by Fred Seely
Editorial Director
TALLAHASSEE — When lawyers are in doubt, who do they turn to? No, not other lawyers. “We need real input,” says Florida Bar President Tod Aronovitz, perhaps half jokingly.
The input these days comes from 14 very vocal people who, as a collective, are called the Citizens Forum but who individually don’t hold back from disagreeing with the Bar, the Forum or each other.
“They are meant to be independent,” says Doris Maffei, a member of the Bar’s communications staff, which supports the Citizens Forum. “The Bar board needs to hear other voices and they encourage good discussion.”
They get it.
“I’m not here to go along,” said one of the Forum members, Mary Kohnke, who, as anyone living near her in upper St. Johns County knows, is indeed a person who speaks her mind. “If it’s a bad idea, it’s a bad idea.”
She made sure a speaker at last week’s meeting knew he had a bad idea: “That video sucks,” she told him. “Sucks.”
The committee gets together three or four times a year to discuss issues suggested by the Bar board and meets in conjunction with the board, as they did here last week.
“The membership comes from suggestions by Bar members,” said Maffei. “The names go to the Bar’s Communications Committee, which recommends names to the president, who then appoints members.”
Two of the 14 are also Bar board members. One other is an attorney. There is a CPA, an insurance executive, a real estate developer and a physician. The makeup appears to mirror Florida’s white, black and Hispanic demographics.
Four are from North Florida:
• Judy Ham of St. Augustine, a school board member in St. Johns County.
• Mary Kohnke of Ponte Vedra, an activist and political gadfly.
• Beth Rominger of Jacksonville, who was appointed when she lived in Tampa. She was transferred to Jacksonville six months ago by her company, FPIC, where she’s a senior vice president.
• Wilfredo Gonzalez, of Jacksonville, the Small Business Administration’s executive for the 43 North Florida counties.
“I served on the Judicial Nominating Commission and I guess someone thought I could add something to this effort, so they nominated me,” said Gonzalez. “It’s interesting and it’s a way to serve.
“Being part of this also helps me in my job.” Earlier, during a tour of the Bar headquarters, he had a long discussion with the manager of the office that goes after unlicensed people practicing law.
“A lot of people who are starting small businesses don’t understand who’s a lawyer and who isn’t,” he said. “Maybe we can head off some problems.”
The first item of business during last Thursday’s meeting was the notion to spend money to educate the public on board certifications and to encourage attorneys to become board certified. The Bar board has been wrestling with it — there are pros and cons within the legal community — and decided to hear what citizens might think.
Trial lawyer Jeff Cohen, a proponent of certification, brought his case to the group.
It wasn’t a case of being in favor of certification, which is an established entity, it was a matter of encouraging people. But, the Forum members needed to know more about the certification process. The chairman, Plantation thoractic surgeon Dr. Mathis Lee Becker, made it clear that the process needed to be difficult (“I wasn’t certified the day after I got out of medical school.”)
“I don’t even know who’s certified or isn’t,” said Forum member Linda Osmundson of St. Petersburg. “If you’re certified and don’t advertise it, how will I know?”
Cohen: “By the logo.”
Osmundson: “What logo? If I haven’t seen it, why would a member of the general public?”
The discussion rattled back and forth and it soon became obvious that Cohen’s cause was in trouble with the group.
“If only 5-6 percent of the state’s attorneys are certified, that shows me that the legal community isn’t interested enough to learn about it,” said Kohnke. “Why spend Bar money publicizing something that the Bar’s own membership doesn’t care about?”
The next issue had to do with publicity, too.
The voters passed a constitutional amendment in November that moves judicial funding away from counties and into the state’s hands. It’s called Article V and has the state’s judges uneasy. Visions of court dollars being spent on legislative turkeys are dancing through their heads, so the court administrators and the Bar want to see what can be done to get the old system back or, at least, not get hammered by the new system.
A public relations consultant was hired to put together a lobbying effort aimed at civic leaders, who then presumably would pressure their legislator pals to be kind to the judicial system. The Bar asked that the Forum help keep track of the progress.
The p.r. guy had made one appearance before the Forum and came to the group to review what had been done.
He got more than he wanted — he was the guy with the video — and the Forum let him know, very clearly and with many voices, that they thought the lobbying effort was a dud.
“No one knows what the heck you want,” said Rominger. “The video doesn’t say anything.”
And so it went during the four-hour session.
“When I got on this, I was worried that it was just one of those kissy things where they appoint people, hear them out and pretend to care,” said CPA Ed Strongin of Miami. “I was really surprised. The Bar board really wants to hear what we think. They know they need other ears, other brains.
“I didn’t think I’d put up with it for long. Now, I look forward to it. I think I’m making a difference.”