• The Florida Bar’s annual convention is set for June 18-21 in Boca Raton at the Boca Raton Resort & Club. The judicial luncheon — one of the highlights — is set for June 19 and the guest speaker is Harold Hongjy Koh, the dean of the Yale Law School.
• Couldn’t get on to the Bar’s Web site for a while over the weekend? There’s a good reason. The site was down from Friday at 6 p.m. until Saturday morning at 10 for repairs.
• The Jacksonville Association of Firefighters announced Friday that the 1,300-member organization has endorsed Angela Corey for State Attorney in the Fourth Judicial Circuit. Corey has also been endorsed by the 22,000-member Florida Professional Fire Fighters.
• Big trial practice forum in Jacksonville set for May 2. It’s at the Marriott Southpoint and is sponsored by the National Business Institute. The forum features several area judges as panelists: St. Johns County Judges John Alexander and Clyde Wolfe and Fourth Judicial Circuit Court Judges E. McRae Mathis, Gregg McCaulie, Elizabeth Senterfitt, David Wiggins, Daniel Wilensky and Jean Johnson. The forum costs $339 and is worth seven CLE credits. For more information, call 1-800-930-6182.
• The Greater Jacksonville Area USO Council Inc. recently announced the 2008-09 executive committee, which is made up of community members dedicated to the armed forces and their families in northeast Florida and southeast Georgia. The committee members are: retired Col. Francis Loving, president; George Brady and George Banks, vice presidents; Robin Wilson, secretary; Vonda Sexton, treasurer; retired Rear Adm. Kenneth Belisle, member at large; and David Cain, immediate past president.
• According to the Florida Bar, the turnover ratio for state attorneys and public defenders is fairly high. In fiscal year 2007, the statewide turnover ratio for state attorneys was 20 percent and for public defenders it was 24 percent.
• Florida Coastal School of Law is hosting its first “Finish Line” international beer and hors d’oeuvres reception Friday from 5-7 p.m. in the school’s main auditorium. The event was created by the school’s career services department and honors graduating students and the Jacksonville legal community.
“The moment a mere numerical superiority by either states or voters in this country proceeds to ignore the needs and desires of the minority, and for their own selfish purpose or advancement, hamper or oppress that minority, or debar them in any way from equal privileges and equal rights—that moment will mark the failure of our constitutional system.”
– Franklin D. Roosevelt