Just about everyone sent an email and then had an autoreply bounce back explaining that the recipient is traveling and will have limited access to communication.
It’s not every day that you learn the recipient is in Antarctica.
That’s what happened for more than two weeks in December to those who tried to contact Scott Cairns, a partner at McGuireWoods.
“Some friends I have traveled a lot with wanted to go,” he said of the reason behind the expedition.
Cairns and his fellow adventurers, including his youngest daughter, Allison, spent 13 days near and on the planet’s southernmost continent, mostly on a Russian oceanographic research vessel, although the group did spend one night camping on the ice.
Along the way they retraced the steps of the some of the continent’s first explorers and observed wildlife in the Southern Ocean including several varieties of penguins and seals, humpback whales and “lots of birds,” Cairns said.
One of the most fascinating experiences didn’t involve the native fauna. It was the ice.
“It was spectacular — an iridescent blue,” said Cairns. “I’ve seen glaciers in Alaska, but that was nothing like Antarctica.”
A common goal among world travelers is to visit in their lifetime all seven continents. Cairns said for many, Antarctica is the final destination on the list, but for him, it was No. 5, leaving Asia and Australia.
“And I’m planning a trip to China this fall,” he added.
Marks Gray named Tyler Oldenburg a shareholder.
Oldenburg joined the law firm in 2011. His practice focuses on litigation, including business disputes, business torts, creditor’s rights and collection work, real estate litigation, medical malpractice, premises liability and products liability.
He also handles transactional matters such as business organization, acquisitions and mergers, leases, employment agreements and real estate transactions.
Oldenburg received his bachelor’s in economics from Emory University and his J.D. from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University.
Attorney and state Rep. Cord Byrd, R-Jacksonville Beach, filed a bill that would restore civil rights to felons who have served their sentence and paid their debt to society.
Byrd’s “Economic Redemption and Restoration of Constitutional Rights Act” (HB 903) would offer opportunity to lift what is essentially a lifetime ban on voting, holding office or qualifying for an occupational license in Florida, one of only 10 states with such a ban.
State Rep. Kimberly Daniels, D-Jacksonville, also is sponsoring the bill.
If enacted, the bill would require an ex-felon to petition a circuit court and prove to a judge that all conditions of a sentence have been completed. A prosecutor would have the right to object to the petition if he or she felt restoration of rights was inappropriate.
A similar proposal is being considered by the Constitution Revision Commission, which could put the matter up for a referendum on the November general election ballot.
Rogers Towers shareholder E. Carson Lange has been elected to Jacksonville Area Legal Aid’s board of directors.
Before joining Rogers Towers in the firm’s litigation department in 2011, she worked for the National Veterans Legal Services Program in Washington, D.C., representing veterans with disability claims before the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
Lange also serves on the board at Hubbard House.
She received her J.D. in 2006 from the University of Florida Levin College of Law.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Joel Toomey has a vacancy for a law clerk to serve a 1-year to 2-year term beginning this fall in the Jacksonville Division of the U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida.
Candidates must be a law school graduate at the time of appointment with academic standing within the top 15 percent of the class and must possess excellent research, writing and communication skills.
The salary range is $60,210 to $101,409, commensurate with work experience and pay history.
Applicants should submit a cover letter, law school transcript, current resume with day and evening telephone numbers, writing sample and up to three letters of recommendation to Federal Clerkship, Attn. Jacksonville Law Clerk Vacancy #18-22, 300 N. Hogan St., Suite 5-211, Jacksonville, 32202.
