from staff
Several area attorneys have formed a new local chapter of the American Inns of Court and have named the chapter after the late Bob Williams. The group will meet informally for the first time Wednesday evening at San Jose Country Club where Florida Bar President Hank Coxe will be the guest speaker.
“We are still under the Inns of Court national umbrella,” said Ben Samuels, who’s serving as the organization’s vice president. Attorney Jake Schickel is the group’s president.
Samuels said the Inns of Court was established in the 1970s as a way for attorneys to get together and discuss mentoring opportunities within the profession, among other things.
“We do not sit around and talk about case law,” said Samuels, who was hired by Williams fresh out of law school in 1988 and has been with Boyd & Jenerette ever since. “We talk about what’s right and what’s wrong in an effort to improve the profession. The plaintiff and defendant side, as a matter of course, are confrontational. But, that does not mean it has to be confrontational within the profession.”
Samuels said he expects about 50-60 attorneys to eventually comprise the local chapter which, for now, will remain an invitation only organization.