Business Law Section Newsletter

June 30, 2025

Message from the Chair

It is my distinct privilege to serve as Chair of the Business Law Section of The Florida Bar for the 2025- 2026 year. Please join me in thanking Manny Farach for a tremendous year. Under Manny’s leadership last year our Section grew in many ways: 11% membership growth to 6,565 members, passing four proactive bills, presenting dozens of CLE programs on cutting edge issues facing the Florida business and legal communities, more than doubling our Section’s fund balance, and the list goes on.

As we look forward, we have a full agenda of programs and events already lined up for this new bar year. Please click here to view the programs and events we have planned for the year thus far, at a glance. The next in person meeting will be held at the family-friendly J.W. Marriott in Marco Island

August 29 – September 1. This event typically sells out, so please register here to reserve your spot

soon.

Every day that I come to the office I pass by my assistant’s desk and say to her “It’s gonna be a great day,” to which she replies, “Yeah it is!” A positive attitude is contagious, I intend to bring this same energy and enthusiasm to each day I serve as your Chair. I do ask one small thing from you:

PARTICIPATION. Please sign up for our programs, come to our meetings, meet new colleagues, join a

study group or task force and take on a new legal issue to improve your knowledge. The Section is full of bright, talented, and welcoming lawyers, judges, and academics of all ages, backgrounds, and experiences. Come join in the fun. I know you, and our Section, will be better for it.

Stephanie Lieb

Upcoming CLE

7/11/2025 Executive Council Boot Camp via zoom

Upcoming Events

8/29-9/1/2025 Annual Labor Day Retreat

11/6/2025 View from the Bench Tampa

11/7/2025 View from the Bench

Miami

Visit the Calendar

Have an idea for a CLE program? Learn how to make it happen here.

Meet your 2025/2026 Executive Council

Meet the Class of 2025/2027 Fellows

The Inclusion, Mentoring and Fellowship Committee is pleased to introduce our latest class of Business Law Section Fellows. The Fellowship Program provides a two-year subsidy to six qualified applicants who express an interest in becoming active in the substantive work and leadership of the Section. The Fellowship Program is designed to assist a multifaced and embracing group of lawyers in becoming better leaders within our profession and the Section, while enhancing their leadership skills.

Read their bios

Meet the 2025 Scholars

A goal of the Business Law Section (BLS) is to recruit young future lawyers. The Scholars Program is designed to further this goal by providing law students the opportunity to meet and interact with a diverse group of business lawyers and judges by attending the Business Law Section’s annual meeting. Through the Scholars Program, another BLS goal is to encourage students to become active BLS members after they graduate, and to educate other law students by promoting BLS within their law school student organizations.

Read their bios

Member Articles

Let the Good Times Roll: How the New 2025 “Glitch Bill” Refines and Improves the Prior Comprehensive Service of Process Legislation Sponsored by the Business Law Section

By: Zane W. Katz and James B. Murphy, Jr.

During the 2022 session, stemming from an initiative of a task force of the Business Law Section of The Florida Bar (the “Task Force”), the Florida Legislature passed S.B. 1062, subsequently codified as Chapter 2022-190, Laws of Florida. This lengthy and comprehensive legislation (the “2022 Legislation”) made major changes to the way in which original process, i.e. the summons and complaint required to initiate a civil lawsuit, is effectuated in proceedings in Florida state courts. The intent of the 2022 Legislation was to clarify, simplify and modernize the overly complex, sometimes duplicative, and often arcane methods and procedures for service of process set forth under the existing matrix of statutes.

Read on

Opinion Piece: Why Lawyers Working in AI, Web3, and Emerging Tech Must Rethink Compensation Structures

By Jennifer D. Newton

In the traditional legal services model, value is calculated by the hour. The assumption is that legal insight is tied directly to the time spent on research, drafting, or advising. While this approach may have worked well for industries grounded in relatively static regulatory frameworks, it begins to fall apart in the rapidly evolving worlds of artificial intelligence (AI), Web3, and frontier technology.

Read on

From the Florida Bar Journal

A Legal Roller Coaster: The Corporate Transparency Act

By Peter J. Guala and Morrie I. Levine

When originally enacted, millions of U.S. businesses and foreign entities registered to do business within the U.S. were impacted by the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), which resulted in multiple federal lawsuits. Injunctions were issued back and forth. This article summarizes what the CTA required and where we are with the implementation of the law.

Read on

Do you have an idea for an article? Submit Business Law Section blog articles here. Submit Florida Bar Journal articles here.