News Releases

FLORIDA BAR REPORTS BOARD OF GOVERNORS ELECTION RESULTS

Eighteen incumbent members of The Florida Bar Board of Governors were re-elected to additional two-year terms without opposition; three unopposed candidates will serve as new board members in the 11th, 13th and 20th circuits; and one seat in the 11^th Circuit has a contested election.

New terms will begin on June 28, 2019. Ballots for the contested race will be emailed or mailed to eligible voters by March 1, 2019, and votes must be received by midnight March 21. Results are expected to be announced March 22.

In addition, Miami attorney Dori Foster-Morales won election without opposition as president-elect designate of The Florida Bar. She will be sworn in as president-elect in June when John M. Stewart of Vero Beach becomes president.

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

• 2^nd Circuit, Seat 1: Larry Sellers, Tallahassee
• 4^th Circuit, Seat 2: Michael G. Tanner, Jacksonville
• 5^th Circuit, Seat 1: Renee Thompson, Ocala
• 6^th Circuit, Seat 2: Sandra F. Diamond, St. Petersburg
• 8^th Circuit, Seat 1: Stephanie Marusak Marchman, Gainesville
• 9^th Circuit, Seat 2: Julia Lauren Frey, Orlando
• 11^th Circuit, Seat 6: Steven W. Davis, Miami
• 12^th Circuit, Seat 1: F. Scott Westheimer, Sarasota
• 13^th Circuit, Seat 2: Amy S. Farrior, Tampa
• 15^th Circuit, Seat 2: Ronald P. Ponzoli, Jr., West Palm Beach
• 15^th Circuit, Seat 4: Gary S. Lesser, West Palm Beach
• 16^th Circuit, Seat 1: Wayne LaRue Smith, Key West
• 17^th Circuit, Seat 2: Diana Santa Maria, Davie
• 17^th Circuit, Seat 3: Lorna Brown-Burton, Fort Lauderdale
• 17^th Circuit, Seat 5: Adam Rabinowitz, Fort Lauderdale
• 19^th Circuit, Seat 1: Gregory S. Weiss, Stuart
• Out-of-State, Seat 1: E. Duffy Myrtetus, Glen Allen, Va.
• Out-of-State, Seat 3: Eric L. Meeks, Cincinnati, Ohio

New members elected for two-year terms beginning in June 2019 are:

• 11^thCircuit, Seat 2: Nikki Lewis Simon
• 13^th Circuit, Seat 3: J. Carter Andersen, Tampa
• 20^th Circuit, Seat 2: John D. Agnew, Fort Myers

In the contested election in the 11^th Circuit, Jorge L. Piedra and Alice K. Sum are vying for Seat 4. All candidates are from Miami.

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.