Rule Text (verbatim from The Florida Bar)
(a) A lawyer who, under the auspices of a program sponsored
by a nonprofit organization, court, government agency, bar
association or an American Bar Association-accredited law school,
provides short-term limited legal services to a client without
expectation by either the lawyer or the client that the lawyer will
provide continuing representation in the matter:
(1) is subject to rules 4-1.7 and 4-1.9(a) only if the
lawyer knows that the representation of the client involves a conflict
of interest; and
(2) is subject to rule 4-1.10 only if the lawyer knows that
another lawyer associated with the lawyer in a law firm is
disqualified by rule 4-1.7 or 4-1.9(a) with respect to the matter.
(b) Except as provided in subdivision (a)(2), rule 4-1.10 is
inapplicable to a representation governed by this rule.
Educational reference. This page summarizes a Florida Rule of Professional Conduct for educational purposes. The rule text and Comment are mirrored from the Florida Bar's official publication and are public domain. The plain-English summary and any commentary are the opinion of Phillips, Hunt & Walker and are general information only — not legal advice. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you believe a Florida lawyer has violated this rule, you can file a complaint with The Florida Bar at floridabar.org. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
What this rule means in plain English
A Florida lawyer can provide short-term legal services through a court-annexed or nonprofit program — like a courthouse clinic for unrepresented litigants — without forming a long-term attorney-client relationship. The rule relaxes some conflict-of-interest screening for these brief consultations, recognizing that without that relaxation, lawyers couldn’t help walk-in clinic clients without first conflict-checking every law firm matter ever.
Florida Bar Ethics Opinions interpreting this rule
- Opinion 71-69 (1971)
<p>A group of Florida lawyers can form a nonprofit corporation to provide free legal services to people who cannot afford counsel but don't qualify for traditional Legal Aid. The structure must avoid any nonlawyer control over the legal services and any improper fee arrangements, but the basic concept — lawyers banding together to serve a gap population — has explicit Bar blessing.</p>
Read on floridabar.org →
Comment (verbatim from The Florida Bar)
Legal services organizations, courts, government agencies,
local and voluntary bar associations, law schools and various
nonprofit organizations have established programs through which
lawyers provide short-term limited legal services, such as advice or
the completion of legal forms, that will assist persons to address
their legal problems without further representation by a lawyer. In
these programs, such as legal-advice hotlines, advice-only clinics or
pro se counseling programs, a client-lawyer relationship is
established, but there is no expectation that the lawyer’s
representation of the client will continue beyond the limited
consultation. These programs are normally operated under
circumstances in which it is not feasible for a lawyer to
systematically screen for conflicts of interest as is generally required
before undertaking a representation. See, e.g., rules 4-1.7, 4-1.9
and 4-1.10.
A lawyer who provides short-term limited legal services under
this rule must obtain the client’s informed consent to the limited
scope of the representation. See rule 4-1.2(c). However, a lawyer is
not required to obtain the consent in writing. Id. If a short-term
limited representation would not be reasonable under the
circumstances, the lawyer may offer advice to the client but must
also advise the client of the need for further assistance of counsel.
Except as provided in this rule, the Rules of Professional Conduct,
including rules 4-1.6 and 4-1.9(b) and (c), are applicable to the
limited representation.
Because a lawyer who is representing a client in the
circumstances addressed by this rule ordinarily is not able to check
systematically for conflicts of interest, subdivision (a) requires
compliance with rules 4-1.7 or 4-1.9(a) only if the lawyer knows
that the representation presents a conflict of interest for the lawyer,
and with rule 4-1.10 only if the lawyer knows that another lawyer in
the lawyer’s firm is disqualified by rules 4-1.7 or 4-1.9(a) in the
matter.
Because the limited nature of the services significantly
reduces the risk of conflicts of interest with other matters being
handled by the lawyer’s firm, subdivision (b) provides that rule 4-
1.10 is inapplicable to a representation governed by this rule except
as provided by subdivision (a)(2). Subdivision (a)(2) requires the
participating lawyer to comply with rule 4-1.10 when the lawyer
knows that the lawyer’s firm is disqualified by rules 4-1.7 or 4-
1.9(a). Because of subdivision (b), however, a lawyer’s participation
in a short-term limited legal services program will not preclude the
lawyer’s firm from undertaking or continuing the representation of a
client with interests adverse to a client being represented under the
program’s auspices. Nor will the personal disqualification of a
lawyer participating in the program be imputed to other lawyers
participating in the program.
If, after commencing a short-term limited representation in
accordance with this rule, a lawyer undertakes to represent the
client in the matter on an ongoing basis, rules 4-1.7, 4-1.9(a) and 4-
1.10 become applicable.
Added November 20, 2017 (228 So.3d 1117).
4-7. INFORMATION ABOUT LEGAL SERVICES