1. The purpose of these Rules and Standards ("PRC" Rules) is to provide an orderly and speedy method for the Peer Review Council ("PRC") of the Professionalism Committee of the Broward County Bar Association ("BCBA") to review and evaluate referrals ("Referrals") made by attorneys and judges.

2. An attorney or judge who observes the conduct on the part of another attorney that is inconsistent with The Ideals and Standards of Professionalism published by The Florida Bar or the Standards of Professional Courtesy published by the BCBA, may request by Referral that the PRC consider the matter.

3. A Referral is directed by letter to the Chairperson of the BCBA Professionalism Committee , who shall refer it to the PRC, which is charged with the responsibility of reviewing the matter and determining whether it justifies a referral to the Peer Review Council Advisory Board ("PRC Board").

4. The attorney who is the subject of a referral is called the "Referred Attorney." The attorney or judge who refers the matter is called the "Referring Party."

5. The PRC shall be a subcommittee of the BCBA Professionalism Committee . The function of the PRC is to review and evaluate the Referral and provide a written recommendation to the PRC Board.

6. The PRC shall be comprised of a Chair and no fewer than 24 members, all of whom must be members in good standing of The Florida Bar with a minimum of 10 years of practice in various fields of law. A quorum of any meeting of the PRC shall consist of 5 members.

7. The Chair of the PRC shall be appointed by the Chair of the Professionalism Committee. The members of the PRC shall be appointed by the Chief Judge, President of the BCBA, Chair of the PRC, and Chair of the Professionalism Committee.

8. The PRC Board shall be comprised of the Chief Judge, the Administrative Judges of the Circuit Civil, Family, Criminal, Juvenile, and Probate Divisions, the Administrative Judge of the County Court, the heads of the County Civil and County Criminal Divisions, the President of the BCBA, and a representative of The Florida Bar Board of Governors for Broward County's Judicial Circuit, recipients of the BCBA Professionalism Award, and the attorney members of the PRC. A quorum of the Board shall consist of three members one of whom shall be a judge .

9. The Chair of the PRC Board shall be the Chief Judge or someone appointed by the Chief Judge. Upon notice to the PRC Board Chair of receipt of a Referral, the PRC Board Chair shall appoint a panel of three members of the PRC Board ("PRC Panel"), at least one of whom shall not be a judge, to receive the Referral and all accompanying documents, which shall be transmitted directly from the Chair of the PRC to the non-judge member of the PRC Panel. Such PRC Panesl shall be appointed by the Chief Judge on a rotating basis as necessary.

10. All Referrals, supporting materials, and reports received or generated by the PRC, the PRC Panel, or the PRC Board are and shall remain the property of the BCBA. All written materials shall remain in the possession of the non-judge member of the PRC Panel, and no written material shall be expected to be prepared by, or under the auspices of, any of the judge members of the PRC or PRC Board.

11. A Referral shall be in writing and must include the following information:

1. the name, address and telephone number of the Referring Party and the Referred Attorney ;
2. the facts upon which the Referral is based, including all documents which support, contradict or mitigate the allegations in the Referral;
3. the names of any other persons who witnessed or have first hand knowledge of the alleged conduct; and,
4. which Standards the Referring Party believes were violated.

All Referrals must be signed by the Referring Party. A acceptable form of Referral is attached as Exhibit "A."

12. Referrals must be sent to the Chair of the BCBA Professional Committee, c/o BCBA, 1051 SE 3rd Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33316, who shall delegate each Referral to a PRC Panel on a rotating basis for initial review. The PRC Panel may contact the Referring Party to request additional information or documents as needed, but is not obligated to independently investigate the allegations contained in the Referral.

13. The PRC Panel shall complete the initial review in no more than fourteen (14) days unless it is awaiting additional materials from the Referring Party, in which case it shall complete its initial review and determination in no more than fourteen (14) days from the date upon which it receives the additional materials.

