JBA Young Lawyers Section President Lee Wedekind
The Young Lawyers Section of The Jacksonville Bar Association hosted its annual meeting and reception Thursday at The Carling on Adams Street. The several hundred young lawyers who braved the inclement weather enjoyed the opportunity to socialize with many of the more than 50 area summer associates who had earlier that day attended the “Noon in June” event organized by the YLS. The consensus was that this year’s combination of those events improved both.
The annual meeting included the election and induction of the new Board of Governors by the Hon. Virginia B. Norton, who graciously agreed to volunteer her time after a full day spent presiding in the family law division.
The YLS officers for 2010-2011 are: President – Lee D. Wedekind III (Smith Hulsey & Busey); President Elect - Elizabeth B. Howard (Rogers Towers); Secretary - Michael Fox Orr (The Law Offices of Carl D. Dawson, P.A. & Michael Fox Orr, P.L.); and Treasurer – Michelle Bedoya Barnett (Alexander DeGance Barnett).
This year’s election offered some hotly contested races, due in large part to the high quality of all of the candidates. The winners of this year’s election are: Brad Blair (Seat 2); Fraz Ahmed (Seat 4); Eric Roberson (Seat 5); and Pat Kilbane (Seat 6). Brad was unable to appear at this year’s meeting because he was with his wife celebrating the birth of their daughter on Tuesday. Congratulations to Brad and the other successful candidates.
As a result of the election, the 2010-2011 Board of Governors includes: Fraz Ahmed (Kubicki Draper), Bradley A. Blair (Murphy & Anderson), Christian P. George (Liles, Gavin, Costantino & George), Patrick J. Kilbane (Rogers Towers), Lindsay Tygart-Havice (Murphy & Anderson) and Eric C. Roberson (McGuireWoods).
Each year, the YLS recognizes the most valuable non-board member for his or her contributions to YLS projects. This year, there were a number of people who merited strong consideration, but, in the end, one person’s efforts stood out. Congratulations to this year’s recipient, Michael E. Lockamy. Michael is an associate at Bedell, Dittmar, DeVault, Pillans & Coxe, where he practices general commercial litigation.
In recent years, the Young Lawyers Section has experienced significant growth, and now boasts more than 700 members. Our membership consists of area young lawyers who are 36 years old or younger, or who have been practicing law less than five years. The goals of the YLS are to encourage and promote professionalism, ethics and civility while providing a diverse array of programs and projects designed to benefit young lawyers, all members of The JBA, and the community. These programs are designed to combine educational, charitable and social components and provide an excellent opportunity to meet your fellow attorneys and our local judges, who continue to generously give their time to offer advice and counsel to our members.
Given the wide array of YLS projects, there is an abundance of opportunities to become involved. The YLS projects can be found on the Committee Preference Form published by YLS. Please consider a commitment to one YLS project in the coming year. If you are interested in learning more, please reach out to any of our board members.
In an effort to leap headlong into 2005, the YLS has also opened a Facebook page, which we encourage you to visit and become our friend. All of our events are posted on our Facebook page. Rumors that we intend to start a Twitter feed are greatly exaggerated.
The Board is excited about the slate of events we have planned for the coming year and looks forward to hearing from our members. Our next event will be a Jacksonville Suns game, date and time to be announced shortly.