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2024 Dates for Florida Bar Hearings

Soreide Law Group has represented hundreds of applicants for both investigative and formal hearings before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners. If a bar applicant is contacted by the Florida Board of Bar Examiners requesting an investigative or formal bar hearing, the applicant must be prepared for their hearing.

The following dates were recently released by the Florida Board of Bar Examiners for their upcoming bar hearing meeting dates in 2024. Please note that some of the dates will be held via Zoom and others will be held in person.

JANUARY 25-26, 2024                                  VIA ZOOM

MARCH 22, 2024                                           TALLAHASSEE

APRIL 18-19, 2024                                         VIA ZOOM

MAY 17-18, 2024                                            HOLLYWOOD

JUNE 27-28, 2024                                          VIA ZOOM

AUGUST 24-25, 2024                                    TAMPA

SEPTMEBER 19-20, 2024                            VIA ZOOM

OCTOBER 18-19, 2024                                  CORAL GABLES

NOVEMBER 15-16, 2024                              ORLANDO

Each bar hearing requires evidence and testimony which is tailored to your specific fact set. Many of these items can be obtained quickly however, it will vary case by case. The Board will waive the 15 day rule for submitting your evidence in advance if you are within the 15 day window. In this case, you would be able to bring your exhibits with you to the hearing itself. You must bring 5 copies of whatever needs to be submitted, which includes, one copy for each of the Board members, one for the record, and one for you.

If you feel you may not be ready for your Florida Board of Bar Examiners bar hearing or if you feel it is short notice, then we would recommend you wait until you are fully prepared and have done all of the work in advance.  You should not rush into an earlier hearing if you are not ready. If you are not sure, we recommend you contact an attorney for a consultation.

Soreide Law Group is conveniently based in Pompano Beach, Florida. We travel to every bar hearing location in Florida representing applicants in both investigative and formal hearings before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners. If you have an upcoming investigative hearing or a formal hearing please call Soreide Law Group and speak to an experienced license defense attorney at no cost to you at: 888-760-6552.

 

In-Person Bar Hearings for 2021

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IMPORTANT CHANGES to How to Submit Evidence to the Florida Board of Bar Examiners

Recent changes have taken effect as to what weight the Florida Board of Bar Examiners will give to community service submitted as evidence in Character and Fitness Hearings before the Board. A recent Florida Supreme Court case now requires that the time logs be submitted and signed off on with detailed notes of what was done for the hours spent. Historically one could get a “thank you” letter from a supervisor at an organization that would total up the hours but now the Board wants to see the details of each day, what was done, and have the supervisor sign off on it regularly.

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All character and fitness hearings before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners whether they are Investigate Hearings, Formal Hearings, or Rehabilitative Hearings the burden is always on the Applicant to prove that he or she possesses the requested character and fitness to practice law in the state of Florida. If one finds themselves before this investigative tribunal obviously something happened in your past that is being called into question. The Board has to weigh the good character evidence against the bad character evidence and there are few better ways to outweigh bad evidence than by loading up on community service hours.

One may wonder what kind of community service the Board of Bar Examiners deems relevant.  anything not career advancing such as volunteering at the Public Defender’s office or a legal internship that’s unpaid would carry no weight since it is career advancing and not true community service. The only legal related community service that could be used to mitigate the bad character evidence is the Guardian Ad Litem Program. This is the only legal related program that the Florida Supreme Court has given credit to Applicants to the Florida Bar as mitigating evidence.

If you are facing a hearing and know that you have some bad character evidence to overcome I would recommend doing community service to overcome it but document it in such a way that each activity is accounted for and signed off on a regular or semi regular basis or you run the risk of the Board of Bar Examiners giving it no weight at all.

Always consider hiring an experience Florida Bar Defense Lawyer to be your advocate at the hearing and make sure that you comply with all evidentiary rules and engage in meaningful discovery before the hearing so there are no surprises that you didn’t prepare for the day of. Lars Soreide, Esq., has appeared before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners in Character and Fitness hearings hundreds of times on behalf of Applicants and travels to each hearing location of the Board so geography is not a concern. Call 888-760-6552 for a free consultation with a Florida Board of Bar Examiners Defense Attorney today to make sure you are prepared for your character and fitness hearing.

