FLORIDA BOARD OF BAR EXAMINERS RE: AMENDMENTS TO RULES OF THE SUPREME COURT RELATING TO ADMISSIONS TO THE BAR
NO. SC06-1074, 2007 WL 3024353
SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA, OCTOBER 18, 2007


FACTS: The Florida Board of Bar Examiners petitioned the Supreme Court of Florida to amend the Supreme Court Rules for Admission to the Florida Bar. In pertinent part, the amendment to rule 4-17.1 “Accommodations” stated that “In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, test accommodations are provided by the board at no additional cost to applicants.” Other significant amendments included combining the applications for taking the bar exam and for admission to the bar into one application, and requiring that all applications are completed and submitted online.
  
RULING:  The Court adopted the proposed amendments, which will take effect on May 1, 2008.

POLICY & PROCEDURE:

Equal Benefit. With this decision, the Court acknowledges its obligations under Title II of the ADA to ensure that qualified bar applicants with disabilities enjoy equal participation in the benefits, services, programs, and activities of the Florida State Bar.

Online Bar Application Requirement. This requirement may pose barriers to applicants with visual impairments if the Florida Supreme Court website does not meet minimum accessibility guidelines.

LINKS:  
* Decision: http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/2007/sc06-1074.pdf
* Supreme Court of Florida ADA Compliance: http://www.flcourts.org/gen_public/pubs/adamain.shtml
* “Professional Licensing Issues: Title II of the ADA applied to State and Local Professional Licensing”: http://www.sedbtac.org/legalissues.php?idpg=54#othercasepubs 

Prepared by the legal research staff of the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI):
Centers of Innovation on Disability at Syracuse University (http://bbi.syr.edu/) for the DBTAC: Southeast ADA Center (Southeast DBTAC). This document does not provide legal advice. If you have further questions about the issues of this case that relate to you, please consult an attorney licensed in your state.