| 15 | 15 | | An act relating to advertisements for legal services; 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | creating s. 501.139, F.S.; defining terms; specifying 3 |
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| 17 | 17 | | prohibited practices relating to advertisements for 4 |
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| 18 | 18 | | legal services; requiring persons and entities that 5 |
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| 19 | 19 | | issue advertisements for legal services to s olicit 6 |
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| 20 | 20 | | certain clients to include specified information and 7 |
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| 21 | 21 | | statements in such advertisements; providing 8 |
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| 22 | 22 | | requirements for such written and verbal statements; 9 |
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| 23 | 23 | | providing that the person or entity that issues an 10 |
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| 24 | 24 | | advertisement for legal services is solely resp onsible 11 |
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| 25 | 25 | | for ensuring such advertisements comply with specified 12 |
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| 26 | 26 | | provisions; providing media entities with immunity 13 |
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| 27 | 27 | | from liability for disseminating another person's or 14 |
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| 28 | 28 | | entity's advertisement for legal services which 15 |
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| 29 | 29 | | violates specified provisions; providing 16 |
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| 30 | 30 | | applicability; prohibiting the use, obtaining, sale, 17 |
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| 31 | 31 | | transfer, or disclosure of a consumer's protected 18 |
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| 32 | 32 | | health information for a specified purpose without 19 |
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| 33 | 33 | | written authorization; providing an exception; 20 |
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| 34 | 34 | | providing that certain violations are deemed deceptive 21 |
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| 35 | 35 | | and unfair trade practices; providing construction; 22 |
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| 36 | 36 | | providing an effective date. 23 |
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| 37 | 37 | | 24 |
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| 38 | 38 | | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 25 |
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| 46 | 46 | | Page 2 of 6 |
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| 47 | 47 | | F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S |
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| 49 | 49 | | |
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| 50 | 50 | | |
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| 51 | 51 | | 26 |
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| 52 | 52 | | Section 1. Section 501.139, Florida Statutes, is created 27 |
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| 53 | 53 | | to read: 28 |
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| 54 | 54 | | 501.139 Advertisements for legal servic es.- 29 |
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| 55 | 55 | | (1) As used in this section, the term: 30 |
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| 56 | 56 | | (a) "Advertisement for legal services" means any 31 |
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| 57 | 57 | | representation disseminated in any manner through a media entity 32 |
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| 58 | 58 | | for the purpose of soliciting prospective clients for legal 33 |
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| 59 | 59 | | services. The term includes such s olicitation by a person with 34 |
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| 60 | 60 | | the intent to transfer data obtained from the consumer to one or 35 |
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| 61 | 61 | | more attorneys for legal services. 36 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (b) "Media entity" means a radio broadcast station, a 37 |
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| 63 | 63 | | television broadcast station, a cable television company, a 38 |
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| 64 | 64 | | newspaper company, a periodical company, a billboard company, an 39 |
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| 65 | 65 | | advertising agency, a digital media platform, or a bona fide 40 |
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| 66 | 66 | | news or public interest website operator. 41 |
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| 67 | 67 | | (c) "Protected health information" has the same meaning as 42 |
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| 68 | 68 | | provided in 45 C.F.R. s. 160.103. 43 |
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| 69 | 69 | | (d) "Solicit" means attempting to procure a client for 44 |
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| 70 | 70 | | legal services by initiating unsolicited personal, telephone, or 45 |
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| 71 | 71 | | real-time electronic contact or by advertising such services 46 |
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| 72 | 72 | | through print media, video or audio recorded advertisements, or 47 |
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| 73 | 73 | | electronic communications. 48 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (2) A person or an entity that issues an advertisement for 49 |
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| 75 | 75 | | legal services may not do any of the following: 50 |
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| 83 | 83 | | Page 3 of 6 |
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| 84 | 84 | | F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S |
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| 86 | 86 | | |
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| 87 | 87 | | |
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| 88 | 88 | | (a) Present the advertisement as a medical alert, health 51 |
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| 89 | 89 | | alert, drug alert, or public service announcement or use any 52 |
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| 90 | 90 | | substantially similar phrase that suggests to a reasonable 53 |
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| 91 | 91 | | consumer that the advertisement is offering professional or 54 |
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| 92 | 92 | | medical advice or advice from a state or federal governmental 55 |
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| 93 | 93 | | entity or an entity approved by or affiliated with a state or 56 |
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| 94 | 94 | | federal governmental entit y. 57 |
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| 95 | 95 | | (b) Display the logo of a state or federal governmental 58 |
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| 96 | 96 | | entity in a manner that suggests to a reasonable consumer that 59 |
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| 97 | 97 | | the advertisement is presented by a state or federal 60 |
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| 98 | 98 | | governmental entity or an entity approved by or affiliated with 61 |
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| 99 | 99 | | a state or federal governmental entity. 62 |
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| 100 | 100 | | (c) Use the term "recall" when referring to a product that 63 |
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| 101 | 101 | | has not been recalled in accordance with applicable state or 64 |
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| 102 | 102 | | federal regulations. 65 |
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| 103 | 103 | | (3) A person or an entity that issues a n advertisement for 66 |
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| 104 | 104 | | legal services to solicit c lients who may allege injury from a 67 |
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| 105 | 105 | | prescription drug or medical device approved by the United 68 |
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| 106 | 106 | | States Food and Drug Administration shall include all of the 69 |
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| 107 | 107 | | following in the advertisement : 70 |
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| 108 | 108 | | (a) The statement, "This is a paid advertisement for legal 71 |
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| 109 | 109 | | services," which must appear at the beginning of the 72 |
