Remembering the start of a career spanning over 25 years

News

by Joe Wilhelm Jr.

Staff Writer

Aspiring to the highest level of a profession can be an arduous task, but 13 civil trial lawyers in Jacksonville have maintained that level for 25 years.

The Florida Bar offers a certification program that allows attorneys to distinguish themselves in 22 specialty areas. The Civil Trial certification was the first of two areas, Tax Law being the other, offered by the program in 1983. Board certified attorneys are the only Florida Lawyers allowed to advertise themselves as specialists or experts.

Charles Wayne Alford of the Alford Law Group, Honorable Tyrie W. Boyer, Thomas Brown of the Brown Firm, W.C. Gentry of the Law Office of W.C. Gentry, Wayne Hogan of Terrell Hogan, Charles Howell III of the Scott-McRae Group, Rutledge Liles of Liles, Gavin, Costantino & George; Joseph Milton of Milton, Leach, Whitman & D’andrea; James Rinaman Jr. of Marks Gray, Robert Spohrer of Spohrer & Dodd, James Terrell of Terrell Hogan, Dianne Jay Weaver of Harrell and Harrell and Edward White of the Law Office of Edward White were all honored for 25 years of board certification in the area of Civil Trial.

“I can remember vividly the examination process. The exam was in Tampa and I took my friends W.C. Gentry and Kitty Phillips in my private plane,” said Ed White, who has been a licensed civilian pilot since 1975 and Jacksonville Bar Association President 1979-80.

“I dreaded the exam, but W.C. and Kitty had a casual attitude toward it,” he said. “The examination was the worst experience of my professional life. I had been trying two to three auto cases a week and felt very proficient in this area. The auto tort question had been drafted by Robert P. Smith, an alumnus of the Bedell firm, and then a judge on the First District Court of Appeal.

“It had the most convoluted and complex factual situation I have ever encountered. I had no idea how to answer it, and contemplated giving up and just leaving the exam, as several others were doing. But, when I looked around W.C. and Kitty were writing furiously and I realized I was stuck for the duration of the exam.

“So just I answered the questions as best as I could and had several omissions when the exam ended. I was certain that I had failed. On the flight back to Jacksonville, W.C. and Kitty were doing a post mortem on their answers. I was so frustrated that I could not bear to listen, and put on my noise attenuating headset

for the rest of the flight. Imagine my surprise when I got letter from Harris Dittmar, the chairman of the Certification Committee, that I had passed, and was now board certified as civil trial lawyer.”

One familiar face White saw in the exam room at the Hilton in Tampa was Joe Milton who succeeded White as president of the JBA.

“I think it was the last written test I’ve ever taken,” said Milton. “I think I got writer’s cramp that day, but a bunch of the lawyers in Jacksonville were encouraging the Bar to venture into the board certification process to help improve the profession.”

Once they got what they wanted, a certification process, some were surprised how intricate the process was.

“Most of us were a little surprised to the degree of specificity they wanted, particularly on the federal rules of evidence,” said Milton. “They preferred the actual rule number. Most of us knew the rules, but didn’t know them by number. Otherwise, I thought it was a pretty fair test.”

The new certification program presented a dilemma for some.

“I never have liked taking tests and I thought that first exam was as hard or harder than the Florida Bar,” said Rutledge “Rut” Liles, former Florida Bar and JBA president. “There were only two certification areas at the time, so they tested you on a variety of areas that would later become separate specialty areas. You didn’t want to take the exam and fail. I was on the Board of Governors of the Florida Bar at the time, so it would have been increasingly embarrassing if I had failed.”

Liles was pleased when he got his results and found out he had passed an exam he didn’t have time to study for.

“I was supposed to commence a trial the Monday after the Saturday of the exam,” said Liles. “I planned to study for it if the case settled, but it didn’t settle until Thursday before the exam and I had already canceled my seat.”

Liles was able to get his seat back after his case settled and is one of first class of Jacksonville attorneys to earn board certification in Civil Trial.

In order to earn board certification, a lawyer who is a Florida Bar member in good standing and who meets Supreme Court prescribed standards may become board certified in one or more of the 22 certification fields. Certification is the highest level of evaluation by The Florida Bar of the competency and experience of attorneys in areas of law approved for certification by the Supreme Court of Florida.

Minimum standards that need to be satisfied in order to be certified include:

• A minimum of five years in law practice

• Substantial involvement in the field of law for which certification is sought

• A passing grade on the examination required of all applicants

• Satisfactory peer review assessment of competence in the specialty field as well as character, ethics and professionalism in the practice of law

• Satisfaction of the certification area’s continuing legal education requirements.

Board certification is valid for five years. The attorney during that time must continue to practice law and attend Florida Bar-approved continuing legal education courses.

Honored

The following lawyers were honored recently for 25 years of Florida Bar Board Certification as Civil Trial or Tax Lawyers.

• Charles Wayne Alford, Alford Law Group

• Honorable Tyrie William Boyer

• Thomas R. Brown, The Brown Firm

• William C. Gentry, Law Office of W.C. Gentry

• J. Wayne Hogan, Terrell Hogan

• Charles C. Howell III, Scott-McRae Group

• Rutledge Richardson Liles, Liles Gavin Costantino & George

• Joseph Payne Milton, Milton Leach Whitman D’andrea, et al

• James Curtis Rinaman Jr., Marks Gray

• Robert F. Spohrer, Spohrer & Dodd