The JBA Board of Governors Member Braxton Gillam
For 10 years we have wondered if and when and what about a new Duval County Courthouse would ever become a reality.
Now, as construction progresses on the courthouse project, we can dare to believe that in 2012 a new Duval County Courthouse will open its doors and be a reality.
The myriad debates regarding the new courthouse project included whether or not to provide space for an attorney conference center.
Thanks in large part to the efforts of Judge Mallory Cooper and Judge Lance Day, who served on the New Courthouse Committee, the new courthouse will include a conference area for use by attorneys.
The conference center will include approximately 1,600 square feet of space and will be located on the second floor of the courthouse, overlooking the courthouse entry area, with convenient access to both the law library and courthouse cafeteria.
The conference center will be divided into three areas.
The first area will be designed to provide a quiet place for counsel from which to prepare work prior to hearings. The second (and smaller) area will include a workspace and copier. The third area will provide a location for attorneys to meet and talk, with televisions and vending.
In preserving the attorney conference center, one concession was required: The Jacksonville Bar Association and its members must provide for funding the furnishings and building out the space.
In order to ensure timely build-out and delivery of furnishings and fixtures for the center, we need to raise the funds now to pay for these expenses.
As each of you considers whether and how much to contribute to this endeavor, I encourage you to visit the current attorneys’ “lounge” as it exists in the current courthouse.
Think about those times when you were between hearings at the courthouse and had no place to set up and make practical use of your time. Remember those last-minute changes you wanted to make to a proposed order and the inadequacies of the current facility’s ability to meet your needs.
Help us help you have a better experience in the future. While the space for the conference center has been preserved within the new courthouse, what that space will ultimately hold, provide and look like depends on how much we are all willing to commit to the build-out.
Soon we will be seeking your assistance and contribution and hope that you will be able to support the new center.
We have been given a wonderful location within the new courthouse, and adequate space for a topnotch facility. Let’s make the most of it.