by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
In an effort to promote professionalism and collegiality in the Fourth Judicial Circuit, the Young Lawyers Section of the Jacksonville Bar Association created the Judicial Breakfast program, which continued June 24.
It provides a social atmosphere for lawyers and judges to talk about proper courtroom procedures and conduct. Lawyers can discuss problems they may be experiencing while practicing in the Fourth Circuit and judges can explain what they expect from lawyers who appear before them.
Judges from the Family, Juvenile and Probate Divisions were invited to the breakfast and the program experienced one of the highest turnouts with nine judges attending: E. McRae Mathis, David Wiggins, Gregg McCaulie, Adrian Soud and Virginia Norton, from the Family Division; Henry Davis, Jim Daniel and Jefferson Morrow from the Juvenile Division and Peter Dearing from the Probate Division.
The judges talked about the state of the practice of law and how the people in attendance, both lawyers and summer associates, could help their own careers.
“Be punctual, be prepared, be professional,” said Wiggins. “If you are those three, how can you not reach a level of professionalism that is respected by your peers? You don’t need to go to law school to learn that.”
Soud is in his first year presiding over court in the Family Division, and he didn’t expect Family Court to present the most emotional cases he’s experienced during his law career.
“Being able to instill calm into that situation is the highest level of professionalism that anyone could aspire to,” said Soud.
Norton was also recently sworn in to the Fourth Circuit and she passed on some knowledge of what she has experienced during her short time on the bench.
“The best tip I can give you is inform your clients about what is going to happen in court,” said Norton. “The biggest problem occurs when people come into court with unrealistic expectations and those problems could be avoided if people are properly informed on what is going to happen in court.”
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