Mayanne Downs
President-Elect
The Florida Bar
2009-2010
Orlando City Attorney Mayanne Downs is President-elect designate of The Florida Bar. She will be sworn in as President-elect in June 2009, when current President-elect Jesse H. Diner of Fort Lauderdale becomes President of the 86,000 member Bar for the 2009-10 Bar year. Downs will be sworn in as President in June 2010. She will be the organization's fourth woman president since its founding in 1950.
A native of Orlando, Downs is a shareholder of King, Blackwell, Downs & Zehnder where she has handled civil, trial, appellate and domestic relations cases since 1990. She was appointed Orlando City Attorney in 2007. She is admitted to practice in all Florida courts, the U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida, the U.S. Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Earning a juris doctorate degree with highest honors from the University of Florida College of Law in 1987, she served as Chancellor of the University of Florida Student Honor Court and held two senior editor positions for the University of Florida Law Review while current Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer was editor-in-chief. She received numerous academic awards including Order of the Coif honoring law school graduates in the top 10 percent of their class. Her bachelor’s degree was awarded from University of Florida where she was inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame and was an active member of Florida Blue Key.
Downs is a past president of the Orange County Bar Association (1997-98) and was a member of its executive council from 1992-98. She is also a past president of the Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar Association (1995-96) and of the Central Florida Association for Women Lawyers (1992).
Downs was first elected to The Florida Bar Board of Governors in 2002 and has served on the executive committee since 2005.