Diversity Committee
Chairs: Maria Aguila and Amber Donley
Goals for the year: Continue to encourage and promote recruitment, hiring and retention of qualified lawyers of color, women lawyers, younger lawyers, lawyers with disabilities, lawyers of varying sexual orientations and gender identifications and lawyers with minority status. The award annually recognizes people and legal employers who are trailblazers and who actively support diversity in their workplace and/or community. Increase coordination with and participation by local minority Bar associations to encourage their involvement in committee activities and their members’ participation in committee leadership.
How to get involved: Watch for our upcoming events, such as the JBA Diversity Awards to be presented March 29 at the JBA luncheon, our March 29 CLE “Easing Racial Tensions and Building a Community of Trust” with elected officials and law enforcement and the October fall picnic. Please contact Maria Aguila at [email protected] or (904) 255-1175 with questions. All JBA members are welcome to join. We would love your voice and participation.
Law Week Committee
Chairs: Emily O’Leary and John Wallace
Goals for the year: The goal of the Law Week Committee is to provide meaningful service to the greater Jacksonville community through the initiatives of Law Week, including Rendezvous on the River — our charity social benefiting Dreams Come True; Citizenship Day, which provides attorneys for the review of applications for citizenship at no charge to the applicants; classroom education and a poster contest at local elementary schools; and our art supplies and toiletry drives, which provide art supplies to local elementary schools and toiletries to Downtown Jacksonville Ecumenical Services. Further, we hope to highlight the vital importance of the rule of law in a democratic society and to show The Jacksonville Bar Association for what it truly is: an organization full of dedicated, compassionate and service-minded professionals.
How to get involved: Reach out to Emily O’Leary at [email protected] or John Wallace at [email protected], or come to a committee meeting at the JBA office.
Adoption Law Committee
Chair: Jennifer B. Williams
Goals for the year: To enhance the knowledge of adoption practitioners in this challenging and ever-changing field of law, to educate other practitioners about the foundations and concepts of adoption law and to promote adoption as a real and valuable option for the Jacksonville community.
How to get involved: Contact Jennifer B. Williams at [email protected] or (904) 396-3900.
Elder Law Committee
Chairs: Mike Jorgensen and Jennifer S. Williams
Goals for the year: Provide quality monthly meetings with substantive learning to our members in areas of the law that impact their practices and that implement best practices.
How to get involved: Attend our monthly meetings. Lunch is sponsored and a schedule is available at jaxbar.org. You can also email [email protected] for a speakers’ matrix, meeting times and locations.