Staff Writer
It was the first time he addressed The Jacksonville Bar Association’s “Law Day” luncheon, but Vice Adm. James Houck, Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Navy, was familiar with the people and community of Jacksonville.
Attendees were a little more familiar with Houck after an introduction by JBA President Dan Bean.
“He is the managing partner for the 10th largest law firm in the world. Last year he had 923 people apply for a job in his law firm and he was only permitted to take 69,” said Bean, who is a member of the U.S. Navy JAG Corps.
“The reason it is so competitive is what Vice Admiral Houck has done for the JAG Corps. He has made us smarter. He has made us leaner. He has made us better.”
Houck began his speech by talking about his first assignment as a Navy lawyer.
“I am an enthusiastic speaker here today for several reasons,” said Houck.
“One of those reasons is that it gives me a chance to atone for a mistake I made 25 years ago. I had been in the Navy for a while already, but I was getting my first assignment as a Navy lawyer. We submit a list of places we like to go and then the people who make those assignments tell you where you are going to go,” he said.
“I had a lot of places on that list and they came back to me and said, ‘We would like you to go to Mayport, Florida.’ And I said, ‘Where Florida?’ Well, it’s the Navy and these are not optional assignments,” said Houck.
With little knowledge of Florida, Houck and his wife packed up and moved to the state.
“We proceeded to have the time of our lives,” said Houck. “This was before the (Wonderwood) connector, before the Jaguars, before The Landing, so it was awhile ago, but we had many great memories of our stay here,” he said.
“This includes ‘Law Day’ 1987. A bunch of us went out to do our ‘Law Day’ thing at a Mayport elementary-middle school. Went home that night, had dinner and went to bed. I woke up early the morning of May 6 and went to Baptist Medical Center, where my wife gave birth to our first son, so we have a lot of great memories of this area,” said Houck.
Beyond his memories of Mayport and Jacksonville, Houck wanted to talk about the meaning of law and what “Law Day” means to him.
“Anybody that has paid attention to the news this week knows that there are still people out there who don’t quite get the rule of law,” said Houck. “We just averted quite a tragedy in Times Square a few days ago. That’s representative of what our country struggles with right now.”
Responding to these issues can be difficult.
“It raises a lot of questions,” said Houck. “When do we use force? When we do use force, how do we use it? The people that are our enemies, are they criminals or are they something else? What if they choose laws that are different from our laws? Those are value questions. Those are questions of policy that go to the core of who we are as a nation.”
Houck also commended the choice of the City’s Chief Deputy General Counsel Cindy Laquidara as the Daily Record “Lawyer of the Year.” He remembered working with Laquidara on the case involving Navy Pilot Scott Speicher 10 years ago and being impressed with her straightforward approach to the practice of law and pursuit of her cause.
Another award recipient at Thursday’s luncheon was Jacksonville Undersheriff Frank Mackesy, who was presented the JBA’s “Liberty Bell” award given to a non-lawyer for outstanding contributions to the legal community, government or community overall.
About 450 people attended the Thursday luncheon at the Hyatt.
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