Lawyer Ethics Alerts Blog is reporting that on December 12, 2019, The Florida Bar filed a petition with the Florida Supreme Court requesting the court to approve the creation a voluntary registration program for online legal services providers.
The proposed program was approved by the Florida Bar’s Board of Governors in September 2019 and would permit online legal service providers to market themselves as “Registered with The Florida Bar” if they agree to comply with various regulations, including submitting to the jurisdiction of Florida for the resolution of consumer complaints.
The proposed program would specifically require the registered online providers to provide the Bar with copies of all consumer complaints and state how they were resolved, and agree that “registration and revocation of the registration. . . is solely at the discretion of The Florida Bar.”
The proposed program would also require that registered online providers use only forms that are approved by the Florida Supreme Court, or have been reviewed and approved by Florida Bar attorney.
The deadline for comments is January 13, 2020 and any comments must be filed directly with the clerk of the Florida Supreme Court, and a copy served on the executive director of The Florida Bar.
I understand there is an interest in providing a way for people to have access to legal services but I am confused about this one. It sounds like the service providers are able to provide their services currently without regulation, and I guess this initiative is an attempt to create some regulation over the currently unregulated market of online legal services.
What I don't understand is why those who are currently operating free of regulation would prefer to submit themselves to regulation. If they can provide services now, what's their incentive to join the program?
Of course, maybe I am wrong in my assumption and the current situation is different. Maybe, currently the providers are not allowed to provide services in Florida and joining the program would be the only way for them to be able to do so. That would be an incentive to join. If that is the case, the program makes sense.
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