Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to serve as your president. It is a privilege, and I am excited and honored.
As I prepared to embark on what I believe will be one of the great experiences of my professional career, I reflected on where The Jacksonville Bar Association is … and where it can go.
To me, it’s pretty amazing how many things we do and how well we do them.
We have great member lunches featuring high-level speakers. A perfect example was Judge Leifman at our June 26 meeting. His talk on mental health issues was outstanding. Speaking of lunches, please mark your calendars for:
• Aug. 27: Justice Barbara Pariente — Merit Retention
• Sept. 24: Sen. Bob Graham — Civics Education
• Oct. 26: University of Florida v. University of Georgia dueling deans
• Nov. 12: Patriots Day
We deliver several quality Continuing Legal Education programs each year. If you haven’t attended one, I encourage you to do so. The speakers do a fantastic job, and you get the opportunity to interact with fellow The JBA members.
We have awesome social events. I look forward to events like the Bench & Bar and Paws & Laws every year. If you haven’t been attending, you are missing out. It is a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and pick up a few new ones.
We have a mentor program that is designed to ensure we remain one of the most professional bar associations in the country. This program is relatively new, so we need to continue to develop it. But, it’s the fact that we realize the importance of the program that really stands out.
We have great discount programs with vendors, and the list continues to grow. Visit www.jaxbar.org for a current list.
We work with JALA on community-based events such as Ask-A-Lawyer.
We have an incredibly active Young Lawyers Section that impacts people’s lives with annual events like Run for Cover, Holidays in January and Rendezvous on the River.
And the list goes on and on.
It’s all of the things we do, and how well we do them, that make us one of the best voluntary bar associations in the country. But, in my opinion, we have to do a better job of connecting The Jacksonville Bar Association to the community if we want to truly become great.
Because, to me, it’s not so much about what a lawyer in California thinks about The Jacksonville Bar Association (although that is important). It’s more about what the family down the street thinks. I want them thinking, “Wow, The Jacksonville Bar Association really makes a difference in our community.”
So, how do we elevate The Jacksonville Bar Association to that level? It’s really not that complicated. The Jacksonville Bar Association already should have a seat at the table on issues affecting our community. To make that happen, we need to continue developing relationships with the Mayor’s Office and City Hall, the JAX Chamber, the Jacksonville Civic Council, the Duval County School Board and other similar organizations.
We have more than 2,000 members, all of whom have a lot of education and a lot of experience solving real-world problems. That doesn’t mean we have all of the answers, but it certainly means we can help. That makes The Jacksonville Bar Association an invaluable resource to our community, and we need to make ourselves known as such.
We are going to start with education and go from there. With the Sandra Day O’Connor Act in its early stages of implementation, and us celebrating the 225th anniversary of the United States Constitution, it is a great time for The Jacksonville Bar Association to get involved with civics education. We are still planning how that will happen, but we generally intend to have our members teaching those civics classes. After all, what better teachers are there than those that live and breathe the stuff every day?
Look, I don’t expect us to improve education overnight. I expect it to take a few years (and a lot of hard work) to make a noticeable impact, but I am confident we can make that impact if we … and I mean we … all work together.
When we make that impact, we will see a reduction in crime, a reduction in poverty, an increase in economic development and so on. And before we know it, that family down the street will notice that The Jacksonville Bar Association really makes a difference in our community. And, at that point in time, we truly will be great.
The Bar is open! Come make a difference.