1. The Docket November 2010Page five
THE DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS SERIES
STEPHEN R. LEIMBERG is CEO of Leimberg and LeClair,
Inc., an estate and financial planning software company, President of
Leimberg Associates, Inc., a publishing and software company in Bryn
Mawr, Pennsylvania, and Publisher of Leimberg Information Services,
Inc. which provides e-mail based news, opinion, and information for tax
professionals. He is the author of numerous books on estate, financial,
and employee benefit and retirement planning as well as a nationally
known speaker. He has addressed the Miami Tax Institute, the NYU Tax
Institute, the Notre Dame Law School and Duke University Law School’s
Estate Planning Conference, the National Association of Estate Planners
and Councils, and the AICPA’s National Estate Planning Forum.
Join us for Distinguished Speaker
Stephen R. Leimberg
November 9, 2010 - 8:30 -10:30 a.m. seminar
“Creative Uses of Life Insurance in Estate Planning”
Community Foundation of Sarasota County - 2635 Fruitville Road, Sarasota
Complimentary for Professional Advisors
Register online at www.cfsarasota.org.
“The Distinguished Speakers Series is invaluable to estate planning advisors
in the community because it provides at least four opportunities a year to
hear top notch speakers from all over the U.S. Every seminar also offers
continuing education credits for timely topics, and a great venue
to socialize and network.”
— CHARLA BURCHETT, ESQ.
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION BOARD CHAIR
TWO CREDITS PENDING FOR CFP, CPA, ATTORNEY AND TRUST OFFICER.
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As of October 1, 2010, several
important changes to Rule 2.420
of the Florida Rules of Judicial
Administration became effective.
Rule 2.420 deals with public access
to Court records and administrative
records of the judicial branch. In conjunction with
the Florida Constitution and the Florida Statutes,
Rule 2.420 controls which records are accessible
to the public and how they may be reviewed. The
goal of the amendments was to “balance the public’s
constitutional right to access to court records with the
court’s responsibility to protect from public access court
records that are confidential.” In re: Amendments to
Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.420 and the
Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure, No. SC07-2050
(Fla. Mar. 18, 2010) (hereinafter “In re: Amendments
to Fla. R. of Jud. Admin.”). The amendments also bring
the Florida court system one step closer to the goal
of providing the public with electronic access to court
records. The rule’s scope is broadened as a result of the
recent amendments, and it now applies to anybody filing
any document in a Florida state court.
The changes to the rule mean that lawyers have
the primary burden of protecting the confidentiality of
Florida court records. The amended Rule 2.420 includes
a complete process for identifying and segregating
confidential information, for sealing and unsealing
court files, and for reviewing orders issued under the
rule. All lawyers should become familiar with the
requirements of the rule in order to avoid possible
sanctions. The procedure for notifying the Clerk of
Court that confidential information is contained within
a filing depends on whether the confidential information
is specifically listed in the rule or may arguably be
confidential under one of the 1,006 Florida statutory or
federal exemptions.
Under the newly amended Rule 2.420, any pleading
or document containing one or more of 19 specific items
determined to be confidential in a court record must be
accompanied by a form entitled “Notice of Confidential
Information with Court Filing.” The form delineates 19
items that must be kept confidential, including:
(i) Chapter 39 records relating to dependency
matters, termination of parental rights, guardians ad
litem, child abuse, neglect, and abandonment. §39.0132
(3) Fla. Stat.
(ii) Adoption records. §63.162, Fla. Stat.
(iii) Social Security, bank account, charge, debit,
and credit card numbers in court records. §119.0714(1)
(i)-(j), (2)(a)-(e), Fla. Stat. (Unless redaction is requested
pursuant to 119.0714(2), this information is exempt only
as of January 1, 2011.)
(iv) HIV test results and patient identity within
those test results. §381.004(3)(e), Fla. Stat.
(v) Sexually-transmitted diseases – test results and
identity within the test results when provided by the
Department of Health or the department’s authorized
representative. §384.29, Fla. Stat.
(vi) Birth and death certificates, including court-
issued delayed birth certificates and fetal death
certificates. §§382.008(6), 382.025(1)(a), Fla. Stat.
(vii) Identifying information in a petition by a minor
for waiver of parental notice when seeking to terminate
pregnancy. §390.01116, Fla. Stat.
(viii) Identifying information in clinical mental
health records under the Baker Act. §394.4615(7), Fla.
Stat.
(ix) Records of substance abuse service providers
which pertain to the identity, diagnosis, and prognosis
of and service provision to individuals who have received
services from substance abuse providers. §397.501(7),
Fla. Stat.
(x) Identifying information in clinical records of
detained criminal defendants found incompetent to
proceed or acquitted by reason on insanity. §916.107(8).
(xi) Estate inventories and accountings. §733.604(1),
Fla. Stat.
(xii) The victim’s address in a domestic violence
action on petitioner’s request. §741.30(3)(b), Fla. Stat.
(xiii) Information identifying victims of sexual
offenses, including child sexual abuse. §§119.071(2)(h),
119.0714(1)(h), Fla. Stat.
(xiv) Gestational surrogacy records. §742.16(9), Fla.
Stat.
(xv) Guardianship reports and orders appointing
monitors in guardianship cases.
(xvi) Grand jury records. Ch. 905, Fla. Stat.
(xvii) Information acquired by courts and law
enforcement regarding family services for children.
§984.06(3)-(4), Fla. Stat.
(xviii) Juvenile delinquency records. §§985.04(1),
985.045(2), Fla. Stat.
(xix) Information disclosing the identity of persons
subject to tuberculosis proceedings and records of the
Department of Health in suspected tuberculosis cases.
§§392.545, 392.65, Fla. Stat.
Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.420 (d)(1)(B)(i)-(xix).
If the confidential information pertains to a non-
party identified by name in the record, the filer of a
Notice of Confidential Information with Court Filing,
Motion for Confidentiality or Motion to Vacate an
Order Determining Confidentiality must provide notice
to the affected non-party as described in section (d)(4)
of Rule 2.420. The Clerk then must review the Notice
upon receipt to determine whether the information
is facially confidential. If the Clerk agrees, it must
protect the confidentiality of the information described
in the Notice. In the event that the Clerk disagrees,
it must send a notice of the disagreement to the filer
within 5 days of the filing date informing the filer.
The filer then has 10 days after the date of the Clerk’s
notice of disagreement to file a Motion to Determine
Confidentiality. If the filer fails to the file a Motion for
Confidentiality within the applicable time period, the
Clerk may make the disputed information available for
public view.
Look for Part Two of this article in the next
edition of The Docket, which will discuss the Motion
for Confidentiality under Rule 2.420, the Rule’s
applicability to appellate cases, as well as ethical
considerations.
Keeping It Confidential: What Every Lawyer Needs to Know About the Recent
Amendments to Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.420: PART I
By Deirdre F. Aretini, Esq., Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP
There is no Docket printed in
December. Deadline for the January
issue is Friday, December 3. Happy
Holidays from all of us on the Docket
staff -- Adam Portnow, Cyndi Riddell,
Shirley Branch, Denise Pendleton & Jan
Jung. See you all in 2011!
Aretini