED RESOURCES: 

LegalFuel Cybersecurity Resources 

FTC’s Cybersecurity for Small Business 

AXEL.org 

AXEL Go, a secure cloud storage and file-sharing application 

• 20% off Florida Bar Member Discount 

Here at the Practice Resource Center, we frequently get calls from lawyers who are thinking about starting their own firms and we explain that they will be doing two jobs: practicing law and running a small business.  

In this latest episode, host Christine Bilbrey speaks with Amie Remington to discuss why law firms should consider outsourcing some or all their human resource functions. 

Amie Remington is the Chief Legal Officer for Transport Leasing Contract Inc. of the TLC Companies, a 57,000-worksite employee Professional Employer Organization. Prior to this, she was General Counsel for fifteen years at a professional HR organization where she advised businesses on employment-related legal issues. Amie was a partner at the law firm of Bozeman, Jenkins & Matthews in Pensacola where she represented employers, management, and the State of Florida in all types of employment-related matters. Amie serves on the National Association of Professional Employer Organization’s Legal Advisory Committee and on the Florida Association of Professional Employer Organization’s Board of Directors.  

This podcast has been approved by The Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Department for 1 hour of General CLE credit. Course #5585. 

 REFERENCED RESOURCES: 

• https://www.napeo.org/ 
• https://www.fapeo.org/ 
• Can Your Law Firm Work with a PEO? 
• Why Law Firms Should Outsource Human Resources Functions 
• Florida Lawyers Helpline Call 833-351-9355 

Today, practicing law requires a lot more technology know-how than in the past. Back in 2016, The Florida Supreme Court increased the number of mandatory CLE hours to include 3 in technology. We know that members are taking advantage of our large library of free CLE courses to get technology credit, but some lawyers have managed to successfully avoid actually using technology either by having support staff deal with it or by being very dependent on an IT specialist.

In today’s episode hosts Christine Bilbrey and Karla Eckardt discuss frequently asked tech questions as well as the answers, solutions, and tips they would offer in response. If your questions or issues are not addressed, you can anonymously contact LegalFuel: The Practice Resource Center of The Florida Bar for guidance.

This podcast has been approved by The Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Department for 1 hour of General CLE credit including 1 hour of Technology CLE credit. Course #5559.

Visit the episode page on LegalFuel.com for referenced resources: https://www.legalfuel.com/all-those-tech-questions-youve-been-afraid-to-ask/

“Attrition of women lawyers is one big obstacle to improving gender diversity at the top. When asked recently to identify major obstacles for women advancing to equity partner, 31% of the nation’s largest law firms said attrition. Nearly all (94%) reported that retaining women lawyers was a problem for the firm.” Law Practice Today 

In this latest episode, hosts Christine Bilbrey and Karla Eckardt speak with Anne Brafford to discuss what the studies are telling us about the current state of women in the law, how firms can successfully retain and engage female lawyers, and how doing so improves the profession for everyone.  

Anne Brafford is a former equity partner at Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius LLP and the founder of Aspire, an education and consulting firm for the legal profession. Anne is the Vice President of the Institute for Well-Being in Law, formerly known as the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being. She is the Chair and founder of IWIL’s Well-Being Week in Law. She was the Editor-in-Chief and co-author of the 2017 report of the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being. Anne is a past Chair of the ABA Law Practice Division’s Attorney Well-Being Committee. She created the ABA Well-Being Toolkit for Lawyers and Legal Employers and is the author of an ABA-published book titled Positive Professionals, which provides science-based guidance to law firm leaders for boosting work engagement for lawyers. Anne is nearing completion of her doctoral work in positive organizational psychology. Her research focuses on lawyer thriving, positive leadership, workplace well-being, work engagement, motivation, mental health, inclusion, and the retention and advancement of women lawyers. 

This podcast has been approved by The Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Department for 1 hour of General CLE credit including 1 hour of Mental Illness Awareness credit. Course #5467.