Vacancies Announced on the Florida Board of Bar Examiners

Licensed Florida Lawyer applicants are being sought to fill the two vacancies on the Florida Board of Bar Examiners.

There will be a joint screening committee of Florida Board of Governors members and Florida Board of Bar Examiners members. They will recommend six nominees for two lawyer vacancies at the May 20, 2016 meeting. Their nominations will then be forwarded to the Florida Supreme Court to fill two five-year terms beginning Nov. 1, 2016 and ending on Oct. 31, 2021.

Florida attorneys applying must have been members of The Florida Bar for at least five years and they must be a practicing Florida lawyer with “scholarly attainments” and have a positive interest in legal education and the requirements for admission to the Bar. Appointment or election to the bench at any level of the court system will disqualify any applicant. All law professors or trustees are ineligible.

The board members of the Bar Examiners must be able to attend approximately ten meetings a year in various Florida locations. Members should be willing to devote 3-4 days’ a month, or up to 350 or more hours per year on Board business, depending on committee assignments. Travel expenses connected with the meetings and examinations are reimbursed.

Persons interested in applying for these vacancies should contact Tara Newman, Director of Administration, Florida Board of Bar Examiners, at 850-681-5707 to obtain the application form. Completed applications must be received by the Executive Director, 1891 Eider Court, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1750 by the close of business on Friday, March 25, 2016.

The Soreide Law Group represents those seeking admittance to the Florida Bar and existing attorneys, for both Formal and Investigative Hearings in front of The Florida Bar.  For more information regarding our services, call and speak to an attorney at no-cost:  1-888-760-6552.

Upcoming Dates and Locations of Florida Bar Hearings

The following dates and locations are for upcoming Formal and Investigative Hearings before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners.
Soreide Law Group travels to each of the hearing locating for our clients.  We represent those seeking admittance to the Florida Bar, and existing attorneys, for both Investigative Hearings and Formal Hearings before The Florida Bar.For more information about our services at no cost call: (888) 760-6552.

July 10 -11, 2015                 Orlando, Florida

July 27, 2015                       Tampa, Florida

September 18 – 19, 2015    Jacksonville, Florida

October 23 – 24, 2015        Coral Gables, Florida

 

June 2015 Florida Bar Hearing Defense Attorney Tip

Don’t be afraid to engage in a battle of the experts before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners. As a result of past conduct, you may have been forced to meet with a Florida Lawyers Assistance approved physician for a chemical dependency or psychological evaluation.
In many instances you may find yourself shocked with the findings and having to defend yourself to the Board. There are several ways to respond to an unfavorable chemical dependency or psychological evaluation.
You can depose the expert and pick apart his methodology and attempt to discredit him. However, since he or she has already been approved as an expert by the Board this is a dubious task.
The more meaningful way to attack the report would be to seek independent clinicians to conduct their own independent report. If your clinicians are willing to come in and testify to explain and validate their findings, then I feel that anyone applying to the Florida Bar has a fighting chance to not get unfairly labeled as a drug addict or unstable.
For more information call 954-760-6552 to speak to a Florida Board of Bar Examiners character and fitness defense attorney.

Why Did So Many Do So Poorly on July’s Bar Exam?

In a recent article from Bloomberg Business, they reported that the people who took the most recent bar exam in July were more likely to fail than those who took it last year.  They also claimed that on one portion of the test, the scores dropped to their lowest point in 10 years.

Bloomberg’s report wondered if America’s law graduates are “getting dumber?”

The National Conference of Bar Examiners,  the people who put the bar exam together, seem to think so. The report states that this year’s grads’ pre-law-school test scores declined from the year before, and did so every year from 2010 to 2013. However, this does not explain the poor performance on this year’s bar exam.  They didn’t do slightly worse, they did much worse.

Several law professors felt the reason may have been do to a software glitch causing the test company problems in uploading the answers the first day. No answers were lost but there was much time and anxiety spent with this issue which some feel may have contributed to the poor performance on the remainder of the test.

Many observers feel this should not deflect the issue.  The scores are getting worse on a yearly basis.  Some people feel that as law schools get fewer applications, they may be accepting less than qualified applicants in order to meet their bottom line.

We also caution perspective law students that it could be possible, in order to fill the classrooms, some law schools may be more lax in the applicant’s background. Even though the school accepts the applicant, the Florida Bar may not.

