Despite his credentials, including membership in the New York Bar, Blum technically is not a lawyer in Florida. Nor is anybody else who has not taken and passed the Florida Bar examination and been admitted to the Florida Bar.
Partner Alan Becker says Blum is not violating the rule because he neither supervises Florida lawyers nor gives advice regarding Florida law. Bankruptcy law is federal.
But the Florida Bar opinion he cites refers to lawyers in Florida on a "transitory basis," says Lori Holcomb, chief counsel for the Bar's unlicensed practice of law division. That typically has been interpreted to mean the lawyer still has an office in another state and is working in Florida temporarily, she says.
Attorney Albert Rapoport, meanwhile, is facing a similar situation and says he will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court if possible. In February, Florida's high court upheld the Bar's finding that Rapoport, a member of the Washington, D.C., Bar, violated the Florida Bar's rules by representing clients in securities arbitrations in south Florida.
The ruling apparently caught a lot of out-of-state lawyers off guard, judging by the sudden increase in demand for Florida securities lawyers.
A ruling against Blum would likely cause similar ripples throughout the state, Becker says. "If you strictly limited legal counseling to members of the Florida Bar, a lot of international and national corporations would not be served, and a lot of national and international law firms would be in big trouble," he says.
Rule changes
At the same, the Bar is looking to tweak its rules. A Florida Bar panel appointed to look at new model rules adopted by the American Bar Association is considering more flexibility for lawyers who do international arbitration. Limiting representation to members of the Florida Bar could kill the state's carefully built appeal as an international arbitration center, members of the Bar's international law section told commission members.
The commission agreed to withdraw its report to consider an exception for such practices because the practices have nothing to do with Florida law, commission Chairman and Tampa lawyer John Yanchunis says. In fact, says Miami lawyer Ed Mullins, whose firm focuses on international arbitration, the connection to Florida is frequently non-existent other than the fact that it is a convenient and neutral territory for resolving international disputes. "You could have a Peruvian company versus a Salvadoran company and they're going to apply the laws of Chile," Mullins says.
But the commission will not follow the ABA's lead in creating more flexibility for other multijurisdiction practices or for federal practices like Blum's or Rapoport's. Instead the committee is recommending more stringent rules. While current rules allow an outside lawyer to appear in Florida courts with the permission of the judge, the proposed rule would limit such appearances to three in a year and require a $250 per appearance fee to the Florida Bar to pay for the cost of administering the rule.
Out-of-state lawyers who come to Florida to conduct transactional work would not be limited by number but would be allowed only on a temporary basis to represent clients from their jurisdiction or to represent clients in association with a member of the Florida Bar.
Reality check
The proposed rules won't satisfy many lawyers who believe the Bar's rules have not kept up with the industry changes.
"The reality is that lawyers all around the country engage in (the unlicensed practice of law) at one point or another," says Andrew Berman, a partner at Miami's Young Berman & Karpf who has defended lawyers in Bar proceedings and who lectures on legal ethics.
Though the Bar only rarely takes action against lawyers who are licensed members of other state Bars, "it's a simple situation where lawyers should not have to be technically violating a rule" to conduct their practice, Berman says. "The reality is the rules haven't kept up with the change of practice."
In the News
Former Florida Supreme Court Justice Major Best Harding has joined the Tallahassee law firm of Ausley & McMullen, where he will head the firm's appellate division.
Brevard-Seminole County Assistant State Attorney Tom Hastings has been named the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association "Prosecutor of the Year." He is described as one of the state's most successful prosecutors, with a 95% conviction rate at trial.
Tampa plaintiffs lawyer Steven Yerrid, a member of the team that secured an $11-billion settlement in the state's case against the tobacco industry, has published "When Justice Prevails," detailing eight cases he's handled over the past 20 years.
Eugene A. Rostov has been named to a two-year term as managing partner of Baker & McKenzie's Miami office. Rostov, a founder of the office, also heads the firm's international practice.
Plaintiffs lawyer Christopher Larmoyeux has lost in his effort to overturn the arbitration panel ruling that went against him after he sued former partner Bob Montgomery for a bigger share of fees from the 1997 tobacco settlement.