Florida Laws and Rules Course Clarified

Intro to the “Florida Laws and Rules Course“

Florida law mandates that all licensed professionals must complete 14 of continuing education courses to fulfill their ongoing educational requirements every two years. Two of the approved courses are mandatory for all licensees, regardless of your area of specialization. These two courses are an ethics course and a laws and rules course.
The Florida Laws and Rules course contains an overview of Florida real estate law and is a necessary course for all persons seeking to maintain their current license or upgrade their licensure status . The course covers (but is not limited to) the Florida Real Estate Commission, the Department of Professional and Business Regulation, and the rules they enforce, along with provisions of Chapter 475, Business and Professions—the principal Florida statute containing the Licensing Law, along with rules promulgated thereunder.
The course format consists of a series of video lectures, accompanied by printable slides that can be downloaded, printed out for in-home review and note-taking, and/or imported to an iPod for review, review while traveling, or on a lunch hour. The course also incorporates interactive quizzes and self-test practice exams, leading up to a final test at the end of the course.

Who Is Required to Complete the Course?

The "Laws and Rules" course will be required for all 2012 license renewals. As the Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s website states: "The L & R course is required for approximately 350,000 licensees and is designed to educate licensees about changes to State statutes and agency rules during a biennium."
People who are attorneys, real estate agents, or nurses aren’t the only ones who will have to take the course. Eleven professions will be affected. The legal, real estate, and nursing sectors are the largest groups represented in those who are required to take the course, but physicians and contractors are also included in this group of mandatory Laws and Rules course attendees. The complete list of professions who must take the L & R course is:
Accountants
Architects
Auctioneers
Barbers
Cosmetologists
Contractors (General)
Contractors (Residential)
Real Estate Agents
Physicians
Real Estate Appraisers
Nurses

Course Topics

Typical modules with information including, without limitation, ethics and business practices, license law, office operations, discriminatory practices, technology, and/or another module of law that is suited to the individuals in your specific industry may be covered by the Florida Laws and Rules Course. It is important to note that if a real estate licensee chooses not to complete a section of the course, it will be excluded from the final grade calculation; however, all sections must be attempted on this course.
The purpose of this course is to cover those laws administered by the Florida Real Estate Commission and the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. All real estate licensees and real estate license applicants are primarily regulated by the Florida Real Estate Commission; only those licensees or license applicants dealing with mortgages are regulated by the Office of Financial Regulation.
There are 2 statutes that contain most of the laws administered by the Commission and the division of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation which regulates these statutes. These 2 statutes are Chapter 455, Florida Statutes, and Chapter 475, Florida Statutes. The topics are arranged in a logical sequence in order to help better understand how the laws governing real estate licensees and license applicants came to be and then how they evolved over the years.
These particular state laws apply to real estate licensees and license applicants in Florida and are covered in more detail in section 3 of this course. The Department of Business and Professional Regulation is in code compliance with the Legislature. In the following sections, we will discuss likely real estate transaction issues, review relevant cases, and analyze the legal ramifications of each.

Course Delivery and How You Qualify

Understanding Florida Laws and Rules Course Currently Available in Four Formats
The Florida Bar regulates membership and on-going professional education for all lawyers in order to ensure the public’s health, safety and welfare and to maintain the integrity of Florida’s legal profession. Florida Lawyers visiting our offices frequently ask us about the "Florida Laws and Rules Course" because they have heard about it, perhaps read something about it, but have generally found the description of the course confusing. The purpose of this article is to explain what this course is and why a lawyer in Florida is required to take this course once every 3 years in order to keep his or her Florida Bar membership.
In short, BRUCE MAYBE requires all Florida lawyers to take the Florida Laws and Rules Course once every 3 years as a condition of being eligible for membership in good standing with The Florida Bar. In order to understand this requirement, you must understand what BRUCE MAYBE is and why it is important and relevant to any lawyer contemplating a career in Florida.
PRUDENCE refers to the general competency requirements found in Rule 1-3.5 of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar. It provides a general statement that an attorney must be competent to practice law before The Florida Bar will accept them as a member in good standing. To put it another way, attempting to define this element as dispassionately as possible, PRUDENCE means evaluating whether the attorney possesses a basic understanding of the law, a minimal level of communication skills and a reasonably prudent demeanor and temperament.
Doing so is easy enough on first impressions, but isn’t it disruptive to our justice system to require every attorney to pass a basic competency test in order to be eligible for admission to the bar? No, not really. BRUCE doesn’t require any such thing and really only requires that you take a course to remind you about the basic rules and regulations governing the practice of law in Florida. An overreaching, draconian punishment? Maybe. But the content of the course is limited to straightforward questions regarding basic elements of the Rules of Professional Conduct. The pass/fail standard is very generous towards the attorney, as the course is an open book, open notes exam. A little time spent with Chapter 4 of the Rules of Professional Conduct – Rules Regulating The Florida Bar® – should provide a lawyer in good standing with plenty of material to review before taking the course. The board-certified experts at The Florida Bar prepared an easy to read summary of the pertinent rules for this reason.
DON’T DO IT THE HARD WAY!
The course comes in four formats: video, audio, an e-book, and in print. Each format has its positives and negatives, which I’ve listed below.
It seems that the best option for someone who is new to the Florida Bar and unfamiliar with the Rules of Professional Conduct is to take the course on video. The typical iPhone or Android phone can play the video without glitch and the course is essentially a lecture given by a well-known member of The Florida Bar board of governors.
Regardless of which format you choose, it’s important to remember that the course is a brief four hours long and can be completed at your convenience within 30 days of beginning the course. If you have any consistent problem with memorizing facts, figures or rules, then I strongly recommend the video format.
If you have any questions regarding the course, you should contact the member services department of The Florida Bar.

