Smith Hulsey & Busey shareholder Lanny Russell’s commentary on professionalism in the legal industry was published by the Jacksonville Daily Record this month. Russell, who serves as chair of the Jacksonville Bar Association’s Professionalism Committee, explains how the Florida Supreme Court and The Florida Bar want errant lawyers to improve their conduct.
“After observing that lawyer professionalism may be in decline, the state Supreme Court … [has directed] the chief judge of each Florida circuit court to create a Local Professionalism Panel,” Russell writes. “These panels receive, screen and act upon complaints of unprofessional lawyer conduct. It is the [panel’s] responsibility to resolve complaints informally and, if not, refer potential meritorious complaints alleging violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct to The Florida Bar.”
According to the 2021 Florida Bar member survey, 32% of respondents believed lack of professionalism is one of the three most serious problems facing the legal profession. The survey also reported that 60% of Florida lawyers experience extreme unprofessional conduct “frequently or occasionally.”
Read the full article here.
Russell is a business litigation attorney with more than 35 years of experience in trials, mediations and arbitrations. He was recently appointed Chair of the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court’s Professionalism Panel, and was also named to The Florida Bar’s Constitutional Judiciary Committee this year.
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