14. If the PRC Panel determines that the Referral does not state a violation of any Standard, then it shall so notify the Referring Party and the PRC*s consideration of the Referral shall be complete. In this event, the Referral and all accompanying documents will be destroyed.

15. If the PRC Panel determines that the referral states a violation of the Standards, it shall provide a copy of the Referral to the Referred Attorney and shall notify the Referred Attorney in writing that the Referral states a violation of the Standards. The Referred Attorney shall then have fourteen (14) days from receipt of the PRC's notification in which to submit a signed, written response to the PRC Panel .

16. All communication from the PRC Panel to the Referred Attorney shall be in writing, shall be marked "Personal and Confidential," and shall be addressed to the Referred Attorney.

17. Upon receipt of the response from the Referred Attorney, or upon the expiration of twenty (20) days within which no response is received, the PRC Panel shall have seven (7) days to determine whether the evidence demonstrates no violation of the Standards, a justified violation of the Standards, or an unjustified violation of the Standards. If a majority of the PRC Panel determines that no violation has occurred, or that a violation was justified, then it shall so notify both the Referring Party and the Referred Attorney in writing within seven (7) days of its determination, and consideration of the referral shall be complete. In this event, the Referral and all accompanying documents shall be destroyed. If a majority of the PRC Panel determines that an unjustified violation has occurred, then the PRC Panel shall prepare and transmit within seven (7) days of its determination a written report, along with any materials regarding the Referral, to the PRC Board .

18. The PRC Panel's report shall contain a brief summary of the facts upon which the Referral is based, a statement of the Standards that have been violated, the conclusions drawn by the PRC Panel, the recommended disposition, and a brief statement of reasons supporting the recommendation. An acceptable form of the PRC Panel's report is attached as Exhibit "B."

19. Upon submission to the PRC Board, the PRC Panel's report shall be final and not subject to rehearing, amendment, or modification, by the PRC or the PRC Panel, or future proceedings before the PRC Panel. All further proceedings concerning the Referral shall be before the PRC Board.

20. Within seven (7) days of receipt of the PRC Panel's report and accompanying materials, the PRC Board shall set a date for a meeting between the PRC Board and the Referred Attorney, which meeting shall occur no later than fourteen (14) days from the PRC Board*s receipt of the referral, if possible. Notice of the meeting shall be in writing and transmitted by telefacsimile or regular mail to each member of the PRC Board and to the Referred Attorney, marked "Personal and Confidential." The meeting shall be closed to the public, and all statements made during the meeting shall remain confidential for all purposes.

21. The PRC Board may do any or all of the following at its meeting with the Referred Attorney:

1. Identify and discuss the violated Standard or Standards and explain their purpose .
2. Discuss the conduct of the Referred Attorney and explain the reasons for the violation.
3. Recommend ways in which the Referred Attorney should alter his/her conduct in the future to avoid a recurrence of the conduct.

22. The Board may not do any of the following at or after its meeting with the Referred Attorney:

1. Impose any sanction or penalty.
2. Unduly embarrass, harass or belittle the Referred Attorney.
3. Prepare any writing containing its findings.

After the meeting, the PRC Panel's report, the Referral, and all accompanying documents shall be destroyed. The only record kept of the proceedings will be an anonymous evaluation sheet of the type used in CLE seminars.

23. Any member of the PRC or PRC Board may abstain from reviewing a particular Referral if he/she believes that he/she cannot be completely objective and fair throughout the review process. If at any time a PRC member feels that there is a conflict of interest concerning that attorney*s evaluation of a Referral, then the member may excuse himself or herself from further proceedings about the Referral by advising the PRC or the PRC Board of the conflict and taking no further part in the proceedings. Any judge should abstain from reviewing a Referral if it appears that the Referred Attorney's majority of practice is in the same area of law.

24. The PRC Rules may be amended from time to time by a majority vote of the PRC, subject to approval by the Board of Directors of the BCBA and the Chief Judge of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit.