Howard C. Coker – President of The Florida Bar
he important thing, according to Fran Coker, is not to believe the first thing people say about her husband, Florida Bar President Howard Coker.
What does she mean?
“Real estate values plummeted as soon as he got here,” said Jacksonville neighbor and 15-year sidekick Don Pitman, owner of a local produce company.
“God threw away the mold when he made this man,” said Coker’s legal assistant, Joyce Butler. Added paralegal Sherry Rice, without missing a beat, “It depends on which day it is whether that’s good or bad.”
Son Cole Coker knows the date his dad, an avid sportsman, will finally bag that elusive elk: “The fifth of never. . . . His biggest problem is his height. You have to hunt in a lot of low areas.”
And those are Coker’s friends.
Ah, but remember Fran Coker’s advice, and listen to the next thing people say.
“He is a perfectionist,” said Butler. “Everything has to be exactly correct. When he commits to something, he gives 110 percent. He either does that or he won’t do it at all.”
“I don’t know anyone who sticks to it like he does,” Pitman said. “I would say he’s one of the best litigators in town. That’s where his fame is.”
“He is probably one of the most honest and trustworthy individuals I know. He has always sought to be professional and forthright as an attorney,” said his son. “A lot of attorneys have a bad reputation. You can be proud of him. Other attorneys either love him or hate him, but they all respect him.”
Coker himself has the best explanation for the dichotomy between the things people say about him: “I’ve enjoyed people, I really have, even my adversaries. I feel like we should be able to laugh at ourselves and situations. I often say if we work hard in the daytime, we should laugh in the evenings. I try to do that. I try not to take myself too seriously.”
As for the slings and arrows tossed by his friends, Coker, displaying his famous grin that lights up his whole face and makes his eyes mischievous, says, “It’s like throwing spitballs at a battleship.”
Howard Coker was born April 30, 1947, in Jacksonville. His father, Howard Byron Coker, was in the beauty supply business. His mother, Mary Jeannette Carmichael, was a secretary for the Jacksonville Electric Authority. He was still in the maternity ward when Fran was born a few days later.
“He says we first met in the hospital, and that I recognized him as having the body that all men fear and all women adore,” she said. A younger brother, Edward, completed the Coker family.
Coker attended Spring Park Elementary School and then Landon High School, where at age 14 in the eighth grade, he really met Fran. They have been together since.
“He was hungry to make it,” she recalled of those days. “He wanted to be in the middle of everything. He wanted to make an impact.”
“The two are synonymous,” said daughter Kelly Coker-Daniel. “She completes the picture for him. She’s part of the reason he’s been able to do what he’s done. She’s always been there.”
Coker was student council treasurer and senior class president at Landon High School. He was captain of the baseball team and also played football, ran track, and was on the golf team. And those who are used to joking about Coker’s stature (he stands fractionally under medium height, but is built like — depending on who you talk to — a middle linebacker or a fire hydrant) might be surprised that he played and was captain of his high school basketball team.
“I talked to his old basketball coach and one of the things he said was in a close game, he always wanted Howard in there in the last two minutes,” said Coker friend and Board of Governors member Martin Garcia of Tampa. “He said Howard was an exceptional athlete and he had the ability to raise the level of play of everyone else.”
After high school, there was little question for Coker about where he was headed. “I knew the day I graduated from high school I wanted to be a trial lawyer,” he said. “I knew it sometime in my junior year in high school, because trial lawyers help people.”
He enrolled at the University of Florida in journalism with an emphasis in public relations. In his sophomore year he and Fran were married, and Cole was born the next year. Kelly followed 18 months later. Fran now manages the home life, including the needs of both their mothers, pursues with Coker their shared hobby of antiquing, and works part-time with her husband and others on strategic planning for lawsuits.
“All of my undergraduate days at the University of Florida were filled with good times and laughter,” Coker recalled. “One of the wonderful things about going to the University of Florida for undergraduate and law school is it allows you to have friends in every area of our state.”
