by Kent Jennings Brockwell
Staff Writer
The nomination period is now over and it’s official — local criminal defense attorney Hank Coxe will be the 2006-07 president of the Florida Bar Association.
The nomination period ended Wednesday and Coxe was the sole member nominated for the top position. Though Coxe only needed signatures from at least one percent of Florida Bar’s 75,000 members, he said he received more than 3,000.
“I am happy that I don’t have to campaign for it now,” Coxe said. “It would have been a Herculean task to campaign in front of 75,000 lawyers. I am flattered that I don’t have to.”
While Coxe is now an official shoo-in for president, he said he did get nervous about possibly running against another candidate during the signature collection phase of the campaign.
“You have to worry about it at some point,” he said. “75,000 lawyers? It’s not like I was walking into a room with 10 people in it and could say ‘Would some of you guys back off?’”
Though Coxe’s year-long term as president begins on June 30, 2006, he will serve as president-elect for one year starting on June 30, 2005.
Coxe will be the association’s ninth president from Jacksonville. He will also be the first criminal defense attorney to ever hold the position.
This isn’t Coxe’s first leadership position with the association, however, as he has served on the Florida Bar’s board of governors for the past 10 years. He has also held leadership roles for the Jacksonville Bar Association in the past also. Coxe was president of the Jacksonville Bar Association in 1994-95.
“I have had the privilege of being on the board of governors for a number of years and felt I could continue to contribute to the leadership of the bar,” he said.
Over the years, Coxe has also served on the board of directors for Jacksonville Area Legal Aid. JALA executive director Michael Figgins has worked with Coxe in the past and said that he is quite pleased with the nomination.
“Hank sure has proven his commitment to justice here in Jacksonville and I am confident that he will take that commitment statewide,” Figgins said. “It is always nice to have the state president in your back yard. It is a shame that it is only a one-year term.”
Jacksonville Bar Association president-elect Alan Pickert contributed one of the more than 3,000 signatures Coxe gathered. Pickert said he gave his endorsement because Coxe is the undoubtedly the best choice for leadership in the Florida legal community.
“I think it is self evident,” he said. “Anybody that knows Hank knows what he has done not only for the Jacksonville bar but for the whole Florida bar over the years. It goes without question that he is sought out for his knowledge and expertise on many different and varying issues that confront the Florida Bar Association.
“I think this is an excellent thing for the Jacksonville Bar community and the Florida Bar itself. They couldn’t have picked a better person for that position.”