REFERENCED RESOURCES: 

• New Strategies For Engaging and Retaining Women Lawyers 
• Building Workplace Well-Being 
• Workplace Well-Being Handbook For Law Firms 2021 ($100.00)
  • Review the Table of Contents to see all the helpful information that’s included.
• ABA Well-Being Toolkit for Lawyers and Legal Employers 
• Positive Professionals: Creating High-Performing Profitable Firms Through the Science of Engagement 
• Aspire: Helping Law Firms & Lawyers Thrive 

Helping others gives a lawyer’s work meaning but carrying the weight of their client’s stress and trauma can also exact a heavy toll on a lawyer’s well-being. Secondary trauma is caused when one is indirectly exposed to someone else’s trauma, and it can develop into secondary traumatic stress which manifests itself in ways that mimic PTSD. Secondary Trauma can especially affect lawyers, judges, and child advocates like Guardian ad litem that work in juvenile justice, criminal justice, and family law.

The Florida Bar’s Mental Health and Wellness of Florida Lawyers Committee has been tirelessly working to destigmatize mental illness, recommend best practices and remedies, and help bring more balance into lawyers’ daily professional lives. In furtherance of this Bar-wide initiative, hosts Christine Bilbrey and Karla Eckardt speak with Dr. Erika Tullberg about the signs, symptoms, and causes of secondary trauma as well as ways to alleviate its impact on legal professionals.

Dr. Erika Tullberg is an Assistant Professor at NYU's Langone Health’s Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, where her work focuses on the trauma-related needs of children that have experienced maltreatment, and the related needs of their parents and the caretakers, staff and systems that serve them.  She is currently serving as the Associate Director of NYU’s NCTSN Center for Child Welfare Practice Innovation, which is developing and implementing trauma-informed child welfare practices in partnership with child welfare providers around the country. Dr. Tullberg earned her PhD at the City University of New York School of Public Health, her MPH at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, her MPA at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, and her BA at Columbia College.  She is also a foster and adoptive parent.

This podcast has been approved by The Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Department for 1 hour of General CLE credit including 1 hour of Mental Illness Awareness CLE credit. Course #5313.

REFERENCED RESOURCES: 

• Understanding Secondary Trauma: A Guide for Lawyers Working with Child Victims 
• The Florida Bar's Health and Wellness Center
• Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale 
• Proqol.com Pocket Card 
  • Pocket Card PDF
• NCTSN: Secondary Traumatic Stress 
• NCTSN: The Resilience Alliance: Promoting Resilience and Reducing Secondary Trauma Among Welfare Staff – Participant Handbook 
• Relevant articles by Dr. Erika Tullberg 
  • Taking an organizational approach to addressing secondary trauma in child welfare settings 
  • The Essential Role of Supervisors in Addressing Secondary Traumatic Stress

Social media platforms have become ubiquitous marketing tools. According to a report by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and conducted by PwC, social media advertising revenues reached $41.5 billion in 2020, which is nearly 30% of all internet advertising revenue. So, how can Florida lawyers leverage social media to create impactful advertisements while ensuring compliance with Florida Bar ethics rules? 

To help answer this question, hosts Christine Bilbrey and Karla Eckardt speak with Jesse R. Butler about The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division’s (YLD) Social Media Pocket Guide, a handbook created in collaboration with the Ethics and Advertising Department of The Florida Bar in an effort to assist Florida lawyers in complying with the rules governing lawyer advertising. 

Jesse R. Butler has served as the Chair of the YLD Technology Committee since 2019. He graduated from the University of Florida Law School and is a partner at Dickinson & Gibbons in Sarasota. He is Board Certified in Appellate Practice and has handled appeals throughout Florida, in Federal court, and he is also admitted to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court. Jesse was a member of the inaugural class of The Florida Bar Leadership Academy. He previously served as President of the Sarasota County Bar Association’s Young Lawyers’ Division after serving for several years on the board as a director and he is also the Chair of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit Grievance Committee. In 2020, Jesse was re-elected to his third term on the Board of Governors for The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division, where he represents the Twelfth Judicial Circuit.  

This podcast has been approved by The Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Department for 1 hour of General CLE credit including 1 hour of Technology CLE credit. Course #5027. 

REFERENCED RESOURCES:  

• YLD's Social Media Pocket Guide 
• Advertising Regulation and Information Page of The Florida Bar 
• Handbook on Lawyer Advertising and Solicitation 
• Quick Reference Checklist – Targeted Social Media 
• Advertising Guidelines for Networking Sites 
• Florida Ethics Opinions Search