One of The Jacksonville Bar Association goals for 2011-12 set by President Michael Freed was to involve more transactional lawyers.
The Marshall M. Criser Jr. Transactional Law Seminar was created to do that.
Transactional attorneys focus on business law and address issues including deeds for real estate, employment contracts, merger documents, and transfer of intellectual property and trademarks.
“We have become known as an organization more geared to trial attorneys and we wanted to do more to attract the transactional attorneys, said Ray Driver, incoming president of The JBA. He is a transactional lawyer.
Driver said the board assigned Christine Bell and Scott Glazier of the newly reformed Corporate and Business Law Section to develop the CLE, a continuing legal education program.
The JBA decided to name the program after Marshall M. Criser Jr., who served as president of The Florida Bar in 1968-69 and the University of Florida from 1984-89. He earned his bachelor of laws degree in 1951 from Florida.
Criser, who attended the inaugural seminar June 1 at the Sawgrass Marriott, said June 30, 1951, was an eventful morning.
Between 9:30 a.m.-11:15 a.m., he received his commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army after completing ROTC at the University of Florida; he received his bachelor of laws degree; and he was sworn in as a member of The Florida Bar.
“That was four or five years prior to the Bar exam, and any graduate of the University of Florida Law School, John B. Stetson University or the University of Miami, the only law schools in Florida at the time, had a diploma privilege and didn’t have to take a Bar exam,” said Criser.
When the Bar decided to require aspiring attorneys to pass an exam to be able to practice law in Florida, Criser supported the idea.
“I had to check to see if it was retroactive, but after I found out it wasn’t, I supported the exam,” said Criser.
He also supports the idea of seeking knowledge to become better at the practice of law.
“The program focuses on the areas that I spent most of my practice in either Palm Beach or Jacksonville. I will share with you the privilege of listening to that program and learning to be a more skilled practitioner,” said Criser.
About 50 members attended the CLE seminar and the daylong event included information from 13 speakers who discussed the facets of forming a new business.
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