by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
It didn’t take Ray Driver long to be reminded that good things can happen when you fling your net upon the local legal waters.
Driver joined the Young Lawyers Section of the Jacksonville Bar Association shortly after graduating from law school 11 years ago. Now, as his term as YLS president comes to a close, he appreciates as much as ever the benefits that have come his way.
“I think it’s like anything else; you get out of it what you put into it,” said Driver in the offices of Driver & McAfee on the 20th floor of the Wachovia building. “I have met a lot of people and developed a lot of relationships as a result of being involved with the Young Lawyers.
“I think it’s helped develop my practice.”
Driver practices general corporate law - mergers and acquisitions and private securities. Shortly after Driver & McAfee was formed, the offices were moved to their present location.
Those who want to join the YLS have to be under 35 years old or have been practicing law in Florida for less than five years. That five-year practice requirement covers those who move to Jacksonville from out of state.
“Maybe they’re 40 years old and moved from New York to Jacksonville,” Driver said. “They can at least participate as a Young Lawyer for five years.”
The 10 members of the board are elected for two-year terms and are eligible for re-election as long as they are members of the YLS. After the eligibility runs out, they may run for the board of governors of the Jacksonville Bar Association itself.
As president of the YLS board, Driver also has been an ex-officio member of the JBA. When his term expires July 31, and he leaves the YLS because of age considerations, he will run for one of the open seats on the JBA board.
The next YLS president will be Braxton Gillam of Milam & Howard.
“Under Ray’s leadership, the Young Lawyers Section has been very active and has given some valuable service to the community,” said JBA president Jim Moseley Jr. “This typifies the hard work of many of the young lawyers in the community. He sacrifices a lot.
“For a young firm that has some very good clientele, Ray sacrifices time for bar and community service.”
Driver declined to take more than a dash of credit for the activities and accomplishments of the YLS during his term.
“It’s not me,” he said. “It’s the other board members. Everybody on our board works really hard. In particular, Kevin Cook, an associate at the Bedell firm, deserves a lot of credit.”
Reasons for joining the YLS are both collegial and charitable, said Driver.
“In general,” he said, “it’s other young lawyers interacting with one another. We do community projects together. We go to happy hours together.
“You’re forging friendships and relationships with lawyers that you will be practicing with or adverse to in this community for years to come. It tends to create a more collegial bar association.”
Whether it’s the JBA as a whole, the Young Lawyers Section or one of the Inns of Court, those efforts to take the enmity out of an adversary system get a lot of notice.
“I go to these state conferences, and Jacksonville is almost uniformly regarded as the most collegial big bar in the state,” said Driver. “It is a very, very good group of people.
“I negotiate against friends. It definitely can be done in a professional manner.”
In its efforts to acclimate new lawyers to the city, the YLS conducts an occasional Afternoon in the Courthouse. The tours show newly admitted bar members how to get around the courthouse - “where to go to find what.”
Holidays in January is one of the better known community-wide projects run by the estimated 400 members of YLS.
The beneficiaries are the children who missed Christmas because they were going into the foster care program with the Department of Children and Families at the same time other children were opening presents.
“These are kids who have been taken away from one family and not yet been assigned to another, so they missed Christmas,” said Driver. “Generally, all those kids get bicycles and maybe three to five other decent gifts.”
The YLS also helps with bowling as well as track-and-field events at the Special Olympics.
A new project that’s starting this year is a golf tournament to benefit a local charity. The inaugural event will be held Oct. 14 on the Ocean course at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club. All proceeds will benefit daniel, the oldest child-focused, not-for-profit organization in the state.
“Golf tournaments are a lot of work,” said Driver. “But we’ve been doing a lot of our projects for so long that they’re kind of easy to do at this point.
“We’re kind of rechallenging ourselves with this tournament.”