by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Lt. Gov Jeff Kottkamp should have felt at home at Wednesday’s Jacksonville Bar Association meeting. He works with several attorneys in Tallahassee — including directly for Gov. Charlie Crist — so addressing a few hundred peers was kind of like going to work.
Kottkamp was the guest speaker at the JBA’s annual Law Day luncheon, which culminates Law Week, the annual event that celebrates the law and its importance both as a profession and in the community. This year’s theme, was “Liberty Under Law: Empowering Youth, Assuring Democracy” and Law Week, which actually began in late March, featured everything from mock trials to an elementary poster contest to a naturalization ceremony.
“Law day has a special place in my heart,” said Kottkamp, who was elected to the State Legislature in 2000 before being tabbed by Crist to serve as his running mate. “As a member of a county Bar, I was Law Day chairman as well.”
Kottkamp said it was good to speak to a room full of fellow Florida Bar members because he says attending meetings is a sign of support for both the local and state Bars.
Addressing the Law Day theme, Kottkamp stressed the importance of educating the state’s young people in the importance of understanding the basics of Civics and the laws of the Constitution in relation to the security of the country. He said there is a push in Tallahassee to add a Civics sections to the FCAT exam.
Kottkamp urged local Bar members to understand the value of having a mentor and being a mentor.
“It is incredibly rewarding to be a mentor to a young child,” he said.
Kottkamp also called being a lawyer a unique job.
“Not everyone can be a lawyer. Not everyone who wants to be a lawyer can be a lawyer,” said Kottkamp, who went to Florida State University for his undergraduate degree and the University of Florida for his law degree. “The job has a lot to offer.”
He stressed the need to find a purpose as an attorney.
“God did not put us here to be ordinary,” he said. “God put us here to be extraordinary.”
Kottkamp was introduced by Florida Bar President Hank Coxe, who called Kottkamp, “a good personal friend and one of the greatest friends of the profession in the state.”