After four days in Havana, Gunster shareholder Michael Freed gained a new understanding of Cuba and its people, their culture and their legal system.
Freed is Jacksonville’s delegate to the American Bar Association.
He and his wife, Crystal, also an attorney and in solo practice, were members of an ABA delegation that went to Havana from Feb. 7-10 to tour the city and meet representatives from the U.S. Embassy and the Cuban legal community.
“It was very eye-opening,” he said. “Cuba was more active and thriving than I anticipated.”
Crystal Freed, who was born in Trinidad & Tobago, said being a native of the Caribbean meant she went to Cuba “a little more open-minded” than her husband. “I fell in love with the people and the country,” she said.
Michael Freed said the Cuban attorneys and court officials he met were well-educated, competent and well-intentioned — and they work in a legal system that’s very different from America’s.
“There’s not a thriving practice of law,” he said. “The vast majority of lawyers are paid by the government.”
One of the most glaring differences between the American and Cuban legal systems is that in Cuba, attorneys who work at the same firm are very independent in their practice.
Unlike in America, “lawyers from the same firm can represent clients with competing interests,” he said.
The experience gave Freed an appreciation of what he went back to doing when he came home.
“While our legal system isn’t perfect, I don’t think there’s one that’s better,” he said.
The trip wasn’t all work and no play.
The Freeds got to tour museums and art galleries and sample the island’s cuisine and native products.
“The food was so wonderful and fresh. It was the food I grew up on and I ate too much,” said Crystal Freed. “And I’m not a big drinker, but the mojitos were amazing.”
Both said they are looking forward to returning to Cuba one day.
“We are ready,” said Crystal Freed. “My goal is to brush up on my Spanish and go back.”
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