Jacksonville trial attorney W.C. Gentry, a Coker friend since their undergraduate days, remembers when they were both pledges of the E
AE fraternity, and were charged, as part of initiation rites, to “guard the lion.” Unfortunately, the young guards fell asleep, including Coker’s roommate, who was sleeping literally on the lion. During the night, someone not only repainted the lion, but also Coker’s roommate.
“Everyone was running around trying to figure out what to do. Howard had the only constructive idea,” Gentry said, illustrating the future president’s analytical and problem-solving abilities. “Howard figured out the smart thing to do was go get some white paint, paint the lion back and deny all knowledge that anything else had happened.”
the time he entered law school, Coker had a family that included two infants, which he supported by running UF’s intramural program.
At the end of law school I knew I wanted to do personal injury work,” Coker said. “I remember there were a lot of bright people around me in school. I remember my attendance was not outstanding.” He did manage, however, to become president of the John Marshall Bar Association.
Wayne Myers, then a classmate and now a partner with Coker, recalled he crammed creditors’ rights law to the future Bar president in a UF hallway the night before an exam. And Coker took great delight when, invited to be the commencement speaker at last May’s UF law graduation, he asked Myers to attend. “Twenty-five years ago I was just hoping to get out of that place and now I’m giving the commencement speech. Is this a great country, or what?” he said.
After law school Coker and family returned to Jacksonville, where he took a job in the Fourth Circuit State Attorney’s Office. He spent four months in a special prosecution unit before moving to prosecute felonies. “I got a lot of stand-on-my-feet-in-court trial experience,” he said.
In 1973, he went to the Howell, Kirby law firm. “I thought it offered me more opportunities. I basically handled insurance and personal injury defense work,” Coker said.
While he enjoyed the work, Coker itched to have his own firm. So on May 10, 1976, he, Robert Cowles, and Myers opened Cowles, Coker & Myers. “I cut my salary by two thirds, borrowed money from the bank and off we went. It’s been wonderful ever since,” he said.
Cowles eventually left for another firm and then a judgeship. The following year, Jake Schickel joined the firm, followed by Charles Sorenson. The firm became known as Coker, Myers, Schickel & Sorenson. In 1995, Earl Higginbotham was added as a name partner.
Coker is proud to point out that “I have three partners who have been together with me for over 20 years. I like to think I form relationships that last. I’ve been married 31 years, my secretary has been with me 18 years and my legal assistant has been with me for 16 years.”
At first, Coker did all kinds of legal work in his new firm, including defense work. During that time, he was president of the Jacksonville Defense Lawyers Association. “I’ve seen the whole world, I like to say, because now I sit on the board of directors of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers,” he said. “My practice in the first 10 years evolved into a plaintiffs’ personal injury practice and has remained so to this day.”
During those years, Coker met someone who would play a large part in his Bar life, 1996-97 Bar President John W. Frost II. The two were on opposite sides of an employment law case tried in Polk County. At one point, Coker, who had been erroneously informed that Frost had been at a meeting that was key to the trial, asked a witness if Frost had been present, and Frost objected. If he had been at the meeting, it would have transformed him from trial counsel for the plaintiff into a witness.
Coker, Frost recalled, checked his sources overnight and discovered the mistake. “He came back to court and did the right thing,” Frost said. The two became friends after the trial — and joke about the error every time they meet.
“He’s very good, very competent and does an excellent job for his clients,” said Frost.
“Being a trial lawyer is probably one of the most satisfying occupations you could ever have,” Coker said. “You get to meet different people and you get to do some good for people who might otherwise be taken advantage of. We have to protect the safety of Florida’s families.”
Coker’s partners speak of his drive to represent clients, and at the same time to have an enjoyable atmosphere for firm members and employees to work in.
“We’ve tried over 50 cases together,” Sorenson said. “He’s not easy on young lawyers because he wants them to strive for excellence. He’s a real competitive guy in trial. He really wants to win. He wants the commitment to win to be there.”
But recently, especially as Coker has become more involved in Bar work, Sorenson has seen new traits. “I’ve seen over the past five years that Howard has become quite the diplomat. That’s a side of him that has surprised a lot of people who have seen him as a pure advocate,” he said.
