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The Florida Bar to Swear in New President and President-Elect at Annual Florida Bar Convention in Boca Raton

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – West Palm Beach attorney Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes will be sworn in as The Florida Bar’s 76th president and Jacksonville attorney Michael Fox Orr will become president-elect during next week’s 2025 Annual Florida Bar Convention.

The installation of the two top officers, along with a State of the Bar address by outgoing President Roland Sanchez-Medina Jr. , will be featured during the General Assembly, at 9 a.m. ET on June 27. The assembly will also include awards announcements and remarks by Baker-Barnes as incoming president. The General Assembly will be livestreamed on The Florida Bar’s YouTube channel and on FloridaBar.org.

Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes 

Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes is a veteran Board of Governors member and shareholder at Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley. She is a board-certified civil trial lawyer and served as the 95th president of the Palm Beach County Bar Association, and as the Co-Founder and Inaugural President of the Palm Beach County Sheree Davis Cunningham Black Women Lawyers Association.

Baker-Barnes will be the first African-American woman to serve as president-elect of The Florida Bar. She has served on the Bar’s Board of Governors since 2018, sitting on its Executive Committee since 2020. She also co-chaired the Bar’s COVID-19 Taskforce and chaired the prestigious Program Evaluation and Legislation committees. She has a record of extensive service to the bar and the community, serving as Past President of The Links, Incorporated, West Palm Beach Chapter, as a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and Jack and Jill of America, Incorporated.

Baker-Barnes represents plaintiffs in complex catastrophic personal injury, product liability, and medical malpractice cases. She earned her undergraduate and law degrees from The Florida State University and is a long-time mentor to lawyers, law students, and aspiring lawyers. Baker-Barnes is married to attorney Edrick E. Barnes and they have three school-aged children.

Michael Fox Orr

Michael Fox Orr is a board-certified civil trial lawyer from Jacksonville, and a shareholder with Orr | Cook, who focuses his practice on complex commercial and civil matters regularly involving high stakes or high-profile litigation and appeals. He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, having tried a wide variety of civil cases throughout Florida.  Michael has also argued cases in all six of Florida’s District Courts of Appeal, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Orr has led several significant committees for the Board of Governors including the Budget Committee, the Program Evaluation Committee, the Disciplinary Review Committee, and the Board Review Committee on Professional Ethics. That leadership coincided with several years on the Board’s Executive Committee. He also served on the Bar’s Special Committee on AI Tools & Resources and Council of Sections and is a longtime member and liaison to the Civil Procedure Rules Committee.

Orr completed his term as Jacksonville Bar Association president in 2022 after more than 15 years of service in JBA leadership positions.  He also served for eight years on The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division Board of Governors, before being elected YLD President.  Michael is married to Eileen Orr and they have four school-aged children.

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 ABOUT THE FLORIDA BAR

Founded in 1949, The Florida Bar serves the legal profession for the protection and benefit of both the public and all Florida lawyers. As one of the nation’s largest mandatory bars, The Florida Bar fosters and upholds a high standard of integrity and competence within Florida’s legal profession as an official arm of the Florida Supreme Court. To learn more, visit FloridaBar.org.