Member Services
Voluntary Bar Center
This electronic digest of voluntary bar news is dedicated to the interaction of local, special interest and substantive bar associations. It will serve as a forum to share information and highlight the many activities of the voluntary bar associations of The Florida Bar and will be published at least once a month or as needed. You can view past and current issues by going to the bar's website, www.FLABAR.org. Submit articles, pictures or general comments to Maria Simmons Johnson, the Bar-to-Bar E-news editor and your voluntary bar liaison, mjohnson@flabar.org or 651 E. Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399-2300. Photos sent by e-mail should come in jpg and gif format.
April 2009, Issue 45
WHAT'S HAPPENING AROUND THE BARS. . .
Deadline approaches to apply for Voluntary Bar Association Community Service Grants -- The Florida Bar Foundation has grants available for voluntary bar associations under the Foundation's 2008-09 Voluntary Bar Association Community Service Grant Program. The VBA grant program is a joint effort of The Florida Bar Foundation and The Florida Bar supported by funds from the Foundation's Improvements in the Administration of Justice grant category. A total of $50,000 is available for VBA grants in 2008-09 with individual grants of up to $5,000 awarded in June. Grants will be awarded to promote new or significant improvements in existing charitable, community-service projects to improve the operation of the civil or criminal justice systems or for education, outreach or service-delivery projects that enhance the administration of justice in Florida. The deadline to apply is April 30. The
grant application is available on The Florida Bar Web site, www.floridabar.org/voluntarybars under Grants and Applications. For more information, contact Jane Curran at jcurran@flbarfdn.org.
| Keep us in the KNOW: Send us your news -- Does your bar association have a newsletter, e-bulletin or announcements? If so, please don't forget to send us your publications by updating your mailing list to include Voluntary Bar Liaison Maria Johnson, 651 E. Jefferson St., Tallahassee, FL 32399 or e-mail mjohnson@flabar.org. |
VCBA to hold Bench & Bar Professionalism Symposium -- The Volusia County Bar Association will be hosting its Bench & Bar Professionalism Symposium on April 30 from 1- 5 p.m. at the Willie Miller Center at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. The keynote speaker will be Supreme Court Chief Justice Peggy Quince. For more information and to register, contact volusiabar@bellsouth.net.
PBCBA to host Leadership for Lawyers Seminar -- The Palm Beach County Bar Association will its Leadership for Lawyers Seminar on May 8 from 8 a.m. - 1:15 p.m. at the Palm Beach County Bar Association office. The Leadership for Lawyers Seminar is designed to help attorneys develop the skills necessary to become leaders with respect to professional, ethical and community service issues with a goal of raising the overall professional standards of lawyers. For more information, contact the Palm Beach County Bar Association at (561) 687-2800 or e-mail info@palmbeachbar.org.
SCBA to present its first :"Webinar" -- The Sarasota County Bar Association will present its first Webinar, titled "Ethical Minefields Involving Law Firm Staff," on April 29 from noon to 1 p.m. The presenter will be Francine Shay, Certified Paralegal and Florida Registered Paralegal. For more information, contact the Sarasota County Bar Association at (941) 366-6703.
M-D FAWL to present CLE -- The Miami-Dade Chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers presents "The Art of Networking and Creating your Own Book of Business," a CLE featuring an impressive panel of successful women rainmakers and generously sponsored by Thompson Legal Services, Inc. The event will take place at the Bankers Club of Miami on May 7 from 12 - 1:30 p.m. For more information, e-mail Stacey Koch at skoch@shb.com.
| Mark your calendars for Florida's First Black Lawyers unveiling -- The Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter of the National Bar Association is researching and writing the history of the first back lawyers admitted to practice in Florida. The work is being published in a book that will be unveiled at a Legacy Gala on June 27 in Orlando at the World Center Marriott. For more information about the Florida's First project, go to www.vhfcnba.org. |
CCBA offers free clinic -- The Collier County Bar Association and Legal Aid Society will be offering a free legal clinic this month on a first-come, first-served basis. The clinic will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, April 25, at Legal Aid Service of Collier County at 4125 U.S. 41 East, where about 25 volunteers will provide advice. Spanish interpreters as well as Creole translators will be available. Areas of practice will include bankruptcy, family law, criminal law, insurance, landlord tenant disputes, housing and many more. For more information, contact Lisa Mead at (239) 252-8711.
WDFJBA to launch Legal Services Internship -- The Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. Bar Association is partnering with Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc. to provide a two month internship. The internship will be from June through July 2009. All law students and recent graduates are eligible and a stipend will be provided. The deadline for applications is May 15. For more information, contact Michele Samaroo at Michele@Samaroolaw.com.
| Law Day 2009 -- A Legacy of Liberty: Celebrating Lincoln's Bicentennial is the theme for this year's Law Day. Join us in sharing your Law Day activities throughout the state. If your bar association has Law Day activities scheduled, please include your bar association name, activity description, location and name of the Law Day committee chair to Maria Johnson at mjohnson@flabar.org. The Law Day activities will be published in a statewide press release on May 1. |
Free shopping at the LCBA "Law in the Mall" -- The Lee County Bar Association will conduct its annual "Law in the Mall" event to kickoff Law Week on Saturday, April 25, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Dillard's courtyard at Edison Mall. Attorneys will be available to answer questions and to discuss issues with individuals. Three seminars will also be presented. The program is an outreach to the public to make it easy to get legal assistance during these difficult times. For more information, contact Nanci DuBois at (239) 334-0047 or Nanci.DuBois@leebar.org.
