by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
His example as a board-certified attorney along with service to his community and profession have earned a Jacksonville attorney praise from the student bar association of Florida Coastal School of Law.
Holland & Knight partner George “Buddy” Schulz will be honored at a ceremony Feb. 4 at the Main Library Downtown with the student bar association’s “2011 Justice Raymond Ehrlich Award.”
The annual award is in its fifth year and presented by the Student Bar Association to a local judge or attorney who embodies professionalism and humanitarianism and integrity in the Jacksonville community.
Past recipients of the award include Florida Supreme Court Justice Peggy Quince, attorney Wayne Hogan, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Gerald Tjoflat, and U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan, who was last year’s recipient.
“Aside from being respected for his professional accomplishments in the courtroom, Mr. Schulz remains dedicated to promoting the ethical responsibilities every attorney should strive to maintain,” said Jessica Sexton, chair of the Ehrlich Award Luncheon. “The students couldn’t be more honored to recognize him in this way.”
After being contacted by Florida Coastal, Schulz assisted in developing the school’s shadow program, which allows students to learn from practicing attorneys.
Schulz was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1973, and in 1985 earned board certification in civil trial. He is the past chair of Holland & Knight’s litigation department, and is currently chair of the Public and Charitable Service Department that coordinates the firm’s pro bono and community initiatives.
He has been a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the International Society of Barristers and the American Bar Foundation; and a member of The Florida Bar, American Bar Association, American Board of Trial Advocates and Chester Bedell American Inn of Court. His involvement in the community has included serving as a cabinet member of United Way; general counsel of PACE Center for Girls/Jacksonville; a director of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid Inc.; a director of the Jacksonville Urban League; a member of the City of Jacksonville Ethics Commission; a member of the City of Jacksonville Juvenile Justice Comprehensive Strategy Board; and a member of the Gator Bowl Association.
He currently serves as a volunteer to the Guardian ad Litem Program and a trustee emeritus of the University of Florida College of Law.
“Buddy Schulz is one of the finest attorneys and people in Jacksonville,” said Audrey Moran, chair of the Florida Coastal School of Law board of directors and fellow attorney. “He is a community trustee and a great example of how Justice Ehrlich felt all attorneys should conduct themselves both in their profession and in their civic lives. I can’t think of a better choice for this award.”
Fellow Holland & Knight partner, and Vanderbilt University alumnus, Dan Bean concurred with Moran.
“They couldn’t have selected a finer person,” said Bean.
The award is named after former Florida Supreme Court Justice Raymond Ehrlich (1918-2005) who worked as an attorney in Jacksonville from 1946 until his appointment to the Florida Supreme Court in 1981. Ehrlich “was known as a studious justice who put in long hours, worked most weekends and always wore a signature bow tie.
There are similarities between the namesake and the honoree. After Ehrlich reached mandatory retirement age for the Florida Supreme Court, he returned to Jacksonville and practiced law as a partner at Holland & Knight and both served in the U.S. Navy.
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