FL · rules
Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.113
Minimum Standards for Attorneys in Felony Cases
Before an attorney may participate as counsel of record in the
circuit court for any adult felony case, including postconviction
proceedings before the trial court, the attorney must complete a
course, approved by The Florida Bar for continuing legal education
credits, of at least 100 minutes and covering the legal and ethical
obligations of discovery in a criminal case, including the
requirements of rule 3.220, and the principles established in Brady
v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963) and Giglio v. United States, 405
U.S. 150 (1972).
Criminal Court Steering Committee Commentary
2014 Adoption. The Supreme Court has exclusive jurisdiction
under Article V, section 15 of the Florida Constitution to “regulate
the admission of persons to the practice of law and the discipline of
persons admitted.” Implied in this grant of authority is the power to
set minimum requirements for the admission to practice law, see In
re Florida Board of Bar Examiners, 353 So. 2d 98 (Fla. 1977), as
well as minimum requirements for certain kinds of specialized legal
work. The Supreme Court has adopted minimum educational and
experience requirements for attorneys in capital cases, see, e.g.,
rule 3.112, and for board certification in other specialized fields of
law.
The concept of a two-hour continuing legal education (CLE)
requirement was proposed in the 2012 Final Report of the Florida
Innocence Commission.
The CLE requirement is not intended to establish any
independent legal rights. Any claim of ineffective assistance of
counsel will be controlled by Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668
(1984).
It is intended that The Florida Prosecuting Attorneys
Association and The Florida Public Defender Association will
develop a seminar that will be approved for CLE credit by The
Florida Bar. It is also intended that attorneys will be able to
electronically access that seminar, at no cost, via The Florida Bar’s
website, the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association’s website,
and/or the Florida Public Defender Association’s website.
The rule is not intended to apply to counsel of record in direct
or collateral adult felony appeals.
Provenance
- Source
- floridabar.org
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-14
- Edition
- 2026-09-14
- Content hash
568a0381817930210337525ce0935ec74c564b9806e2efe80ec714216b0836cb
The link goes to the issuing authority’s own document — the one we read to produce this record. Where a source publishes whole titles rather than sections, your browser may need a moment to jump to the provision.
Unofficial copy of government-published law, reproduced from official sources with full provenance. Not an official publication; verify against official sources before relying on it in a filing. Records in the 'guidance' corpus, and only that corpus, are sub-regulatory (interpretive guidelines, survey procedures) and are not binding law. Validity bounds follow each jurisdiction's declared temporalBasis.