Coker receives Perry Nichols Award
It’s been a busy month for Howard Coker. The partner at Coker, Schickel, Sorenson & Daniel has had to balance his practice with a busy awards reception schedule. Coker received a pair of awards in June from the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers. The AFTL’s Young Lawyers Section recognized Coker as the member who had provided the best leadership and mentorship. Coker, an experienced trial attorney, has provided instruction to the AFTL’s young members in what he calls “the nuances and subtleties of good trial litigation.” Coker also learned that he will receive the AFTL’s Perry Nichols Award. The lifetime achievement award is presented annually to recognize individuals who dedicate their careers to the preservation of justice. The award’s namesake is the founder and first president of the AFTL. The award is the highest honor bestowed by the AFTL. Past winners include attorneys Chester Bedell, W.C. Gentry and Wayne Hogan and politicians like former Florida governors Reubin Askew and Leroy Collins and Sen. Claude Pepper.
Florida Coastal snags top two honors at top moot court competition
For the second year in a row, Florida Coastal School of Law won the Orseck Moot Court Competition. The competition, which is this week in Boca Raton, is Florida’s oldest and most prestigious moot court. FCSL has taken top honors two of the three years it has entered a team at the Orseck. This is the first time that its teams took first and second place. The first-place team comprised Emilia Walker, Lawrence Perrone and Grant Zacharias. Walker and Perrone shared the award for top advocate, a first in the Orseck’s 43-year history. The runner-up team comprised Sunny Awla, Jared Potter and Eileen Lacivita. FCSL’s teams beat teams from University of Florida, Florida State University, University of Miami, Florida International University and Stetson before squaring off in the final. The Orseck competition, named for noted Florida appellate attorney Robert Orseck, is held in conjunction with the annual Florida Bar meeting. The FCSL teams argued their cases in the finals in front of Florida Supreme Court judges.
McBurney firm moves to new office
The law firm of Charles W. McBurney bought a suite of offices in the River Watch at City Centre. River Watch is Orlando Developer Cameron Kuhn’s transformation of the former SunTrust Building into office condominiums. The fifth-floor suite overlooks the St. Johns River. McBurney has been an attorney for 24 years. His firm specializes in business law, commercial litigation and collections, creditors’ rights and bankruptcy.
Super Lawyers sold short
As myriad e-mails, phone calls and faxes to the Daily Record have pointed out, last week’s Legal Notes provided an incomplete list of local Super Lawyers, a list of Florida’s top lawyers compiled by Law & Politics magazine. Jacksonville produced 113 Super Lawyers this year. John Mills of Mills & Carlin pointed out that five local female attorneys made the Top 50 female Super Lawyers: Tracy Carlin, Rebecca Creed, Rebecca Berg, Sandra Hedrick and Lynn Pappas. John DeVault made the magazine’s Top 10 Super Lawyers in the state. For a full listing of all of Jacksonville’s Super Lawyers and accompanying biographies go to www.superlawyers.com.
Bishop and Tanner create firm
Attorneys Michael Tanner and Thomas Bishop have formed the firm of Tanner Bishop Attorneys. The firm’s office is in Suite 1700 of Independent Square (the Modis Building). The firm will concentrate in commercial litigation, negligence and products liability, white collar defense and appeals. Tanner is board certified in Civil Trial and Business Litigation Law. Bishop is immediate past president of the Jacksonville Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Both principals have been listed in Best Lawyers in America and Florida Trend’s “Legal Elite.”