Seminar Covered How to Avoid Attorney Discipline

Ita M. Neymotin, past chair of the Standing Committee on Professionalism and regional counsel for the 2nd District Court of Appeal, and the Hon. Ed Brodsky, state attorney for the 12th Judicial Circuit of Florida and president of the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association, recently hosted a seminar, " Professionalism: What to Know About Florida's Lawyer Discipline System and How to Avoid It."

F. Scott Westheimer of The Florida Bar Board of Governors was the guest speaker for the Dec. 6, 2021 event. He gave a wonderful educational presentation on how to avoid being disciplined as an attorney. He emphasized the importance of being professional; complying with trust accounting rules; doing conflict checks; paying attention to CLE credits and fee statements; using fee agreements; providing regular billing statements; using declination letters; being clear and timely in all communications with the clients; using social media appropriately; and getting help for stress and/or addictions.

Westheimer also gave examples of what not to do and showed videos of how professional attorneys should not act. Finally, he talked about different free tools and resources that attorneys have access to, such as LegalFuel.com and The Florida Bar Ethics hotline.