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Interested in serving on a state board designed to oversee the state of Florida’s 80,000 attorneys? Then apply to serve as one of two non-lawyer members of the Florida Bar’s 52-member Board of Governors.
The Bar is seeking a new member of the public to replace Solomon L. Badger III, Ed.D. of Jacksonville, whose second two-year term expires June 2007.
Two public members have served on the Bar’s 52-member governing board since 1987, after the Supreme Court of Florida approved the organization’s request to have non-lawyer representation on the board. Only 12 other state bar associations in the country have public members on their governing boards.
A screening committee of the Florida Bar Board of Governors has been appointed to review the applications for the public member position, conduct final interviews and make recommendations to the Bar’s governing board during its March meeting in Tampa. The Board will then recommend three people to the Supreme Court of Florida and the Court will appoint one of the three nominees to the Board.
The Board of Governors oversees the Bar’s lawyer discipline program, continuing legal education programs, legislative activities and overall administration of the Florida Bar.
In addition to the two public members on the Board of Governors, one-third of all members of the 80 local grievance committees that hear complaints against attorneys are non-lawyers, as are one-third of the members of the 31 committees which oversee the Bar’s investigations into unlicensed practice of law. These committees report to the Board of Governors, which in turn reports to the Supreme Court of Florida.
Board members average 200-300 hours per year on Bar business depending on committee assignments. Although attorney members of the Bar’s governing board pay all expenses related to their attendance at six board meetings and other events held each year, non-lawyer board members are reimbursed for what the Bar considers “reasonable travel and related expenses for attending official bar functions.”
The new board member would serve a two-year term commencing June 23. By rule, public members are not allowed to serve more than two consecutive terms. Most of the Bar’s Board is apportioned according to Florida’s 20 judicial circuits, with attorney members elected by lawyers in their locality. There are four additional out-of-state representations. The other public member currently serving on the Florida Bar’s Board of Governors is J. Blair Culpepper of Winter Park.
Persons interested in serving as a public member may obtain the application from the Bar’s Web site at www.floridabar.org or call the Florida Bar at (850) 561-5600, ext. 5757 to request an application to be mailed. Completed applications should be mailed to John F. Harkness, The Florida Bar, 651 East Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, 32399-2300. The deadline for submission of completed applications is Jan. 31.