by Monica Tsai
Staff writer
Kelly Overstreet Johnson is an attorney who is not afraid of firsts. She was the first woman president of the Tallahassee Bar Association in the city where she practices law and, come July, she will become the third woman to head The Florida Bar.
Johnson addressed the Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association Wednesday at River City Brewing Company, discussing the challenges and issues she’ll face as Florida Bar president.
“I’m interested in increasing the diversity of our Bar committees,” she said, adding it is a sincere attempt to get women lawyers to participate in Bar activities. Considering not enough women apply, Johnson encouraged the audience to become active in the Bar’s leadership positions.
Another priority will be Article V, which shifts funding for the court system from the counties to the state. The idea was to eliminate an unfair distribution of resources against poorer counties. Since the state budget crunch, the idea to give each county a similar budget is not as appealing to Johnson because of program cutbacks which may result.
“Some of the legislators are looking at it as a way to decrease costs,” she said.
One topic Johnson intends to address is the existing rules governing attorney advertising. She is calling for a “wholesale review.”
Johnson will also take a look at Judicial Nominating Committees. Previously, Florida Bar officials appointed three members, the governor appointed three members and those six appointed three members from the community. Legislation changed the procedure two years ago, giving control of all nine appointments to the governor.
“The JNCs need to be screened to make sure politics are taken
out of the election process,” she said.