from staff
Today marks the beginning of a new year for the local legal community, so the Daily Record asked Jacksonville Bar President Kelly Mathis for his thoughts on the big issues facing 2007.
DR: What issues will the Jacksonville legal community need to address in 2007?
Mathis: As always, the big thing we need to focus on is maintaining the collegiality of our profession ... even though the number of lawyers in Jacksonville keeps increasing, we somehow need to maintain a tightknit legal community to be able to deal with each other better and provide better service to our clients ... That’s kind of the amorphous issue.
DR: What are more challenging issues coming up?
Mathis: The big white elephant in the room is the courthouse ... It’s definitely a challenge, and I just think we need to keep reminding everyone that it is an issue that’s not going away. The basic fact is that our courthouse was built like in the ‘50s – and how much has the population of Jacksonville grown since then? – yet the courthouse hasn’t grown. It’s time to do something ...(But instead,) it’s back to the drawing board, see if you can come up with a courthouse that can meet the mayor’s budget. I don’t see that happening. Things aren’t getting cheaper, and the population is just getting bigger. I think the big thing we need to do is convince the public that we need it. Those who visit the courthouse, probably realize we need it, but I dont think most people realize how we got to where we are.
DR: What do you think are the major hold-ups on the courthouse project so far? Weren’t the original plans scrapped because the complex was deemed too expensive – a ”Taj Mahal,” as Mayor John Peyton called it?
Mathis: It goes back to the debate about whether your courthouse should be a marker of the community or completely for function. A lot of people think a courthouse should be a nicer building, that it should stand out as something reflective of a nice city. In days of old, the courthouse was the key structure representing a community.
There are points to be made for both (sides.) There has to be a balance between functionality and appearance.
DR: What do you want to accomplish for the courthouse project in 2007?
Mathis: We’re hoping to make some progress this year. By the end of the year, I’m hoping we have a new target date ... Last month we were supposed to start moving (according to the original County Courthouse plans.)
DR: What are the Bar Association’s other goals this year?
Mathis: I think we are going to make more of an effort as a Bar Association in enhancing the reputation of the lawyers. We’ll have outreach programs, work with Habijax ... (We want the public to know) that by and large, most lawyers are very, very professional, honest, trustworthy and do a good job for their clients.
Now that you know Kelly Mathis’ thoughts on the new year, tell us about yours. Is the courthouse the biggest problem facing the local legal community? How should it be solved? What about legal aid funding, professional ethics, online legal advertising? We’d love to hear your concerns and ideas for use in an upcoming story. Send an e-mail with “Legal Issues 2007” in the headline to [email protected], or call 356-2466 and ask for Liz Daube.