by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Wayne Hogan, partner at Terrell Hogan, was the inaugural recipient of Florida Coastal School of Law’s Justice Raymond Ehrlich Award. Hogan received the award during the school’s Law Week banquet Friday night at the Hyatt.
Hogan said he was honored to be recognized by the school, but even more honored to mentioned alongside Ehrlich.
“I was very fortunate to have practiced when Raymond Ehrlich was defending cases,” said Hogan. “We litigated with one another and I practiced before him when he was on the (Florida) Supreme Court. For the law school to think of me in conjunction with such a wonderful lawyer and member of the bench means a lot to me.”
Students at Florida Coastal organized the banquet and created the awards. Linsay Warren, a third-year student at FCSL, was a member of the awards selection committee and also chaired the event. Along with classmates Kristin Chulack, Talia Payne and several others, Warren and her committee selected Hogan after starting with a list of 15-20 nominees. While all of the candidates were worthy, Warren said Hogan was selected for what he’s done outside the practice of law as much as anything.
“What stood out most were his ethics and professionalism, which is one of the key things all lawyers strive towards,” she said, adding Hogan’s humanitarian work, especially in the area of education, was a big factor. “He has donated to charities for the mentally ill. He’s done many things beyond the normal job of being a lawyer.”
Warren said her committee solicited nominees from Florida Coastal as well as the local legal community. Warren said the criteria included professionalism, ethics, work in the community and their emulation of Justice Ehrlich.
“We also wanted someone that Florida Coastal students could emulate,” said Warren, adding the event Friday night went very well, drawing over 400.
Ehrlich, who died in 2005 at age 87, served on the Florida Supreme Court from 1981-91. In 1993, he was awarded The Florida Bar Foundation’s Medal of Honor. Ehrlich was also inducted into The University of Florida’s Levin College of Law’s Heritage of Leadership Recognition Society, the school’s highest honor.
“Lawyers are what make the system work,” he once said. “The Bill of Rights, which means so much to all of us, wouldn’t be worth the paper it’s written on except for a vigilant and strong Bar. If somebody thinks his rights have been violated, he can find a good lawyer who will challenge it in the courts. And, that’s the way it should be.”
Hogan is a past-president of the Florida Justice Association and the Florida and National Board Certified Trial Lawyers. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Florida State University in 1969 and his law degree, with honors, from Florida State University in 1972. Hogan is also a past-president of the Florida State University College of Law Alumni Association.
Hogan said Ehrlich was everything an attorney should be.
“Raymond Ehrlich was the epitome of ethics and civility in the practice of law. He had all the finest qualities one hopes for in a judge,” said Hogan, adding being the first to receive the award isn’t the issue. “It’s not who’s first or who’s next, it’s who it’s named for that matters.”
The Ehrlich Award will be presented annually by Florida Coastal to a member of the legal community who is not only a pioneer in their profession, but also a great humanitarian.