Florida Bar Hearing Defense Attorney’s Tip of the Month for April 2014

If you have a history of drug or alcohol abuse it is important to consider the benefits of enrolling in Florida Lawyers Assistance before you appear in front of the Board of Bar Examiners for an Investigative Hearing. The Florida Bar is widely known as the toughest in the country when it comes to character and fitness evaluations. However, the Bar does not view a dependency problem as a character flaw, but rather as a treatable disease.
Many Applicants may be concerned that enrolling in Florida Lawyers Assistance of “FLA” would be evidence of bad character, while the exact opposite is true. The Board of Bar Examiners is not comprised of medical professionals who can assess the nature of any dependency disorder,  so they must rely upon FLA to do so for them. If enrolled in FLA the enrollee will have to abstain from all drugs (non prescribed) and alcohol and be subjected to random screening. This gives the Board the level of comfort they need to obtain to be able to conditionally admit you for a finite term with permanent admission to follow a successful term at FLA.
If enrolling make sure to enroll far enough out that you can have a meaningful interaction with FLA such as successfully completing several drug screens and obtaining a sponsor.  If however you feel that you do not have a dependency problem but your bar application may evidence otherwise, it is possible as an alternative to have a Florida Lawyers Assistance approved doctor conduct a chemical dependency evaluation and produce a report that may be offered at your investigative or formal hearing as evidence of no chemical dependency problem.
For more information or questions concerning this post you can contact Lars Soreide, Esq., at (954) 760-6552. Defending Florida Bar Applicants throughout Florida.

The Florida Board of Bar Examiners is Seeking Members from the General Public

The Florida Board of  Bar Examiners is currently seeking two people  from the general public to help in the process of recommendations for The Florida Bar.  This would be a three year term for the board members chosen.

The duties of the Board of Bar Examiners is to make sure all of the requirements for the applicants are met.  These requirements include such things as education, character and fitness, technical competence, to name a few. The deadline to apply is April 25, 2014.  The Florida Supreme Court has the final decision once the Board makes the recommendation.

For the general public member positions, lawyers are not eligible and you must have a bachelor’s degree, also experience or education in areas such as educational testing, statistics, psychology or medicine.  Expenses will be covered and approximately three days per month of work.

If you are interested in the position, please contact The Florida Bar.  Information is available also on their website.

Soreide Law Group represents those seeking admittance to The Florida Bar, and existing lawyers, for both Investigative Hearings and Formal Hearings in front of The Florida Bar. Please call (888) 760-6552.