Two special Bar events are planned for February, and I hope that you will make plans to attend both. First, on Feb. 9, the Association will present “Night in Vegas” at the Cummer Museum. In addition to providing great food and entertainment - and benefitting the Jacksonville Bar Foundation - the event offers perhaps the best opportunity of the year to meet and socialize with other Jacksonville lawyers and judges in a relaxed setting away from the pressures of the office and courtroom.
The second event on tap is the Judicial Symposium, which will follow the Association’s monthly luncheon on Feb. 21. The 4th Judicial Circuit Professionalism Committee has done an outstanding job of organizing what promises to be the best seminar available anywhere on the topic of professionalism. Speakers and participants include judges from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Middle District of Florida, the Supreme Court of Florida, the First District Court of Appeal, and the 4th Judicial Circuit. 3.5 hours of CLE credit have been applied for. Bill Sheppard will serve as moderator.
I mention both the Night in Vegas and the Judicial Symposium at the same time because, though maybe not obvious at first blush, they are closely linked in purpose and effect.
The last few years have witnesses a widespread, formalized effort by the organized bar at every level to fashion rules of professionalism. This has been in direct response to a perceived rise in litigation abuse and incivility within the profession, and few have dissented from the effort to reign in offensive conduct. The Jacksonville Bar Association has been a leader amongst voluntary bar associations in promoting professionalism. Last August, the 4th Judicial Circuit Professionalism Committee received national recognition at the ABA’s annual meeting in Chicago for its work in promoting professionalism. This is the third consecutive year that The Jacksonville Bar Association has offered a CLE-approved Judicial Symposium on professionalism. Just last month, the Association’s Board of Governors unanimously adopted Revised Professionalism Guidelines to serve as aspirational goals for its members.
These formalized efforts are laudable, and should be continued. Still, one wonders if we’re not missing the mark; if something better could be done to promote professionalism short of adopting new creeds, oaths, and pledges. I believe there is.
The key to promoting lawyer professionalism may be as simple as spending time with each other away from the office and courtroom, taking the opportunity to develop human relationships that transcend our institutional relationships. The perceived decline in professionalism can be traced to the late 1960s, about the same time that the number of lawyers began to rapidly increase. This is not just coincidence.
A smaller bar meant that lawyers knew each other better on a personal level; friendships were easier to form, bonds of trust less likely to be broken. The same is generally true today in less populated circuits, and still would be the case everywhere if lawyers just knew each other a little better. That’s where the Night in Vegas and similar events fit in.
I have long believed that one of the main benefits of membership in The Jacksonville Bar Association is the opportunity it affords members to interact socially. Most members make a point to attend the monthly luncheons, work on a committee, or otherwise stay active in the Association. This, I think, is why breaches of professionalism are still relatively rare in Jacksonville, despite rapid growth in the size of our bar over the past few years. So, join us at Night in Vegas, and make a point to introduce yourself to someone you don’t know. You’ll have fun, and will be making a contribution, however small, to lawyer professionalism. Who knows, maybe in a few years seminars on professionalism will be an unnecessary relic of the past.