The Soreide Law Group represents those seeking admittance to the Florida Bar, and existing attorneys, for both Investigative Hearings and Formal Hearings before the Florida Bar.

For more information about our services at no cost call: (888) 760-6552.

Florida Bar Defense Lawyer Formal Hearing Tip of the Month for October

After an investigative hearing before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, if they determine that that you may have engaged in conduct that is potentially disqualifying, the Board will then file specifications against you. These specifications require an answer within 20 days. In the answer you are allowed to plead your affirmative defenses to the accusations. If the affirmative defense of rehabilitation is not correctly plead then it is waived.
It is the Applicants burden at the formal hearing to prove rehabilitation by the clear and convincing evidence standard.  This standard is not defined anywhere and is up for interpretation as to how much rehabilitation needs to be documented for each offense. Community service is one way to document rehabilitation, but the more narrowly tailored the rehabilitation efforts are to the offense, the better it will be received by the board.
Also, at the formal hearing you are allowed to offer live character witnesses to appear before the Board to testify on your behalf. A formal hearing is a full blown trial where the Board is making arguments through their counsel to keep you out of the Bar. This can be a scary and daunting process for any applicant.  If you have a formal hearing before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners it is highly recommended your consult with an attorney.
Call the Soreide Law Group at (888) 760-6552 for a no cost consultation with an experienced Florida Bar Defense Attorney if you have an upcoming Investigative or Formal hearing with the Florida Bar. We travel to all locations throughout Florida to appear before the Board of Bar Examiners.

Florida Board of Bar Examiners Investigative Hearing Defense Attorney Tip for the Month of July

Recently I returned from successfully representing three applicants before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners in Jacksonville, Florida.  All three were admitted, but what stood out in my mind from the trip, was  a question one of the Panel members asked one of my clients. The applicant (happily now a Florida attorney), was asked by a Panel member to, “rank in order of importance the reasons why you think we called you here.” I thought that was a great question, and had my client not been adequately prepared and ready to go, might have blown it.
The notice of Investigative Hearing listed items dating back to the teenage years of the Applicant, ranging from a number of offenses. The one thing that the Applicant was correct in pointing out was that the Board cared the most about the non-disclosure of one of those events on the Florida Bar Application. The Board knows that all Applicants have at some point in their lives had some trouble whether criminal, financial, academic, with an employer, or otherwise. They care more about that as a law student, or lawyer applicant from another jurisdiction, that you would potentially hide one of those infractions from them which is clear evidence of a lack of candor. It is important to consult an experience attorney before attending a hearing before the Board so you are not caught off guard with a question like this.
If you have an upcoming Investigative or Formal hearing with the Florida Bar, call  Soreide Law Group at (888) 760-6552 for a consultation with an attorney at no cost. We travel to all locations throughout Florida to appear before the Board of Bar Examiners.

What is “Disqualifying Conduct” When Applying to the Florida Bar?

The following information was obtained on the Florida Board of Bar Examiners website. The result of the conduct listed here is often the reason our firm is called on when an Investigative or Formal hearing is requested by the Board of Bar Examiners.

“Pursuant to  rule 3-11 a record manifesting a lack of honesty, trustworthiness, diligence, or reliability may constitute a basis for denial of admission. Any of the following may be considered by the board to be a basis for further inquiry before recommending admission:

  • Unlawful conduct
  • Academic misconduct
  • Making or procuring any false or misleading statement or omission of relevant information, including any false or misleading statement or omission on the Bar Application, or any amendment, or in any testimony or sworn statement submitted to the board
  • Misconduct in employment
  • Acts involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation
  • Abuse of legal process
  • Financial irresponsibility
  • Neglect of professional obligations
  • Violation of an order of a court
  • Evidence of mental or emotional instability
  • Evidence of drug or alcohol dependency
  • Denial of admission to the bar in another jurisdiction on character and fitness grounds
  • Disciplinary action by a lawyer disciplinary agency or other professional disciplinary agency of any jurisdiction
  • Any other conduct which reflects adversely upon the character and fitness of the applicant”

This ends the information obtained on the Florida Board of Bar Examiners website.

Soreide Law Group represents those seeking admittance to the Florida Bar, and existing attorneys, for both Investigative Hearings and Formal Hearings before the Florida Bar. For more information about our services please call (888) 760-6552.