The Florida Bar has filed a petition to amend the Rules Regulating the Florida Bar to include new rules that establish a process by which the spouse of a member of the United States Armed Forces stationed in Florida may obtain authorization to practice law in Florida without taking the Florida Bar Exam. In a companion petition, the Florida Board of Bar Examiners proposes amending the Rules of the Supreme Court Relating to Admissions to the Bar to include a new rule that sets out the application fee a person seeking authorization under the Bar’s proposal must pay.
The Court having considered the proposed amendments, and the comment filed, both petitions are. hereby dismissed.
The Bar and the Board are directed to file a joint petition within ninety days' of the date of this order that imposes additional restrictions on those requesting authorization to practice law in Florida as the spouse of a member of the United States Armed Forces. .Such restrictions must include a time limit on the duration of the authorization and must require that all persons who receive authorization associate, either through participation in a law firm or through mentorship, with a member of the Bar who is eligible to practice law in Florida for the duration of the authorization.
LABARGA, C.J., and PARIENTE, LEWIS, QUINCE, and POLSTON, JJ„ concur. LAWSON, J., dissents with an opinion, in which CANADY, J., concurs.