Florida Bar re Amendment to Rules Regulating the Florida Bar, Rule 6-12.1

The Florida Bar has petitioned this Court requesting approval of a mandatory basic skills course for all new admittees of The Florida Bar. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 15, Fla. Const.

The proposed basic skills course is patterned after the present “Bridge-The-Gap” voluntary seminar program which has been sponsored by the Young Lawyers Division of The Florida Bar since 1953. This program covers thirteen separate substantive areas, including ethics, and is taught by experienced attorneys and judges. The course is designed to give recent law graduates the “know-how” otherwise learned through…