by Natasha Khairullah
Staff Writer
After nearly six years with the City of Jacksonville, Scott Makar is leaving the office of the General Counsel.
Makar, who has served as the division chief of the General Litigation Department since November 2001, will begin his new job in Tallahassee as Solicitor General for the State of Florida next Monday where he will serve as chief appellate lawyer.
Although the job will require full-time commitments to the Attorney General’s office as well as to Florida State University’s College of Law where he will teach, Makar said he will continue to reside in Jacksonville and commute to and from Tallahassee.
“I’m going to have to make some adjustments, but this is a lawyer’s dream job,” he said.
Makar, also an adjunct instructor at Florida Coastal School of Law since 2001, pointed out that this job will allow him to take advantage of his passion for teaching as well as provide him with opportunities to shape public policy.
“I’m as honored and privileged as one can be,” said Makar. “It’s great to be able to serve him (Attorney General Bill McCollum) and the people of Florida.”
McCollum announced Makar’s appointment early last week.
Makar, a 1999 graduate of Leadership Jacksonville and a Florida Blue Key member, will have two primary responsibilities as Solicitor General. First, he will serve as chief appellate lawyer for the State. This includes overseeing civil appeals involving the State as well as deciding whether the State will appeal cases to the Florida Supreme Court, the United States Supreme Court or the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal. In this capacity, Makar will also monitor cases in the Attorney General’s office which involve the constitutionality of a statute, the functions of government and numerous other matters of public interest.
The second role of Solicitor General is to hold the Richard W. Ervin Eminent Scholar Chair and teach a seminar at Florida State’s College of Law. To do so, Makar had to be appointed by the dean of the college, Don Weider. After the seminar, Makar said he will continue to teach a class each semester in various areas of law.
General Council Rick Mullaney appointed Makar in 2001 as the head of the office’s appellate division and says Makar’s appointment reflects well on Makar and the office.
“It’s a very prestigious position and a great compliment to Scott,” said Mullaney. “It’s also a compliment to the General Counsel’s office. The Attorney General has made a great selection. We will be looking for another appellate lawyer.”
Makar’s most recent practices with the City involve appellate, constitutional, local government, procurement, education and complex litigation matters for various city departments, agencies and independent authorities.
Prior to joining the General Counsel’s Office, Makar was a capital partner at Holland & Knight and, before that, served as a judicial clerk for Judge Thomas A. Clark, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta, Ga.
He has 18-month-old twin daughters and a 6 year-old son and says that he’s okay with the commute between cities for now – it’s missing the little things with his family that will take some getting used to.
“Right now, I get my son up in the morning, get him ready for school and drop him off. At night, I read to him and get him ready for bed and now I’m not going to be there during the week for those activities,” he said. “I’m going to miss that.”
Makar plans on spending Monday through Friday working in Tallahassee but hopes that there will be some flexibility in his schedule once, “equilibrium is achieved.”
“It’s a full-time job, but hopefully there’s a chance that I can maybe spend a few days a week working from the Attorney General’s office in Jacksonville on the Southbank,” he said.
As for relocating, Makar said he and his wife Nancy, also an instructor at FCSL, have not excluded that as an option.
“If it (commuting) doesn’t work and means that we have to move to Tallahassee, then we’re open to that,” he said. “You never know when the circumstances will change.”