I am pleased to report that our last Jacksonville Bar Association luncheon drew almost 300 members to hear Florida Bar president Miles McGrane III. I am also pleased to report that we concluded the luncheon at 1:15 p.m.. While I cannot promise all our luncheons will end by 1:15, I want you to know we will be doing our best to conclude in a timely fashion. Also, due to the fact that we are getting a great attendance at our luncheons, it is imperative for everybody to make a reservation in a timely fashion. Please do your best to make reservations in advance for the monthly meetings.
Our next monthly luncheon Oct. 16 at the Omni promises to be well attended and highly informative. Chief Judge Donald Moran will give the “State of the Courts — and Courthouse” address. Judge Moran will be introduced by his brother, Judge John Moran. We are truly looking forward to the chief judge’s remarks and hope you can be in attendance.
Committees, Law Week
As you know, most of the Bar’s work is done through the hard work of committees. Jennifer Watson has agreed to chair this year’s Law Week Committee. Watson has been a hard worker for the Bar on Law Week in the past and also serves as co-chair of the Bar Bulletin. We certainly appreciate her hard work. She and her committee will begin meeting later this month to begin planning all of the Law Week activities.
Judicial Poll
One matter that has polarized our Bar Association in the past has been the Judicial Poll. Our Bar is evenly split as to those who favor the poll and those who do not. This year your Bar Association is undertaking a special study of the Judicial Poll and its efficacy. A special committee has been appointed to study the issues relating to the poll and will issue a report at the beginning of next year. Lanny Russell has been kind enough to agree to chair this special committee. Also on the committee are Jay Plotkin, the Hon. Timothy Corrigan, Graham Allen, Audrey Moran, Hon. Bernard Nachman, Hon. Ronald Higbee, and Board Member Joel Toomey. This committee will look into what other Bar Associations have done throughout the country as well as gather comments from our members and the bench. After completion of this study, the Committee will issue a report to the Jacksonville Bar Association Board of Governors on how to handle the issues raised by the Judicial Poll. On behalf of the entire Bar Association, I want to thank all of the members of this special committee and look forward to receiving their report.
New Magistrate Judges
As most of you know, our Federal District Court was fortunate to have two new magistrates recently appointed. These magistrates are Judge Monte Richardson and Judge Marcia Howard. On behalf of the local Bar, we welcome them to our legal community. Judge Richardson was kind enough to give the invocation and pledge of allegiance at our last monthly meeting, and Judge Howard will do likewise at our next meeting later this month.
Although both judges have been serving in their official capacity for many months now, their official investiture will occur later this month. Leading a special committee to plan this event is Jim Cobb, a longtime member of our Bar. He served as president in 1969-1970 and as chairman of the Centennial Committee. We appreciate Jim’s efforts on the Investiture Committee. This committee has been busy raising money and organizing the Investiture.
We hope you can attend the monthly luncheon. I look forward to seeing you there.