The Florida Bar to Swear in New President and President-Elect
June 14, 2024
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Miami attorney Roland Sanchez-Medina Jr. will be sworn in as The Florida Bar’s 76th president and West Palm Beach attorney Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes will become president-elect during next week’s 2024 Annual Florida Bar Convention.
The installation of the two top officers, along with a State of the Bar address by outgoing President F. Scott Westheimer, will be featured during the General Assembly, at 9 a.m. ET on June 21. The assembly will also include awards announcements and remarks by Sanchez-Medina as incoming president. The General Assembly will be livestreamed on The Florida Bar’s YouTube channel and on FloridaBar.org.
Roland Sanchez-Medina Jr.
Roland Sanchez-Medina Jr. is a transactional lawyer and managing partner of SMGQ Law. He is a member of The Florida Bar’s Business Law Section, the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section, and the International Law Section. He served as Cuban American Bar Association president in 2009.
He was elected to The Florida Bar Board of Governors more than nine years ago and has served on numerous board committees, including recently chairing the influential Program Evaluation Committee. His extensive history of community and professional service includes stints as chair of the Miami-Dade County School Board’s Budget & Audit Committee, chair of the Board of Directors and general counsel of the South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and as a member of the Orange Bowl Committee.
Sanchez-Medina received his law degree from Boston College Law School in 1991 and his LL.M. in Taxation from New York University in 1992.
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.
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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.
EDITORS: Please note The Florida Bar is not an association and "Association" is not part of our name. Proper reference is "The Florida Bar." Local bar organizations are properly termed "associations."