It was a brisk January morning in 1997, when a young Rob Devine headed out for his first hearing at the Duval County Courthouse. Mr. Coleman’s briefcase in hand, young Devine wandered aimlessly through the hallways trying to locate the Judge’s chambers and arrived just in time. Rob strode boldly into the office, tossed a wink of confidence at the Judge’s J.A. and burst into the judge’s chamber declaring, “Judge, I’m here on a motion to set for trial.” The Judge responded, “That’s great son, but where’s the file?” Rob froze, panic-stricken, “What file?”
In an effort to prevent other young lawyers from suffering the same humiliation as Rob, the Jacksonville YLS is developing a new program called “Afternoon In the Courthouse.” The program is geared toward newly admitted and less experienced attorneys who are unfamiliar with the courthouse and local judicial practices and procedures. The seminar will include a panel of judges that will talk about what they expect of those that practice before them, the roles of judicial assistants and other courthouse personnel, do’s and don’ts for hearings, and the Judges’ pet peeves. The new lawyers will be briefed on the ethical and professional standards expected of those practicing in the 4th Judicial Circuit as well as the local courtesies of our legal community. The seminar will also provide a tour of the courthouse, a trip to the civil file room to learn file checkout procedures, and how to perform public record searches. YLS hopes that the program will provide a unique opportunity for new lawyers to hear from and meet with judges that they will practice before, as well as alleviate the anxieties associated with that first trip to the courthouse.
The program will be capped off by a trip to the Landing for a YLS happy hour, and perhaps a rendition of other “Devine” disasters. If you would like to help with this YLS program, please contact the committee chair, Ray Ravis at 346-4480.