MBC must regretfully inform you that pursuant to the April 12th, 2012 Supreme Court opinion of In Re: Amendments to the Rules Regulating the Florida Bar (Biannual Report) No. SC 10-1967, MBC can only accept new matters under very specific and limited circumstances until such time as the Board of Governors of the Florida Bar weighs in. The above Supreme Court opinion, standing alone, does not directly impact MBC's operations other than reinstating a 2009 Staff Opinion which was tabled (Florida Bar Staff Opinion 28724).

 

That Staff Opinion, which is now subject to final appeal, misconstrued MBC's proposed services as occurring within the personal injury action when clearly they do not. MBC (as well as other firms doing similar work for you and your clients) will be doing anything and everything we can to challenge these decisions which frankly, are flatly wrong, and will undoubtedly result in empowering hospitals to return to the "little or no discount" policies they were previously known for.

 

We at MBC are hopeful that the final appeal of Staff Opinion 28724 will be adjudicated by the Board promptly, and correctly. The Supreme Court opinion referenced above supports the position MBC has taken to date regarding Rule 4-1.5; i.e., MBC's services are engaged after impasse is reached with the hospital, not in lieu of negotiations by injury counsel. Once the pending final appeal is heard and determined, we are hopeful that MBC's services will once again be widely available to the Plaintiff's bar.

 

Despite being temporarily limited as to which clients we can currently represent, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any hospital lien questions; MBC remains committed to assisting you and your clients in any way we can. If you have a client with a hospital lien in excess of $100,000 we strongly urge you to please contact MBC to discuss the best course of action in the meantime. There are many options, depending on the specific facts of your case and lien issue, which would still allow MBC to represent your client. We are happy to discuss these various options and methodologies with you and craft a solution on a case-by-case basis.