from the JBA
The Jacksonville Bar Association’s Section on Human Rights Law had its organization launch and opening reception Aug. 27 Downtown at the Omni Hotel.
The event featured a talk on developments in the crisis in Darfur by recently-appointed Section Chair Michael Cavendish, and a roundtable planning session on projects in the area of corporate social responsibility.
The section on Human Rights Law is the JBA’s newest section of lawyers, and in three months of existence has met with a number of initial successes, including the establishment of a liaison with the American Bar Association’s task forces on Kosovo and Darfur, the extension of an invitation for a formal delegation visit to the International Criminal Court in The Hague and recognition as a peer volunteer organization by leading human rights non-profits including Amnesty International USA, The Lawyers Committee on Human Rights, and New York-based Human Rights Watch. The Section was conceived and created by new JBA President Joe Camerlengo and the incoming members of the JBA board.
During the reception the Section announced that in the spring of 2009 it will hold a charity wine auction, tentatively titled ‘Vin Pour la Défense des Droits,’ benefiting the ABA’s task force of volunteer international war crimes prosecutors and victim advocates.
Other planned events include a CLE event on evaluating and investigating prisoner abuse claims, and a workshop on human trafficking, held in concert with the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Speaking for the Section at the reception, Chair Michael Cavendish announced, “This new group is for all Jacksonville lawyers, because every trained lawyer can step into a phone booth and emerge as a human rights lawyer, or advocate.”
The new Section will meet monthly throughout the year and is currently accepting additional members.
The Jacksonville Bar Association is a 2,000-member volunteer local bar association with new headquarters in the Southbank’s Aetna Building. The JBA holds monthly luncheons for its members, sponsors over 30 substantive sections on legal practice, and is a leader in charitable and civic development among Jacksonville’s professional organizations.
Michael Cavendish, a partner with Jacksonville’s Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart P.A., is a commercial litigator and 10-year JBA member. Mr. Cavendish was recent pro bono counsel for the appellant prisoner in Goebert v. Lee County, FL, an appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, a suit involving claims of abuse against a pregnant female Canadian national held in Florida’s prison system.