Orange County Bar Association seeks Leadership Law Program participants
THE OCBA 2012 LEADERSHIP LAW inaugural class participants attended a seminar presented by Jan C. Garavaglia, M.D. (center) at the Ninth Judicial Circuit’s medical examiner’s office. “Dr. G” spoke about the history of the profession and its importance within the judicial system and led a tour of the facilities.
Orange County Bar Association seeks Leadership Law Program participants
The Orange County Bar Association is currently enrolling participants for its award-winning Leadership Law program.
The program was developed last year to provide Central Florida business owners and managers an opportunity to learn about and experience the legal system in action. Leadership Law was awarded the National Association of Bar Executives’ LexisNexis Community Education and Outreach Award at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago this past summer.
Leadership Law, which meets once monthly at the OCBA center, includes interactive, seminar-style courses on business matters led by Central Florida judges and attorneys.
Mary Ann Etzler, the program’s facilitator, said in addition to substantive information, Leadership Law provides participants a behind-the-scenes opportunity to “network with the presenters and have some of their questions answered on issues that impact their businesses. It is information our participants just can’t go to school for.”
Leadership Law includes topics related to complex business litigation, contract negotiation, intellectual property, employment law, and bankruptcy law. Seminars are held at the OCBA center as well as off-site at the Orange County Courthouse, the federal courthouse, the medical examiner’s office, and Orange County’s juvenile justice center.
“The program gave us an opportunity to put a human face on the lawyers and the courts and see how our society is interlinked,” said 2012 class participant Jim Daniels, an insurance agent and the vice president of legal and legislative affairs for the National Association of State Farm Insurance Agents.
Tiffany Altizer, a CPA, along with 45 other business owners, managers, and community-based organization leaders, attended last year’s program.
“Our local justice system will touch you in some way, at some time during your career,” Altizer said. “Gaining this education makes the process less intimidating and ultimately will help with the navigation when the time arises.”
In speaking about the association’s mission, OCBA President-elect Paul Scheck emphasizes its “long, rich history and tradition of serving the profession and providing ongoing services to the community” that goes back almost 80 years.
“Leadership Law extends the reach of the bar’s programs, augmenting the valuable civics education provided to local students, and the quality legal assistance and advocacy provided to low-income residents, the working poor, children, and disadvantaged groups with special legal needs in Orange County,” Scheck said.
The Leadership Law 2013 enrollment deadline is December 14. Details about meeting dates, curriculum, and enrollment are available on the OCBA website at leadershiplaworangecountybar.org.
The Orange County Bar Association, a voluntary professional association established in 1933, is comprised of 3,200 attorneys, judges, and other legal professionals.
