Name: Tiffiny Douglas Safi
Age: 37
Family: My husband, Omar, and our two sons, Dylan and Coleman
Pets: I don’t think so
Education: Furman University and Florida Coastal School of Law
Admitted to the Bar: 2003
Employed by: Cooper, Ridge & Safi
Field of practice: Commercial Litigation
Professional Organizations: Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association, Director of Judicial Reception; The Jacksonville Bar Association
Community Involvement: Hemophilia Foundation of Greater Florida; Jacksonville Area Legal Aid; the Rocumentarian; Law Day Committee (JALA One Promise Music Video)
How did you get involved?
When Coleman was diagnosed with hemophilia in 2008, the Hemophilia Foundation of Greater Florida and the parents and children who actively support HFGF reached out to our family with open arms, which was not only comforting but also inspirational. Families who were facing not only the normal challenges of work and life, but also coping with a serious medical condition, were making time to support other families. I joined a committee which started an annual walk event that raised more than $30,000 for HFGF the first year and almost $40,000 the next year. So, how did I get involved? I got inspired.
How can someone else get involved?
Allow yourself to be creatively and motivationally inspired. Attorneys live their lives by the hour — always cognizant of the price of time. Don’t hold back what only you can uniquely contribute by focusing on time constraints. Let the ideas flow. Instead of focusing on the time commitment beforehand, figure it out after you commit — just make it up as you go along.
What have you learned/achieved through the experience?
We are all capable of great things … no matter how costly or complex or, well, crazy. Let’s be frank, a music video? Not exactly a normal project in the Jacksonville legal community, but very well-received in the end. I just try to emulate my heroes — my family, my law partners, my friends, leaders in our legal community — and hope that I get it right.
What was the last book you read or are reading?
Honestly, that information is protected by the work product doctrine. Boy, that says a lot, doesn’t it?