Attorneys undeterred in pursuit of professionalism

News

A bomb scare Tuesday at City Hall shut down the front entrance of the Main Library Downtown, but members of The Jacksonville Bar Association showed persistence in a pursuit of professionalism and made their way to the back entrance.

After hearing about the bomb scare, The JBA President Michael Freed had second thoughts about having moved the meeting from its usual location at the Hyatt Downtown to the library.

“My first thought was, ‘Who was the idiot who moved the meeting from the Hyatt to the library?’ And then I realized that idiot was me,” said Freed.

“But seriously, we were concerned for the 260 members attending the lunch. But we were able to direct

people to the Main Street entrance after we found out the threat wasn’t as serious as first thought.”

The suspected bomb turned out to be a box of light bulbs.

The meeting included recognizing the passing of two members, Mark Hulsey Jr. and Ernst Mueller.

Former Florida Bar President Hank Coxe spoke about his experiences with Hulsey, also a former Florida Bar president, and Circuit Judge Virginia Norton remembered Mueller, one of her associates at the City’s Office of General Counsel.

The meeting’s guest speaker pulled double duty as Jack Marshall, founder and owner of ProEthics Ltd. talked about professionalism at the meeting and was the keynote speaker at the Professionalism Symposium continuing legal education event that followed.

Marshall warned the membership that there aren’t rules that address every situation, according to Czech-born mathematician Kurt Gödel.

“(Gödel’s) Ethics Incompleteness Principle tells us that we have to be alert to the fact that the rules aren’t always going to cover everything,” said Marshall.

He said that advances in technology also contribute to professionalism dilemmas.

“What helps us in the face of technology is to fall back to basic principles when there are no answers,” said Marshall.

About 190 people attended the symposium, co-hosted by The JBA and Florida Coastal School of Law in the library auditorium.

The JBA Professionalism Committee Chair Mark Bajalia and Karen Millard of Florida Coastal organized the event.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan was the keynote speaker at the symposium.

“It’s tough speaking at a professionalism seminar because you are usually speaking to the choir, and those who need to be here, aren’t,” said Corrigan.

Bajalia was pleased with the turnout.

“It is reflective of the fact that professionalism is very important to the practice of law in Jacksonville and the never-ending effort to become better lawyers and community citizens,” said Bajalia.

The JBA also plans to support professionalism efforts by expanding its mentorship program to assist new lawyers as they begin the practice of law.

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New members of The JBA for August
Carlton Ames

Casey Arnold

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