(a) Appointment and Terms. Members of the standing committee on UPL are appointed by the Supreme Court of Florida, with advice from the Board of Governors of The Florida Bar. The committee must consist of 25 members, including 12 nonlawyers. The board appoints a chair and at least 1 vice-chair who may be nonlawyers. All appointments to the standing committee are for a 3-year term. A member may not serve more than 2 full consecutive terms. One-third of the members of the standing committee constitutes a quorum. Members of the standing committee are not subject to removal by the court during their terms of office except for cause. Cause may include unexcused absences from scheduled meetings, the number to be set by the standing committee in an attendance policy. (b) Recusal. A member of the standing committee must not perform any standing committee function when that member: (1) is related by blood or marriage to the complainant or respondent; (2) has a financial, business, property, or personal interest in the matter under consideration or with the complainant or respondent; (3) has a personal interest that could be affected by the outcome of the proceedings or that could affect the outcome; or (4) is prejudiced or biased toward either the complainant or the respondent. Members should recuse themselves from participation in further proceedings on notice of any of the prohibitions. The standing committee chair may disqualify any member from any proceeding in which any of the above prohibitions exists. The chair must state the prohibition on the record or in writing in a file.
Amended July 23, 1992, effective 1/1/1993 (605 So.2d 252); 6/27/1996, effective 7/1/1996 (677 So.2d 272); 7/17/1997 (697 So.2d 115); 12/20/2007, effective 3/1/2008 (SC06-736), (978 So.2d 91); amended May 29, 2014, effective 6/1/2014 (SC12-2234).