Richardson takes the FBBE’s reins
Richardson takes the FBBE’s reins
Scott N. Richardson of Wellington has been elevated to the position of chair of the Florida Board of Bar Examiners and hopes to accomplish a few goals during his one-year term.
He has served on the boardfor four years, since November 2012, and will be its chair through October 31, 2017.
Plans as chair include eliminating printed copies of the application and entirely moving the process to an electronic portal in keeping with current technology; maintaining strong communications with The Florida Bar Board of Governors; and encouraging first-year law students — more than ever before — to register with the FBBE.
Richardson has been a member of The Florida Bar since 1978. He is a sole practitioner at the Law Office of Scott N. Richardson, P.A., in West Palm Beach. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, he earned B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Florida.
A fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, he is also a member of the Palm Beach County Bar Association, the Palm Beach Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Richardson taught courses from 2006 to 2009 as a volunteer lawyer in Lithuania, Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus with the Center for International Legal Studies.
The new chair explained that the FBBE application is currently printed out, signed, notarized, and mailed by the postal service in the old fashioned way. But the board will change that process beginning the first quarter of 2017.
There will be in place a fully online applicant portal, as opposed to going through regular mail, Richardson said.
“We’ve been working on it for some time, and it’s getting ready to be finalized,” he said. “I think it’s going to be very useful to everybody.”
Richardson said increased communication with the Bar Board of Governors in the recent past has been beneficial for the FBBE, and one of his goals is to continue that positive rapport during his term.
“Over the last two to three years, the relationship has grown in leaps and bounds,” he stated. “We have invited the president and president-elect of The Florida Bar to come to our meetings. They have also graciously asked us to go to some of their meetings.”
Richardson added the board wants to continue efforts to visit law schools and, in communication with the deans, encourage law students to register with the board in their first year.
“That is very important for a number of reasons,” he said, including a cost factor — the application costs much less when a student registers by January 15 during the student’s first year in law school — and clearance will come earlier so that students will not have problems becoming certified legal interns.
“We are trying to emphasize the importance of this more,” he said. “I think [schools] are getting the message.”
Richardson added the board has reduced the time it takes for an applicant to make his or her way through the application process. He said the average amount of time in the past year for character and fitness investigations has been reduced by 16 days for applicants and 21 days for students.
He said the board “reorganized” the internal processing to lessen the timeframe, but the FBBE still wants to communicate the importance of applying as first-year law students for those who want to serve as certified legal interns.
Following Richardson’s term, Elizabeth J. Walters of Panama City Beach will take over as chair on November 1, 2017. She has been on the board since November 2013, and was elected as vice chair at a recent meeting.
Walters was admitted to the Bar in 1995, and is a partner at Burke Blue Hutchison Walters & Smith, P.A. Born in Panama City, she received her J.D. from the Florida State University College of Law. She is also a member of the Bay County Bar Association and the St. Andrews Bay American Inn of Court.
