To become a Certified Legal Intern in Florida, you register early with the Florida Board of Bar Examiners for a character and fitness clearance, complete at least two semesters (or three quarters) of law school at an ABA-approved school while enrolled in a qualifying law school practice program, and have your dean submit a certification package to the Florida Supreme Court. The program is governed by Chapter 11 of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar, and certification lets you represent real clients in court under a supervising attorney before you pass the bar exam.
Register With the Florida Board of Bar Examiners First
Nothing else in the process matters until you have a clearance letter from the FBBE. The board runs a background investigation and a criminal fingerprint check, and only after you pass that initial character and fitness evaluation will it issue the clearance letter the law school needs to certify you.1Florida Board of Bar Examiners. Florida Bar Admissions Process
Register early. Students who register within the first 250 days of law school pay a lower fee than those who wait, and any fee you pay for CLI registration is later deducted from your full bar application fee, so the money carries forward.2Florida Board of Bar Examiners. Application and Conversion Checklists and Supporting Forms Filing early also leaves time for the background check to clear before you need CLI status. The same student registration doubles as preliminary processing for eventual bar admission.
The clearance letter is not itself CLI certification. It is a prerequisite the Florida Supreme Court requires before it will act on the certification package your law school submits.3Florida Supreme Court. Certified Legal Intern Program
Meet the Academic and Conduct Requirements
Rule 11-1.3 sets the eligibility threshold. You must be enrolled in an ABA-approved law school in the United States and participating in a law school practice program, which Rule 11-1.2 defines as a credit-bearing clinical program where students directly represent clients in litigation under a supervising lawyer’s guidance. You must have completed at least two semesters or three quarters of legal study.4The Florida Bar. Rules Governing the Law School Practice Program
Beyond the coursework, two personal commitments are required. You must certify in writing that you have read and will follow the Rules of Professional Conduct. And you cannot ask for or accept any payment from the clients you represent, though an employing government office or legal aid organization can pay you directly. More on that below.
The dean, or the dean’s designee, certifies that you have good character, competent legal ability, and adequate training to perform as a legal intern. Without that certification you cannot be approved by the court.
Submit the Certification Package to the Florida Supreme Court
Once the FBBE issues your clearance letter to the law school, the school prepares the certification package. It consists of a Student University Request form and a Student Application form, both available from the Florida Supreme Court’s website, together with the dean’s certification of your character, ability, and training.3Florida Supreme Court. Certified Legal Intern Program
The completed forms go to the Clerk of the Florida Supreme Court at 500 South Duval Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399. There is no hearing. Once the court processes the paperwork, you are authorized to begin supervised practice.
Skipping steps or filing in the wrong order can delay certification by weeks. The sequence is: FBBE registration, background check and clearance letter, dean’s package to the Supreme Court, authorization to practice.
What Certification Lets You Do
A certified legal intern can appear in any Florida court or administrative tribunal in three situations, each with its own approval requirement. You can represent indigent clients with the client’s consent (oral on the record or written) and the supervising lawyer’s approval. You can appear in criminal matters on behalf of the state with written approval from the state attorney or attorney general and the supervising lawyer. And you can appear in civil matters for the state, state officers, state agencies, or a municipality or county with a full-time legal staff, with written approval from that entity’s government lawyer.4The Florida Bar. Rules Governing the Law School Practice Program
Where an indigent client has a constitutional or statutory right to appointed counsel, your supervising lawyer must be personally present at every critical stage. In other situations, the court decides when the supervisor must be physically present and how much of the proceeding you can handle. The written consent and approval documents must be filed in the case record and brought to the presiding judge’s attention.
Outside the courtroom, you can prepare pleadings, briefs, and other filings under general supervision without the supervisor’s physical presence. Every document must be signed by the supervising lawyer before filing and must name you as the student who helped draft it. You can also assist indigent inmates and others with applications for post-conviction relief, provided counsel is not constitutionally or statutorily required in that matter.
How Long Certification Lasts
A dean’s certification stays in effect for 18 months from the date it is filed with the clerk, not from the date you start working cases.4The Florida Bar. Rules Governing the Law School Practice Program Certification can end sooner in three ways:
- The dean or designee can withdraw it at any time by notifying the Supreme Court clerk, without giving a reason.
- The Supreme Court can terminate it at any time, without notice, a hearing, or any showing of cause.
- When you graduate, the dean typically withdraws the law school practice program certification, though a separate post-graduation pathway exists.
Continuing as a Certified Legal Intern After Graduation
Graduating does not have to end your ability to practice as an intern. Rule 11-1.8 creates a separate track for graduates who have applied for bar admission, received an FBBE clearance letter, and completed a qualifying law school practice program of at least three semester credit hours or 200 hours of actual participation.4The Florida Bar. Rules Governing the Law School Practice Program
Your employer submits a Graduate Agency Request form to the Supreme Court along with the FBBE clearance letter, and you continue practicing under the same restrictions and supervision rules.3Florida Supreme Court. Certified Legal Intern Program
Post-graduation certification ends if you fail to sit for the next available Florida bar exam, fail any portion of the exam on a third administration, or are denied admission to The Florida Bar.4The Florida Bar. Rules Governing the Law School Practice Program A recent Supreme Court amendment gives graduates up to three attempts at the exam before losing CLI status.5The Florida Bar. Supreme Court Expands Certified Legal Intern Program
Can a Certified Legal Intern Be Paid?
Yes, by the employer. No, by the client. The rule prohibits a certified legal intern from asking for or accepting any payment from the person they represent, which fits the structure of the program since CLI work serves indigent clients and government parties who are not paying for private counsel anyway.4The Florida Bar. Rules Governing the Law School Practice Program
The employing organization is a different matter. A state attorney’s office, public defender’s office, legal aid organization, state officer, or government entity is explicitly permitted to compensate the intern and to charge for services as the organization sees fit. Many prosecutor and public defender placements come with stipends or hourly wages, and some legal aid clinical positions are paid.