• The Florida Bar’s midyear meetings are this week in Miami at the Hyatt. They are Wednesday-Saturday.
• Speaking of the Florida Bar, the 2009 annual convention is set for June 24-27 in Orlando at the World Center Marriott.
• No one filed to run against her by Dec. 15, so Orlando attorney Mayanne Downs is the president-elect designate of the Florida Bar. Downs is a partner in the law firm of King, Blackwell, Downs and Zehnder.
• Don’t worry about Holland & Knight attorney Dan Bean winning the Powerball Lottery. He has been “fortunate” enough to be recently named an equity partner with the firm, is in line for promotion to Lieutenant in the Navy Reserve and is six months away from becoming president of the Jacksonville Bar Association.
• Not everyone enjoyed a relaxing holiday season at the end of the year. The City of Jacksonville’s Ethics Officer Carla Miller completed certification to practice law in Australia. She has family in Australia and could see herself practicing there in the future.
• The new year brought a new hire to the City’s Office of General Counsel. Gabriella “Gaby” Young has been appointed as an Assistant General Counsel for the City of Jacksonville, and works in the Tort Litigation Department. She is a graduate of Florida State University College of Law.
• There is one stop left on the Florida Supreme Court candidate carousel. The Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission will be accepting applications to fill a seat that will be vacated by Justice Charles Wells, due to mandatory retirement, until Jan. 20. Judge Jorge Labarga, of Wellington, was appointed to fill the recently vacated seat of Justice Harry Lee Anstead.
• Time is running out to save $25 on registration for the “Climb Jacksonville” American Lung Association of Florida fundraiser. The early registration deadline was extended to Jan. 15 and after that date entrants will be charged $50 to enter the race to climb 42 flights of stairs in the Bank of America Tower Downtown.
• Staff representatives of U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s office will hold office hours for Neptune Beach and Duval County residents Wednesday from 10 a.m.-noon at the Neptune Beach City Hall at 116 First St. The availability is open to anyone including those who need help with a federal issue. Those unable to attend may contact Nelson by mail: 1301 Riverplace Blvd., Suite #2218 or through his Web site at http://billnelson.senate.gov.
• John Higbe, vice president of the Information Services Department at Landstar’s Jacksonville service center, has been selected as one of Computerworld magazine’s “Premiere 100 Information Technology (IT) Leaders for 2009.” This is not the first time a member of Landstar’s IT Department has been selected. Higbe joins Vice President of Information Services Customer Service Randy Mitchelle (2008), Vice President and CIO Larry Thomas (2006) and Vice President of Advanced Technology Patrick Wise (2001).
• The Hyatt is offering a special $79 room rate for the Friday “Destination Downtown” watering hole tour, but that’s not all. The rate is also available for the Jazz Festival April 2-5, Easter weekend April 10-12, Independence Day weekend July 3-5, back to school Aug. 17-Sept. 13, Labor Day weekend Sept. 4-7 and Thanksgiving Nov. 26-29.
• Chris Tice has been named the 37th partner at the law firm of Conroy, Simberg, Ganon, Krevans, Abel, Lurvey, Morrow & Schefer. He will assume the duties of managing partner of the firm’s Jacksonville Worker’s Compensation Division. The firm has nine offices in Florida and employs 38 partners and 94 associates practicing insurance defense in worker’s compensation and general liability.