by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
Florida Bar President Terry Russell was exposed as a pig by fellow attorneys at the Jacksonville Bar Association luncheon Wednesday at the Omni.
And he didn’t seem to mind.
That’s because Russell is a member of the Pig Out Club, a group of friends and fellow attorneys that travel around the country on occasion to enjoy a barbecue dinner.
The group includes Howard Coker of Coker, Myers, Schickel, Sorenson, Higginbotham and Green in Jacksonville; A. Hamilton Cooke; Austin Peele of Darby, Peele, Bowdoin, and Payne in Lake City; John DeVault of Bedell, Dittmar, DeVault, Pillans and Coxe; James Rinaman of Marks Gray; Jack Harkness, executive director of The Florida Bar; Rutledge Liles of Liles, Gavin, Constantino and Murphy and Joseph Milton of Milton, Leach, Whittman, D’ Andrea, Ritter and Charek.
They were all present Wednesday to let everyone know just what a pig Russell can be when he’s not leading The Florida Bar. So why expose his secret to the world?
“Because he deserves it,” said Peele, tongue firmly in cheek. “He has the pretensions of leadership, but we know that a Florida State University [law school graduate] could not give the leadership to The Florida Bar as well as a University of Florida graduate can.”
Diane Gill, executive director of the JBA, orchestrated the presence of the Pig Out Club as a surprise for Russell and even brought Bono’s Pit Bar-B-Q for the group to enjoy during the luncheon.