As you should know by now, The Jacksonville Bar Association’s current leadership has reorganized the structure of its committees and sections. I have the honor of chairing the newly created Litigation Section, teaming up with Eric Kolar as the vice chair (i.e. next year’s chair). The committee preference form includes our mission statement:
“The Litigation Section aims to make its trial lawyer members more effective and satisfied in their work by providing educational resources to improve competency, networking events to enhance professional relationships and social interaction to heighten connectedness.”
The committees within the Litigation Section are:
• ADR Practitioners – chaired by Penny Schmidt (737-3737)
• Admiralty & Maritime – chaired by Rice Ferrelle (598-9282)
• Appellate Law – chaired by Jessie Harrell (350-0075)
• Commercial Litigation – chaired by Paul Renner (357-3660)
• Construction Law – chaired by Chris Cobb (389-0050)
• Labor Law – chaired by Tom Harper (296-7000)
• Workers Compensation – chaired by Jonathan Israel (777-7777)
Each of these committees has created agendas for the 2012-13 fiscal year, providing their members with multiple event opportunities. Some have quarterly meetings, while others have monthly gatherings. Many provide continuing education credits during “lunch and learns,” while others have plans for half- or full-day seminars. The committees also are planning “social only” events in addition to the educational and instructional plans discussed below.
Here is a sampling of the events the Litigation Section is offering in the first half of this fiscal year:
E-Service Rules Review. On Friday, 8/31/12, the Commercial Litigation Committee hosted an exceptional lunch-hour teaching segment, reviewing the new e-service mandates and procedures. Attorney Chris Dix walked 73 of his peers through this new maze on the proverbial “eve of” the new rules taking effect. My thanks go out to Chris for presenting these materials so well, and to Paul Renner for organizing and emceeing the event.
Tour of the Evidence Carts. Eric Kolar is taking the lead on arranging a “tour” of the evidence carts available at our new courthouse. Mike Smith from the clerk’s office will demonstrate the technology tools that will be available on these carts. This tour will be a one-hour event, held in one of the courtrooms, with live demonstrations and plenty of Q&A time. We are aiming to have the first tour in early October, with two or three encore presentations during the fiscal year, depending on the feedback and response. Stay tuned for further details.
E-Discovery Rules Review. The Commercial Litigation Committee is finalizing plans to offer an event similar to the one it hosted Aug. 31, this time focusing on the e-discovery issues that our digital age now creates. This event will likely occur in October.
2012 Raymond Ehrlich Trial Advocacy Seminar. This year’s annual seminar is set for Nov. 12. As its “The Anatomy of a Successful Trial” subtitle implies, it will have a singular purpose. Seminar attendees will walk, sequentially, through the steps of trial, hearing from a jury selection consultant, two DCA judges, four local trial court judges, two former The Florida Bar presidents, a prior Raymond Ehrlich award winner and several other superstars within our local trial lawyer ranks. We are pursuing certification-hour approval for civil trial, criminal trial and business litigation. Please visit jaxbar.org to learn more and to register.
Mock Oral Arguments. The Appellate Law Committee is looking to resurrect a valuable service offered in years past – mock oral argument sessions for lawyers handling appeals. I can speak from personal experience of the value of these sessions, having participated in two several years ago. The committee is pursuing CLE credit for the appellate lawyers who would “preside” over these sessions, so this is still a work in progress. We will post an announcement in future The JBA Bulletins once the details of the service become finalized.
These are some of the larger events on the calendar. Additionally, the ADR Practitioners Committee will host another quarterly CME lunch in November, along with four others – and a full-day CME seminar – in 2013. The Construction Law Committee is set to embark on an aggressive campaign of events intended to get this relatively new committee up and running at full speed. The chairs of the Labor Law and Workers Compensation committees are working on some potential joint events, since their practice areas frequently overlap, while the Admiralty & Maritime Committee is setting the course for quarterly events that will feature officials with the Jacksonville Port Authority as well as leaders from the Maritime Law Association and the Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute. The Appellate Law committee members will get the opportunity to share dinner with appellate judges from the First District Court of Appeal and the 11th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals when they come to Jacksonville to preside over oral arguments.
As you can see, we are aiming to position the Litigation Section as a genuine “value adder” to your litigation practice. Please contact the committee chairs listed previously to learn more about what you can gain, and give, by your The Jacksonville Bar Association committee membership.