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| 110 | 110 | | advertisement. 73 |
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| 111 | 111 | | (b) The identity of the sponsor of the advertisement. 74 |
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| 112 | 112 | | (c) Either the identity of the attorney or the law firm 75 |
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| 120 | 120 | | Page 4 of 6 |
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| 125 | 125 | | that will be primarily responsible for providing the solicited 76 |
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| 126 | 126 | | legal services to a consumer who engages the attorney or the law 77 |
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| 127 | 127 | | firm in response to the advertisement or an explanation of how a 78 |
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| 128 | 128 | | responding consumer's case will be referred to an attorney or a 79 |
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| 129 | 129 | | law firm if the sponsor of the advertisement is not licensed to 80 |
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| 130 | 130 | | practice law. 81 |
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| 131 | 131 | | (d) A statement that the prescription drug or medical 82 |
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| 132 | 132 | | device approved by the United States Food and Drug 83 |
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| 133 | 133 | | Administration remains approved unless it has been recalled in 84 |
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| 134 | 134 | | accordance with appl icable state or federal regulations. 85 |
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| 135 | 135 | | (e) The statement, "Consult your physician before making 86 |
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| 136 | 136 | | any decision regarding prescribed medication or medical 87 |
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| 137 | 137 | | treatment." 88 |
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| 138 | 138 | | (4) The statements required to appear in an advertisement 89 |
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| 139 | 139 | | under this section must be made in both written and verbal 90 |
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| 140 | 140 | | formats, except that a print-only advertisement may include the 91 |
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| 141 | 141 | | statements in written format only and an audio -only 92 |
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| 142 | 142 | | advertisement may include the statements in verbal format only. 93 |
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| 143 | 143 | | (a) Required written statements must appear in a clear and 94 |
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| 144 | 144 | | conspicuous font and manner and, for visual advertisements, must 95 |
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| 145 | 145 | | appear on screen for a sufficient length of time for a 96 |
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| 146 | 146 | | reasonable consumer to read the statement. A written statement 97 |
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| 147 | 147 | | is presumed to comply with the requirements of this subsectio n 98 |
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| 148 | 148 | | if it appears in the same font style and size and for the same 99 |
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| 149 | 149 | | duration as a printed reference to the telephone number or 100 |
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| 158 | 158 | | F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S |
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| 161 | 161 | | |
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| 162 | 162 | | website that a consumer is to use to contact the entity for the 101 |
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| 163 | 163 | | advertised legal services, provided that such duration is at 102 |
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| 164 | 164 | | least 10 seconds. 103 |
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| 165 | 165 | | (b) Required verbal statements must be audible, 104 |
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| 166 | 166 | | intelligible, and presented with equal prominence and speed as 105 |
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| 167 | 167 | | the other parts of the advertisement. A verbal statement is 106 |
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| 168 | 168 | | presumed to comply with the requirements of this subsection if 107 |
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| 169 | 169 | | it is made at approximately the same volume and uses 108 |
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| 170 | 170 | | approximately the same number of words per minute as used when 109 |
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| 171 | 171 | | presenting other information in the advertisement which is not 110 |
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| 172 | 172 | | required under this section. 111 |
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| 173 | 173 | | (5) The person or entity that issues an advertisement for 112 |
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| 174 | 174 | | legal services is solely responsible for ensuring that such 113 |
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| 175 | 175 | | advertisement complies with this section, and a media entity may 114 |
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| 176 | 176 | | not be held liable or subjected to any penalty for producing, 115 |
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| 177 | 177 | | distributing, transmitting, displaying, publishing, or otherwise 116 |
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| 178 | 178 | | disseminating another person's or entity's advertisement for 117 |
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| 179 | 179 | | legal services which violates this section. 118 |
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| 180 | 180 | | (6) This section does not apply to an advertisement that 119 |
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| 181 | 181 | | has been reviewed and approved by an ethics or disciplinary 120 |
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| 182 | 182 | | committee of The Florida Bar in accordance with its rules of 121 |
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| 183 | 183 | | professional conduct. 122 |
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| 184 | 184 | | (7) A person or an entity may not use, cause to be used, 123 |
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| 185 | 185 | | obtain, sell, transfer, or disclose a consumer's protected 124 |
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| 186 | 186 | | health information to another person or entity for the purpose 125 |
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| 194 | 194 | | Page 6 of 6 |
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| 195 | 195 | | F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S |
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| 199 | 199 | | of soliciting the consum er for legal services without written 126 |
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| 200 | 200 | | authorization from that consumer. This subsection does not apply 127 |
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| 201 | 201 | | to the use or disclosure of protected health information to an 128 |
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| 202 | 202 | | individual's legal representative in the course of any judicial 129 |
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| 203 | 203 | | or administrative proceedi ng or as otherwise permitted or 130 |
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| 204 | 204 | | required by law. 131 |
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| 205 | 205 | | (8) A violation of this section is deemed a deceptive and 132 |
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| 206 | 206 | | unfair trade practice subject to enforcement under part II of 133 |
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| 207 | 207 | | this chapter. 134 |
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| 208 | 208 | | (9) This section does not limit or otherwise affect the 135 |
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| 209 | 209 | | authority of The Florida Bar to regulate the practice of law, 136 |
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| 210 | 210 | | enforce its rules of professional conduct, or discipline any 137 |
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| 211 | 211 | | person admitted to practice law in this state . 138 |
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| 212 | 212 | | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 139 |
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