Quote:
Posted By GenoS on 02/01/2017 3:23 PM
Actually, in Florida you must have an attorney draft the wording. To do otherwise constitutes the unlicensed practice of law. See the bottom of page 15 here:
http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/2015/sc13-889.pdf The drafting of documents and amendments that affect substantial rights of homeowners must be drafted by licensed attorneys in Florida. Florida attorneys work overtime to protect their cookie jar.
Geno,
I think you have taken this out of context. The question before the court was whether certain services routinely performed by a state-licensed CAM for a fee constitutes the unauthorized practice of law. The court certainly went overboard to protect lawyers' interests but, for God's sake, if an association lacks the internal talent to draft their own documents I would rather see them pay a real attorney to do the work instead of a wanna-be.
I was most amused by the following passage on page 16:
"Further, in
Florida Bar v. Town, 174 So. 2d 395 (Fla. 1965), the Court held
that a nonlawyer may not prepare bylaws, articles of incorporation, and other
documents necessary to the establishment of a corporation, or amendments to such
documents."
In Arizona, the Corporation Commission provides a simple one-page form to create a corporation. Fill out, sign it, and pay the fee to become a full-fledged corporation. I do not recall seeing any place on the form for an attorney to sign it, so how would someone know whether an attorney drafted it?