by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
After years spent selling judicial independence, it’s time for the Florida Bar to rethink its marketing strategy, the organization’s next president said Thursday.
During his address to the Jacksonville Bankruptcy Bar at the River Club, Florida Bar president-elect Hank Coxe of Bedell, Dittmar, DeVault, Pillans & Coxe, said the product is still good, but the Bar’s sales job has misfired. That’s because the layperson is more likely to equate “judicial independence” with renegade judges legislating from the bench, he said.
That image, reinforced in Florida recently by national controversies over rulings on school vouchers and the Terri Schiavo case among others, has overwhelmed the Bar’s intended message with its independence push. Coxe thinks the Bar should emphasize the judiciary’s role as a balance to the executive and legislative branches.
Coxe cited national and state studies that show a growing segment of the population reacting negatively to the term “judicial independence.”
“You say judicial independence and it often produces a negative reaction. It conjures an image of irresponsible, unaccountable judges that do what they want,” said Coxe.
Judicial independence has become the Bar’s mantra. The call for independence is the legal community’s response to attacks from the legislative and executive branches.
Last year, judicial independence was the subject of keynote addresses at the Jacksonville Bar Association’s Law Day Luncheon and the Florida Bar’s annual convention.
At the May Law Day address, retired judge Joseph Hatchett said America’s judiciary was facing the greatest threat to its independence since the Constitution was written. A month later, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy repeatedly used the word “attack” to describe growing criticism of the bench from state and federal lawmakers.
Lawyers are an important part of the argument because judicial standards prohibit judges from responding publicly to attacks on their decisions.
But touting “judicial independence,” may be inadvertently adding to the backlash against judges, said Coxe.
“I think that might have to be rethunk,” he said.
In addition to repackaging the independence push, Coxe said his presidency will also focus on addressing disputes over lawyer advertising and the Bar’s lobbying on statewide political issues.
Web site advertising is generating the most discussion. The Supreme Court distinguishes between Web content, which must be sought out by consumers, and other forms of advertising. While print ads must first be cleared by the Bar, Web site content is not reviewed until after it’s posted.
This has led several firms to disregard advertising standards on the Web, said Coxe. By the time the Bar catches up to violations the firm simply replaces the offending ad.
“With issues that are economically-driven, it seems as soon as a rule is put in place, people will find a way to carve right around it,” he said.
Coxe predicted a return to the debate over Bar lobbying. Individual members can advocate for issues as they please, but the Bar as an organization can only back legislation that pertains to the administration of justice and does not threaten to divide its members.
Last year, when three sections of the Bar waded into the debate over Florida’s restrictions on gay adoption, the result was “the longest debate I’ve ever been involved in on the Bar Board of Governors,” said Coxe. Coxe expects that debate to resume this year.
Already in progress are efforts to mend fences with the governor’s office, said Coxe.
“And there were some serious fences to mend,” he said.
Bush’s disagreements with Florida’s courts over the Schiavo decision and school vouchers among other issues, and the resultant criticism from the Bar, produced a frosty relationship. At one point, Bush refused to meet in person with Bar President Alan Bookman, said Coxe.
But recent meetings with Bush and his general counsel, Rocky Rodriguez, have put the relationship on slightly more solid ground, he said.