News Releases

FLORIDA BAR REPORTS ELECTION RESULTS FOR BOARD OF GOVERNORS, PRESIDENT-ELECT

In elections for The Florida Bar’s governing board, 17 incumbent members of the Board of Governors were re-elected to additional two-year terms without opposition; three unopposed candidates will serve as new board members in the 3rd, 7th and 13th circuits; and four seats in the 1^st, 11^th and 17^th circuits have contested elections.

In addition, two members have been nominated for the office of the president-elect: Michael G. Tanner, of Jacksonville, and Renee E. Thompson, of Ocala.

Ballots for contested elections will be emailed or mailed to eligible voters by March 2, 2020, and votes must be received by midnight March 23. Results are expected to be announced March 24. Any runoff elections will be conducted between April 1 and April 22, 2020. New terms will begin on June 19, 2020.

Incumbents re-elected without opposition for additional two-year terms, 2019-21, are:

• 2^nd Circuit, Seat 2: Melissa N. VanSickle, Tallahassee
• 4^th Circuit, Seat 1: Michael Fox Orr, Jacksonville
• 6^th Circuit, Seat 1: Joshua T. Chilson, Clearwater
• 9^th Circuit, Seat 1: Thomas P. Wert, Orlando
• 10^th Circuit, Seat 1: C. Richard Nail, Lakeland
• 11^th Circuit, Seat 1: Roland Sanchez-Medina, Coral Gables
• 11^th Circuit, Seat 3: Jordan Dresnick, South Miami
• 11^th Circuit, Seat 5: Jeffrey Rynor, Miami Beach
• 13^th Circuit, Seat 4: Paige A. Greenlee, Tampa
• 14^th Circuit, Seat 1: Clifford C. Higby, Panama City
• 15^th Circuit, Seat 1: Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes, West Palm Beach
• 15^th Circuit, Seat 3: Robin I. Bresky, Boca Raton
• 18^th Circuit, Seat 1: James G. Vickaryous, Lake Mary
• 20^th Circuit, Seat 1: Laird A. Lile, Naples
• Out-of-State, Seat 2: Ian M. Comisky, Philadelphia, PA.
• Out-of-State, Seat 4: Brian David Burgoon, Atlanta, GA

New members elected for two-year terms beginning in June 2020 are:

• 3^rd Circuit, Seat 1: Kris B. Robinson, Lake City
• 7^th Circuit, Seat 1: Philip Bonamo, Daytona Beach
• 9^th Circuit, Seat 3: Tad Allen Yates, Orlando
• 13^th Circuit, Seat 1: Kenneth G. Turkel, Tampa

In the contested elections: In the 1^st Circuit, Jeremy Branning and Ryan Lane Morrow, both from Pensacola, are vying for Seat 1. In the 11th Circuit, Hilary Metz of Miami, Michael Shelley of Miami Beach, and Alice Sum of Miami are vying for Seat 7. In the 17^th Circuit, William Gelin, Oakland Park, and Jay Kim, Fort Lauderdale, are vying for Seat 1, and Hilary Creary, Fort Lauderdale, and Christina McKinnon, Miramar, are vying for Seat 4.

The Board of Governors is the governing body of The Florida Bar with exclusive authority to formulate and adopt matters of policy concerning the activities of the state bar, subject to limitations in the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar. The Florida Bar is an arm of the Florida Supreme Court charged with lawyer regulation and other professional activities. The 52-member board is composed of:

• The president and president-elect (one-year terms);
• The president and president-elect of the Young Lawyers Division (one-year terms);
• Representatives elected by members of the Bar from each of the state’s 20 judicial circuits;
• Four out-of-state representatives elected by members who reside outside of Florida;
• Two public/non-lawyer members appointed by the Florida Supreme Court. As of Dec. 1, The Florida Bar has 106,740 members, with 88,393 of those eligible to practice.

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.