As we start the new calendar year for The Jacksonville Bar Association our current emphasis is on membership renewal for each and every one of our existing 2,100 members. While we continue to endure one of the most challenging economic times in our nation's history, continued membership in the JBA makes more sense than ever because of both the tangible and intangible benefits that membership offers.
Each of you reading this should have received your renewal membership packet in the past two weeks (if not, please contact me or the JBA at 399.4486). As the packet reveals, the tangible benefits of your membership together comprise a greater value than the dues. Your membership includes admittance to seven monthly luncheons, the 30th Annual Bench & Bar Party this December, the 113th Annual JBA Meeting, weekly issues of The Bulletin, access to various events throughout the year including The Lawyer Variety Show this October and the Spring Social, multiple membership benefits and discounted continuing legal education classes. Those are the tangible benefits that are more valuable than the price of admission.
But for me it is the intangible benefits of membership that have proven completely invaluable and are substantially greater than any dues that I will ever pay for the privilege of being a member of the JBA. The two primary intangible benefits JBA membership provides me are friendship and networking. I will leave the friendship aspect for another column (remember I have to write 11 more of these) and concentrate today on the networking benefit.
Quite simply, I would never have had the three legal jobs that I have enjoyed in the past 11 years since I left active duty in the United States Navy, without the networking benefits provided to me from my membership in the JBA.
My first civilian legal job was with Marks Gray. I was able to successfully transition from military active duty to the private sector solely because of friendships with lawyers gained from attending JBA events. Specifically, during my participation in the JBA Sports League I was fortunate to meet many of the Marks Gray lawyers and I know that those relationships were pivotal when it came time for the firm to decide whether to extend me an offer. Marks Gray has been in existence almost as long as the JBA and Marks Gray places substantial emphasis on participation in JBA activities. It is because of that emphasis that I made it a priority to participate in even more JBA events. I was lucky I did.
At one of those events I met Tracy Coleman and from that JBA friendship, she recommended me to serve as a temporary law clerk for the Honorable Ralph W. Nimmons Jr. and The Honorable Harvey E. Schlesinger. Tracy, herself a former law clerk for Judge Nimmons, provided a favorable endorsement for me to the judges and I was fortunate to commence a two year tour that included an opportunity to be the full-time law clerk for The Honorable John H. Moore II. It was truly an incredible legal and personal experience, and I would have stayed had it not been for Judge Moore booting me out.
My transition from the federal courthouse to the private sector in 2002 was again made possible because of JBA networking opportunities. As a result of JBA events I attended while serving as a law clerk I met Alan Wachs, who was a partner at Holland & Knight LLP. Once again I believe it was my friendship with Alan that played a critical role in my application being favorably reviewed. I know this because my application was virtually identical in 1998 when I initially applied to Holland & Knight and was not accepted. What was different? My JBA friendships.
I suppose membership in the JBA may not be a priority for you if you know now that you will remain in the same job for the rest of your life or if you are not interested in meeting new friends that share similar views and backgrounds. Call it a lucky hunch, but I am confident that none of our 2,100 members fit squarely into both categories.
If I am singing to the choir at this point, please consider becoming a sustaining member of the JBA. As you may know, the JBA offers reduced dues for public service lawyers and law students. This has provided nearly 200 public service lawyers and law students with access to the JBA who could not afford it otherwise. Accordingly, we ask each of our members to consider becoming sustaining members for an additional $100. Most of our sustaining members do so because perhaps, like me, the JBA has a special meaning to them. It may also be because the extra amount entitles each sustaining member to a $100 continuing legal education coupon, good for any of the approximately 20 JBA CLE events put on annually. Sustaining members also receive special recognition throughout the year as well as other benefits. We have increased the number of sustaining members two fold in the second year of the program and we hope to do so again in the program's third year. Please consider becoming a sustaining member of the JBA.
In closing, I look forward to you renewing your membership in the Jacksonville Bar Association for the 113th year of its existence. Not only are the tangible benefits worth the price of admission but the intangible benefits, such as networking, may prove invaluable like they have for me. And remember, it’s a great day to be a Jacksonville lawyer.