Landlord-tenant law seminar to be held in May -- The Dade County Bar Association County Court Committee will present a seminar on landlord-tenant law. Guest speakers will be Carolina Lombardi and Michael Birnholtz. The event will be held May 1 from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. in Aventura at the North Dade Justice Center, 15555 Biscayne Blvd., Courtroom 2-7. The seminar is designed to educate landlords, property managers, tenants and lawyers about the nuts and bolts of a lease and the procedures involved in an eviction process. For more information or the reserve a seat, call (305) 375-4199.
Check out the Voluntary Bar Events Calendar for an overview of meetings, CLE seminars, etc.
To submit events, please send to Maria Johnson at mjohnson@flabar.org. |
The American Bar Association
NABE provides scholarships to conference -- Did you know that NABE provides four $500 scholarships to the Small Bar Conference (SBC) that will take place June 26-27, at the Philadelphia Bar Association? To be considered for the scholarship, recipients must be current NABE members who will be first-time SBC attendees this June. Scholarship recipients' registration fee of $99 is waived and the $500 award serves as a stipend to cover travel expenses (Recipients must cover their travel expenses up front, and are reimbursed after the conference). For more information and to apply for a scholarship, visit the conference Web site at
http://www.abanet.org/nabe/events/smallbar/.
ABA Journal Blawg Directory -- The American Bar Association Journal Blawg Directory categorizes more than 1,000 blogs. Check out the
featured blawg this week.
The Florida Bar
2009 Florida Bar Annual Convention -- Make plans to attend the 2009 Annual Bar Convention June 24-27 at the Orlando World Center Marriott. Make your
hotel reservations now through June 3rd or until the room block is full. Call the Orlando World Center Marriott at (407) 239-4200, group code fbafbaa. Watch the
convention site for more information.
Annual Diversity Symposium Set -- The Member Outreach Committee of The Florida Bar will present "Diversity Matters: Building the Case for Inclusion in the Legal Profession," on Friday, June 26 from 2:30 - 3:45 p.m. during The Florida Bar's Annual Convention. This year's Diversity Symposium is a call to action. Voluntary bar and section leaders will share with colleagues their best practices for promoting diversity in the legal field. Admission is free with convention registration. For more information, contact Karen Kirksey at kkirksey@flabar.org.
Tradition of Excellence nominations sought -- The General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Section is now accepting nominations for its Tradition of Excellence Award, which honors a lawyer for "exceptional contributions to, or an exemplary career in, general, solo and/or small firm practice." This award is reserved for those who have practiced law in Florida for at least 10 years. A letter stating why the nominee deserves the award should be sent to Ricky Libbert, section administrator, The Florida Bar, 651 E. Jefferson St., Tallahassee, FL 32399 or rlibbert@flabar.org no later than May 1.
Florida Housing Crisis: Resources for Attorneys -- With Florida being one of the top states with foreclosure filings, many attorneys are being asked to handle foreclosure defense and other consumer law cases that they may have not handled before. For attorneys handling foreclosure defense cases, training is available. It is important for attorneys to understand areas of liability and potential ethical problems.
Resources are available to help attorneys assist clients hoping to prevent foreclosure and renegotiate loans. The Consumer Protection Law Committee of The Florida Bar has set up a
Web page with information on both attorney and consumers related to the mortgage crisis. If your bar association is offering training for attorneys or services to consumers, please send the information to the Consumer Protection Law Committee at slyle@flabar.org.
Board Certification awards -- Nominations are open for two board certification awards that recognize lawyers who demonstrate the program’s principles of professionalism and excellence. The
Justice Harry Lee Anstead Award for The Florida Bar's Board Certified Lawyer of the Year honors a Florida board-certified lawyer or judge for exemplary professionalism, excellence, character and commitment to The Florida Bar's certification program and the practice of law. The
Award for Excellence in the Promotion of Board Certification recognizes excellence and creativity by a lawyer or law firm in advancing the public's knowledge of and appreciation for legal board certification. The nomination deadline is 5 p.m. on Friday, May 8, and awards are presented at the BLSE's annual meeting reception. Nominations are submitted anonymously and are confidential.
Funding Florida Courts -- For continuing, comprehensive updates on securing a more stable source of funding for the courts, go to the "Funding Florida Courts" page on The Florida Bar's Web site at
http://www.floridabar.org/fundingfloridacourts.
FBF's Lawyers' Challenge for Children -- When Florida lawyers throughout the state receive their 2009-10 fee statements, they can turn them into a statement that says they care about meeting the legal needs of Florida's low-income children. Florida Bar President-elect Jesse Diner is asking that members make a voluntary contribution of at least $45 to The Florida Bar Foundation's Lawyers' Challenge for Children campaign to help bring the benefit of the law and lawyers to the lives of poor children. In 2008, nearly 3,300 lawyers together contributed more than $159,000 for special legal programs dedicated to serving children with learning disabilities, children aging out of foster care, and abused and neglected kids. One hundred percent of all funds contributed to the Lawyers' Challenge for Children provide direct support to programs that better the lives of Florida's children.
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Maria Simmons Johnson
Voluntary Bar Liaison
The Florida Bar
850/561-5648
850/561-5733(fax)
[Revised:
10-20-2009
]