by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Members of the legal community from various levels of court will meet in the shadow of the Bryan Simpson Federal Courthouse Aug. 27 to discuss how to make the practice of law in Jacksonville better.
The Jacksonville Bar Association and Fourth Judicial District have organized a “Professionalism Symposium” on that Thursday from 12:30-5 p.m. at the Jacksonville Public Library’s Main Branch Downtown, followed by a reception at Cafe Nola. This is the second professional symposium organized by the two groups and they plan to have the event every other year.
“With the speakers we have lined up, I think it will be quality use of half a day,” said Christa Figgins, Jacksonville Bar Association Board of Governors member and one of the organizers of the event. “The whole point of the symposium is to make Jacksonville a better place to practice law.”
Speakers scheduled to attend include U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Susan Black, U.S. attorney Brian Albritton, Federal Public Defender Donna Lee Elm, State Attorney Angela Corey, Public Defender Matt Shirk, Byron G. Sabol of Sabol International and Jack Marshall of Pro Ethics.
A panel of Judicial Observations on Professionalism will include members of the First District Court of Appeal, U.S. District Court- Middle District of Florida and members of the Fourth Judicial Circuit and County Courts.
Program Topics and breakout sessions will discuss the preservation of professionalism in a technologically-driven society.
“Communication styles that may be acceptable to a new attorney that is say 25 years old, “Millennial Generation,” may not be acceptable to other attorneys that have been practicing longer,” said Figgins. “E-mails are extremely informal, society has taught (the Millennial Generation) to communicate differently than people were taught 20 years ago. Some attorneys may think it’s okay to pull out the Blackberry during a deposition where judges may not consider that acceptable. This will be a great opportunity for discussing those situations.”
The symposium has been approved for 4.5 general continuing legal education (CLE) credits, including 3 Ethics credits and 1.5 professionalism credits.
“Value of this symposium is that it brings together judges from different courts to talk about professionalism, which is a fairly unique opportunity,” said U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Corrigan. “Having judges from so many different levels of court coming to one symposium signifies the importance of the program.”
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