Florida Bar President Frank Angones will receive the Henry Latimer Diversity Award at the Bar’s upcoming Annual Convention in Boca Raton for his efforts to champion diversity.
The award is presented in honor of the late Henry Latimer and his commitment to ensure that members of the legal profession reflect the diversity of the communities they serve.
Angones will accept the award at a joint luncheon June 20 hosted by the Bar’s Equal Opportunities Law Section, the Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter of the National Bar Association, and the Florida Association for Women Lawyers.
A long-time Board of Governors member, Latimer was poised to be the first African American Bar presidential candidate before his untimely death in an automobile accident in 2005. It was widely assumed Latimer would have run unopposed and 2007-2008 would have been his year as Bar president. EOLS Chair Harley Herman said Angones often refers to his presidency as the year Latimer would have been president and has tried to stay true to Latimer’s commitment to diversity.
“We wanted to recognize both Frank’s humility in terms of presenting his presidency that way and wanted to recognize what he has accomplished during this term,” Herman said.
Also at the luncheon, FAWL will present its 2008 Rosemary Barkett Outstanding Achievement Award to 11th Circuit Judge Gill S. Freeman, chair of the Florida Supreme Court Standing Committee on Fairness and Diversity, and EOLS will present its Equal Opportunities in the Profession Award to Tony Cabassa and John Kozyak for their diversity efforts in organizing minority mentoring picnics. VHFCNBA will present its President’s Award to Eugene Pettis, chair of this year’s Bar Diversity Symposium, and its Affiliate Chapter of the Year Award to the George Edgecomb Bar Association.
— Courtesy Florida Bar News