The Florida Supreme Court’s Mediator Ethics Advisory Committee (MEAC) has been issuing formal advisory ethics opinions to certified and court-appointed mediators since 1994. MEAC opinions deal with mediation-related ethics questions governed primarily by Florida’s Rules for Certified and Court-Appointed Mediators.
After 20 years in the trenches, I’m convinced one of the best risk-management tools available to practicing lawyers are our ethics rules. Not because we need someone to tell us it’s a bad idea to lie, steal or cheat; but because we need someone to point out the pitfalls that are NOT self-evident. As former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld famously put it, it’s the “unknown, unknowns” you need to worry about.
Which is why MEAC opinions are a valuable resource more of us should be aware of. To that end I’m giving a presentation at the Dade County Bar Association’s Probate and Guardianship Committee lunch for Thursday, September 8, 2016 on the MEAC opinions published in 2014 (see here) and 2015 (see here). If you’re able to attend, you should. It’ll be time well spent. Click here for event/registration details and here for my outline.