Sharon B. Middleton never heard the law as a calling.
She determined the medical profession was her path to help people, despite the legal ties in her family.
Her father, Edward Booth, was one of Jacksonville’s most prominent attorneys.
He was a Florida Bar member for more than 50 years, served as Duval County solicitor and was a founding member of the longtime practice, Booth & Arnold.
Her brother, Edward Jr., and her uncles went into law, too.
Middleton’s mother, Bonnie, was a little more like her.
After her children’s early school years were in the books, she hit the books herself. She studied psychology at the University of North Florida and spent years counseling there.
She had an interest in law, too, but in a different way.
Bonnie Booth served eight years on the Judicial Qualifications Commission, which Middleton describes as a group that reviews judges who overstep their bounds or “aren’t providing the best justice from the bench.”
Middleton is a nurse, but her connection to the law is poised to reach what she calls the “the highest and extreme honor.”
She will be sworn in next month as a public member of The Florida Bar Board of Governors.
Two of the 52 members on the board come from the public sector as a way to bring outside perspective to state legal issues.
It’s another step up for Middleton, who serves on the Bar’s Citizens Advisory Committee and was on the Unlicensed Practice of Law Committee from 2013-15.
Despite a busy medical career, she loves her ties to the law.
“There’s definitely a lawyer in here,” said Middleton.
She said she will join the board at an “exciting” time when it’s wrestling with important issues like the impact of technology and a large influx of new attorneys.
She said each has components relating to access to justice, something to which her father was always dedicated.
In 1964, Booth and former State Attorney Ed Austin hired the first African-American in the solicitor’s office.
“My family was colorblind,” she said. “Everybody deserved justice … no matter the background.”
It was that mentality that influenced her early on.
Her father was a dedicated servant, she said, often working sunrise to sunset and helping anyone who walked in the door.
Middleton said she sees access to justice as a key issue. She said almost 80 percent of people can’t afford proper help in the legal system.
Those who earn a living but don’t qualify for financial help often just do nothing.
People in the business community, she said, often don’t understand the issue — unless it happens to them or a family member.
Self-help centers and online access are a step in the right direction, but she thinks there will need to be a deeper reach at the individual level.
Funding always has been a problem and identifying a dedicated, reliable source is an issue Middleton hopes to help solve during her two-year term.
Bruce Blackwell, CEO and executive director of The Florida Bar Foundation, recommended her to the appointment.
He thinks she’ll continue in a long line of valuable public members on the board and that Middleton’s blend of legal and medical backgrounds will be a perfect fit.
“She grew up with one of the best,” he said. “And she’s such a genuinely nice, caring person.”
Former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Major Harding also provided a letter of support for Middleton’s appointment.
He discussed his relationship with the Booths and with Middleton, someone he called “a person of integrity, honesty and compassion” who would serve the people of Florida well.
That role begins next month after the Bar’s annual meeting where she’ll be sworn in.
She’s often watched ceremonies, but this time she’ll be a focal point.
Her parents instilled a “lead by example” mentality in her, which she knows she’s done in her medical career and in efforts in the legal field.
She wishes her parents could be there to see her efforts in the legal field come what she calls full circle.
“I know they would be very proud of me,” she said.
@writerchapman
(904) 356-2466