One of the good ideas that came out of our crypto panel was espoused by James Koutoulas. It’s not as if Florida needs more fuel to attract more residents, but James had a great idea.
First off, the crypto community in Miami, FL is exploding. People interested in crypto are moving there en masse. Our fund has a crypto company, ML Tech, that recently relocated there. They are hiring by the way if you are interested.
One skillset the crypto community could use in Florida is lawyers.
The biggest hurdle is the requirements of the Florida bar. If I am an experienced crypto lawyer not in Florida and I want to go to Florida to build a practice, I have to retake the Florida bar to be able to do it.
Koutoulas has the bright idea to waive that requirement for crypto lawyers. If Florida did that, they’d move en masse with the entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and hedge funds that are there.
I am not a lawyer so I am unfamiliar with all the ins and outs of practicing in each state. However, I am smart enough to know that states have licensing requirements and training requirements put in place to “safeguard” citizens when in fact they were lobbied and put in place by special interests to protect their interests. Many of them can be anti-competitive.
Governor Ron DeSantis has made a lot of great decisions during his tenure. Persuading the Florida Bar Association to make room for attorneys that want to relocate to execute on building a cryptocurrency practice is a great idea. Besides, there will be all kinds of spillover billable law hours for all kinds of things if they are successful. A rising tide lifts all boats.
An Idea For Crypto And Florida
This is a law license reciprocity issue and Florida has no reciprocity with anybody. They claim their state specific test questions are the reason, but I think it's just the Florida Bar Association putting a fence around a state with a growing business environment in order to drive higher fees.
This also means Florida lawyers cannot get a license in other UBE -- universal bar exam -- states to practice law.
The practical way around this -- as in every state -- is to form an affiliation with a licensed lawyer in that state and conduct your business under his license. It is not really the hurdle it might seem to be.
JLM
www.themusingsofthebigredcar.com