In Re: Amendments to Rules Regulating The Florida Bar — Professionalism Expectations
The Florida Supreme Court adopted amendments to the Florida Bar's Professionalism Expectations, effective May 18, 2026. Key changes include: creating a new standalone Expectation 1.14 prohibiting unnecessary client expenses in all representations; narrowing Expectation 3.11's grounds for instructing a deponent not to answer; removing subjective intent from the prohibition on disorganized discovery responses (Expectation 4.10); and upgrading Expectation 5.1 from encouraging to requiring attorneys to instruct support staff to avoid rude behavior.
Key facts
- The Florida Bar's Board of Governors approved a set of amendments to the Florida Bar's Professionalism Expectations and petitioned the Supreme Court to adopt them, publishing the proposals in The Florida Bar News in compliance with Rule 1-12.1(g); no comments were received.
- Several existing Expectations had identified gaps or ambiguities: the prohibition on unnecessary client expenses (formerly embedded in Expectation 1.9 covering certain fee arrangements) did not apply universally to all representations, and the deposition-instruction provision in Expectation 3.11 listed only one exception (legal privilege) while court-directed limitations and termination motions were also recognized grounds.
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Holdings
- New standalone Expectation 1.14: 'In all representations, a lawyer should avoid charging unnecessary expenses to the client' (split from former Expectation 1.9).
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Why it matters
Removing 'in an attempt to conceal evidence' from Expectation 4.10 means that objectively disorganized discovery responses are improper regardless of intent — a meaningful shift that strengthens sanctions arguments. The… — full analysis with a trial
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