The Florida Bar is the integrated, or unified bar organization for the state of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. It is the third largest such bar in the United States.Florida Bar
accessed May 10, 2018 Its duties include the regulation and discipline of attorneys and the governance of Florida Registered Paralegals. As elsewhere in the United States, persons seeking

admission to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

must pass a

moral character Moral character or character (derived from ) is an analysis of an individual's steady Morality, moral qualities. The concept of ''character'' can express a variety of attributes, including the presence or lack of virtues such as empathy, courag ...

screening, in this case administered by the Florida Board of Bar Examiners. Admission to the Bar includes passing a background investigation, the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination, and the

bar exam A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associat ...

, which tests both the

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

through the

Multistate Bar Examination In the United States, those seeking to become lawyers must normally pass a bar examination before they can be admitted to the bar and become licensed to practice law. Bar exams are administered by states or territories, usually by agencies under ...

and Florida law through written state essays and state-specific multiple-choice questions. The Florida Bar's headquarters building and annex are located in

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...

, three blocks from the

Florida State Capitol The Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida, is an architecturally and historically significant building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Capitol is at the intersection (road), intersection of Apalachee Parkway and F ...

. It operates under the terms of the ''Rules Regulating The Florida Bar''.

History

In 1889 the first, small, voluntary group of lawyers formed in Florida. This developed into the Florida State Bar Association in 1907. This remained a voluntary organization, publishing a legal journal, drafting court procedures, and presenting occasional educational courses for lawyers. Its membership never exceeded a few thousand. As the number of lawyers rose after World War I, joining the Florida State Bar Association was proposed as a prerequisite to create a line of communication within the profession and introduce a mechanism for disciplining unethical lawyers. However, the

Florida Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Florida is the state supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven justices—one of whom serves as Chief Justice. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geog ...

did not approve such a resolution until 1949. In April 1950, the Florida State Bar Association met for the last time. The name was shortened to "The Florida Bar" and the state's 3,758 lawyers automatically became members. Its first president was Richard H. Hunt of Miami. In 1989, The Florida Bar went to the U.S. Supreme Court to defend restrictions on attorney advertising. The court found in favor of the narrowly tailored rules in '' Florida Bar v. Went For It, Inc.''. In January 2024, The Florida Bar issued ethics guidelines for attorney use of

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

(AI), as did the

State Bar of California The State Bar of California is an administrative division of the Supreme Court of California which licenses attorneys and regulates the practice of law in California. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law ...

in November 2023.Sloan, Kare
"Lawyers' use of AI spurs ethics rule changes"
Reuters, January 22, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.

References

External links

The Florida BarThe Florida Board of Bar ExaminersTips on Preparing for the Florida Bar Exam
{{DEFAULTSORT:Florida Bar 1907 establishments in Florida American state bar associations Bar Organizations established in 1907