by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
For the first time in more than a decade, Jacksonville Bar Association members will have a choice in who becomes their president-elect.
Joe Camerlengo of Camerlengo & Brockwell will face off against Caroline Emery, a Career Law Clerk for U.S. District Judge Harvey Schlesinger, to become the JBA’s president-in-waiting. Members can vote until the JBA’s annual meeting May 18 at Deerwood Country Club.
Contested elections aren’t unheard of, but Bar members almost uniformly scratch their heads when asked to recall the last one. Current Judge Waddell Wallace’s successful run in 1992 against Michael Wedner, an attorney with the General Counsel’s Office, was the last time the position was contested.
Since then, the member with the most experience on the JBA’s Board of Governors has often advanced to president-elect. But this year, both candidates claim six years of Board experience. Emery was voted in a year earlier, but Camerlengo also joined the Board in 2000 as president of the JBA’s Young Lawyers Section.
Emery sees the position as a natural extension of her years of service to the Bar and community. Camerlengo touts his experience on the Board and as owner of his own practice. Both are trying to take the helm at a time when the JBA faces challenges including a change in Florida’s political landscape, declining public esteem for lawyers and the need for a new Duval County Courthouse.
Emery wants to increase the JBA’s participation in the community and raise the profile of the good works already underway. Emery has made community service a priority in her own career. She’s received several community service awards for her work with HabiJax among other organizations. In 1995 she received the Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award.
“I’ve always been driven by a desire to serve,” said Emery. “As a leadership position, the president has a chance to focus the Bar strongly on contributing to the community. That helps bring the Bar and community together.”
Emery also wants to maintain the JBA’s civility as a growing Jacksonville market attracts more lawyers to the area. Jacksonville lawyers stand out in Florida for their talent and for their professionalism, she said. Emery wants to preserve that edge.
With six years of experience as a judicial clerk, Emery thinks her election would be a boon to bench-and-bar relations. Emery emphasizes that she is “the most senior elected,” Board member with the “best attendance record.” Both entries are underlined on her biography.
Camerlengo thinks his elbow-deep experience as a litigator in Duval County’s civil courts gives him an up close perspective on one of the JBA’s most pressing issues: the need for a new County Courthouse.
“I’m a litigator, I use the courthouse. I understand the inadequacies of the current building,” said Camerlengo. “Leadership from the JBA will be essential, not just in getting the new courthouse off the ground, but in figuring out staffing and space needs. I will make it a priority to make sure we have a functional courthouse.”
Camerlengo also wants the JBA to draft a template disaster management and recovery plan. Camerlengo said he saw first hand the challenges small firms must deal with in responding to disasters like the recent run of hurricanes. Camerlengo’s firm employs four lawyers and 15 staffers.
“Small firms can’t designate a staff lawyer to run down a plan and put it into effect,” he said. “Those people are needed just to keep the lights on.”
Both candidates said they want to continue current JBA President Alan Pickert’s policy of running on-time monthly meetings. By keeping meetings to an hour and attracting interesting speakers, Pickert has created unusual buzz around the JBA meetings, Emery and Camerlengo agreed.
Contested elections are something of an anomaly. James Cobb, a partner with Peek, Cobb & Edwards and JBA president in 1962, could recall only a few. He said the competition could be good and bad.
Two voices speaking could bring different ideas to the campaign, he said. But Cobb worried good candidates might prefer not to run in the future if faced with the prospect of competition. The top attorneys who typically vie for the position might not put in the hours to run a campaign if they think they could lose, he said.
Pickert said he looked forward to the campaign. Both candidates are supremely qualified, he said. Despite the competition, Pickert thinks the hardball politics will be kept to a minimum.
“Either one of them will make an excellent president,” said Pickert. “I don’t think you’re going to see signs in yards or anything like that. Both of these candidates have served on the Board for many years. The members know who they are and what they would bring to the office.”