Florida Justices Evade Bar With Go-It-Alone Rulemaking Pattern

The rules for practicing law in Florida are being unilaterally altered by the Florida Supreme Court.

The justices in Florida have adopted rule changes, bypassing insights from the state’s legal experts until after the justices make decisions, in at least 33 opinions since 2019, according to Bloomberg Law analysis. The Florida high court has taken this action twice as frequently since 2019 as it did in the prior four years, when 15 independent rule changes were issued before soliciting public feedback.

During the last four years the court has proactively tweaked rules on mundane subjects—such as expanding a time limit ...