It's about to get harder to regain the privilege of practicing law after a lengthy suspension.

A proposed rule upping requirements for lawyers returning from lengthy suspensions has been approved by the Board of Governors.

The board, at its September 25 meeting in Hollywood, unanimously endorsed the amendments to Rule 3-7.10 proposed by the Disciplinary Procedure Committee. The changes will go to the Supreme Court for its review next year.

DPC Chair Andy Sasso said the Supreme Court requested the board look at the issue and expressed concerns about lawyers returning to practice after a lengthy suspension or period of ineligibility to practice. Lawyers suspended 90 days or less are automatically reinstated. But those suspended for 91 days to three years must petition for reinstatement to membership in good standing, and a referee is appointed to preside over the matter.

Some lawyers have waited years, sometimes longer than a decade, after their suspensions have ended to seek reinstatement, and Sasso said the court was concerned about the competency of those lawyers. "They've asked for some standards for reinstatement," he said. "The primary focus is education."

As amended, the rule provides that lawyers suspended three years or longer must demonstrate their competency by taking 10 CLE credits for each year or part of a year they were ineligible to practice, Sasso said. They can also show competency if they worked as a law clerk, paralegal, or legal educator during their period of ineligibility.

Those who have been ineligible to practice for five years or longer, he said, will have to retake the Florida portion of the bar exam.

The changes also apply to lawyers who have involuntarily been placed on the inactive list for incapacity...