The American Board of Trial Advocates Jacksonville Chapter begins 2021 with new leadership.
At a virtual ceremony Dec. 16 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the chapter swore in 2021 President David Dunlap of Dunlap, Ravis & Miller; President-elect Brian Currie; Treasurer Raymond Reid; and Geoff Sessions as secretary.
Dunlap said a priority for the chapter during his year as president will be restarting live and/or virtual civil jury trials in the 4th Judicial Circuit.
With the induction of four new members, the Jacksonville ABOTA chapter is one of the few in the country to have more than 100 members.
New members inducted this year are Tiffany Jones, defense counsel with the O’Hara Law Firm; Christopher Shakib, plaintiff counsel with Terrell Hogan; Ashley Smith, defense in-house counsel with State Farm Insurance Co.; and David Thompson, plaintiff counsel with Coker Law.
The chapter also presented its annual awards:
• 4th Judicial Circuit Judge Bruce Anderson was recognized as the Jurist of the Year.
• ABOTA 2020 President Corinne Hodak was recognized as the Trial Lawyer of the Year.
• The Civility and Professionalism Award was presented to Raymond Reid of Pajcic & Pajcic. Reid also received the Professionalism Award from the Jacksonville Bar Association in 2020.
• Hodak presented the President’s Award to Jamie Holland of Holland Law.
• Attorney Jake Schickel was presented a special award for his years of service to ABOTA on the local and national levels.
• A new award was presented to Ed Fernandez of Executive Video/Photographic Services Inc. for his contributions and assistance throughout the year with virtual program presentations by the Jacksonville chapter.
Founded in 1958, ABOTA is a national association of experienced trial lawyers and judges.
Its members are dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the right to civil jury trial provided by the 7th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Membership comprises more than 7,600 lawyers and judges among 96 chapters in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
An invitation-only organization, ABOTA members must have years of active experience as trial lawyers, have tried at least 10 civil jury trials to conclusion as lead counsel and possess extensive litigation experience.
Members must exhibit civility, integrity and professionalism by following the ABOTA Code of Professionalism and Principles of Civility.
The general principles of the association foster improvement in the ethical and technical standards of practice in the fields of advocacy so that individual litigants may receive more effective representation and the general public is benefited by the administration of justice consistent with time-tested and traditional principles of litigation.
