What do you call a group of government lawyers? (Hint: It’s not a gaggle)
No, the correct answer is The JBA Government Law Section.
Initially started as a group of practitioners in the area of state and local government law, the section has transformed its focus toward public service or public sector lawyers.
The section is modeled after The Florida Bar Government Lawyer Section and fills a vital role for government lawyers. It provides a forum of similarly situated peers to share experiences and perspectives.
In the past year or so, lawyers in the public sector have seen reductions in salary and benefits, forced pension contributions, and legislative directives to prohibit agencies from paying Bar dues for their attorneys.
If you are a public sector or governmental lawyer, you should consider joining this section.
Because government lawyers’ practice areas are so diverse, ranging from land use planning to taxation and white collar crime and everything in between, this section focuses on the general aspects of public sector lawyering, such as practicing within the public records laws, dealing with agencies as clients and working within a legislatively mandated budget.
The current roster of the Government Law Section includes lawyers from the Solicitor General, Attorney General, State Attorney, Statewide Prosecution, City General Counsel, HUD and FDIC offices.
The section will be presenting a CLE on public records this year as well as creating a Listserv that will share practice tips and case law updates among its members.
We are going to work directly with Florida Coastal School of Law to identify internship and employment opportunities within our member agencies and further educate or enlighten law school students about practicing in the public sector.
We will also provide nominees from among our membership to the Government Lawyer Section of The Florida Bar for the Claude Pepper Outstanding Government Lawyer Award.
There is a current proposal by The Florida Bar’s Program Evaluation committee to designate a seat on the board of governors for a government lawyer.
If created, we intend to promote one of our members in conjunction with the Bar Government Lawyer Section to fill the seat.
There are several local government agencies who are unrepresented in The JBA. The JBA provides reduced membership fees for public sector lawyers and there is no cost to join the section.
In addition to JBA lunch meetings, the Government Law Section will hold bimonthly “lunch and learn” meetings at various members’ workplaces.
The first meeting will be noon Sept. 21 at the Florida Attorney General’s offices.
If you are interested in joining the section, please email [email protected], or contact James Young at [email protected].