Course Length and Cost

In terms of the duration and cost, enroll in any particular Florida Laws and Rules Course typically takes between 4 to 15 hours of study. Completion of the course will often allow you to earn between 2 to 14 CEUs for your license, depending on which course you take, as specified under Florida law. Additional credits can also be earned towards the renewing of your license if you complete a course that offers them, or complete an approved equivalency exam. The Florida Board of Nursing and many other boards and departments that oversee the licensing of various professionals generally consider most of these online courses, so there should not be any issues with them counting towards the completion of your requirements.
The fees for taking these classes vary based on which course you choose to take. Some may only charge about $2 per hour of study and education , meaning hundreds of dollars in savings over in-class courses from local colleges and universities. Others may charge around $50 per hour of education, which is more of a typical amount to charge for enrollment in an online course.
The fees for these classes also vary based on which particular professional you are. For example, many online courses specifically geared towards medical professionals, such as those offered by Andrew Riggs Fitness Group, LLC, generally charge just $36 for 2 hours of continuing education. Professional Engineers on the other hand will pay $99 for the same two hour course from ERI Academic Training. Other courses have been known to go as low as $43 for an eight hour Florida Laws and Rules Course.

Certification and Compliance

Upon successful completion of the course, the adopted final exam must be passed in order to earn and obtain a certificate of completion. In the event you do not pass the adopted final exam, you may retake the exam approximately 30 days after the first attempt free of charge. It is required that you pass the exam before 120 days pass. If you have not passed within that time frame, you will be required to retake the entire course again to re-qualify for the exam.
The key here – especially for anyone interested in personal injury litigation in Florida – all Florida licensed attorneys, paralegals, and legal assistants who are employed at Florida legal offices are required to complete the course. This is true regardless whether the law firm is defense or plaintiff, small or large, trial or non-trial. So, if you attempt to argue down a personal injury case against a well known defendant insurance company, the law clerks, paralegals, and attorneys you are facing most likely took this course as well.

Key Benefits of the Course

Completing the "Laws and Rules" course not only ensures compliance with Florida regulations but also offers several professional advantages. In addition to satisfying the continuing education requirements, this course serves as an investment in your career. By staying updated on the latest laws, you create opportunities for career advancement. Employers value employees who go above and beyond regulatory compliance. Knowledge of legislative changes, industry standards, customer obligations, and future trends can help set you apart in today’s competitive job market.
Beyond career development, the course also enhances your professional competence. The module covers duties and responsibilities and best practices associated with licensing and business operations. By becoming more educated about what is expected in your jurisdiction, you will be able to not only fulfill these obligations, but identify how to become a more valuable asset to your company. Moreover, the opportunities for involvement in the industry can significantly expand after completing the course. You’ll be able to be more active in the legislative process by communicating directly with legislators, professional associations, and trade groups about important governmental, legislative, and regulatory issues.

Tips for Completing the Course

When taking the Florida Laws & Rules Course, consider the following tips to ensure you understand and comply with the laws and rules that govern your duties as a licensee: Make sure you complete the entire course. The Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) staffs 24/7 customer agents. If you have an unanswered question or problem, DBPR agents are available to help you. Call 1-850-921-2966 with any inquiries about taking the course. Do not estimate your course answers. This is a test and you can retake it until you earn a passing grade. Complete your course as soon as possible. Waiting to complete the course until the last minute can lead to stress and can be a problem if you are inexperienced at test-taking. Consider starting your course early. If you experience technical difficulties , such as a power outage or your computer crashing, the sooner you address those issues the better. Use all of the course material and take your time. Course quizzes offer the best shot at passing. The course has elaborate study materials and other tools to help you learn the information needed to pass the License Law examination. Use these and remember your commitment to serving the public. Remember, the laws and rules of Florida and the practice act should be taken seriously. The following tips are not exhaustive but will add to your understanding of the course requirements.