“He’s excellent. He’s one of the best trial lawyers I’ve seen,” said Myers, who concentrates on workers’ compensation cases. “Our firm has always prided itself on being a very aggressive, hardworking law firm that does the best it can for each and every client.”
As for the firm work ethic, Myers recalled that at his first legal job, his partner told him “‘No one works for us, they work with us.’ That’s the attitude here. We treat people like human beings.”
Bar members will learn that their new president has “A love of the profession. He’s dedicated and tenacious. He truly loves the profession. He has concerns for what is happening to the law and to members of the profession. He will be beneficial to the Bar,” Schickel said.
“Howard has a tremendous sixth sense for what people are concerned about and what people care about, and he will do his utmost to convey that to the public, the legislature and the Board of Governors,” he added.
His legal resume alone is an impressive credential for the Bar presidency, but Coker also brings a wide variety of other experiences, both personal and Bar-related. His friends point out that whatever area Coker has become involved in, personally or professionally, he has always worked to give something back.
His love of sports continued after college with hunting and fishing. Coker has hunted all over North America as well as in Africa, and his home is packed with trophies from his various expeditions. He also has fished extensively, both freshwater and saltwater, and until Bar activities limited his time, he co-owned a deep-sea boat.
Four large fish, three caught by son Cole and one by Coker, are mounted in the law firm, and the firm walls are adorned with a variety of outdoor and wildlife prints. Garcia recalls a fishing trip to South Florida where he and Coker caught 104 redfish (he hastens to add they kept only four), and with a laugh notes that Coker never told him, although he told others, he rated that as one of his two best fishing trips ever. (According to unnamed sources, Garcia only caught three of the fish.)
As with his legal work, Coker also tries to give back to his sporting interests by being active in conservation efforts. He is a past president of the Jacksonville chapter of Ducks Unlimited, where he has been a member since 1983 and is a life sponsor. He joined the Florida Conservation Association in 1988, and was president from 1993-94.
Coker also has extensive law-related credentials. He’s belonged to the Jacksonville Bar Association since returning home from law school. He is a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and the American Bar Association. He is a charter member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, as well as past president of the Jacksonville chapter, and past president of the Florida Federation of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He is a member of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, where he serves on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. And that’s only a sample.
He also has been active in a number of civic and legal education undertakings, including serving as a trustee for UF’s Spessard Holland College of Law and advising the UF mock trial team.
“He does not know how to say no to requests for his time,” said Butler. “I will get up from my seat and raise my hand while he’s on the phone being solicited to volunteer for something, to try to stop him. . . . He’ll just grin at me and volunteer anyway. He does it all the time. It drives me crazy. You can only stretch yourself so thin, but he does it all the time.”
One of those activities was serving as campaign treasurer for Duval County Sheriff Nat Glover, the first African-American to hold that post. The two met when Coker was an assistant state attorney and Glover a detective.
“As I began to run for sheriff, he was one of my big supporters,” Glover said. “It really was an honor for me to have him agree to serve as finance chairman. He is a person who talks straight, with the highest integrity, and a person who will, without question, do exactly what he promises to do.”
Martin Garcia tells the story from a different perspective, relating that when supporters were discussing Glover’s candidacy, they also expressed skepticism that an African-American could win a countywide race. “Howard said without blinking, ‘I have enough faith in people that they’ll vote on the qualifications,’ and he went to work,” he said. “Howard has never met a fight he didn’t like, and you want him on your side when it happens. And if it’s a good cause, he fights hard.”
In 1987, Coker became more involved in Florida Bar activities when he became a member of the Trial Lawyers Section Executive Council. He served on the section Legislative Committee from 1988-93 and on its Executive Committee from 1989-93. He was section chair for 1992-93 and the section representative to the Council of Sections, which he chaired, the following year.
During his section work he became convinced that the CLE revenue splits between the Bar and its sections were unfair. “Howard was very committed to the sections and their objectives,” said then-Bar President Ben Hill. “I negotiated with him over a considerable period of time and found him to be a very effective and aggressive negotiator. Ultimately, the problems were resolved. If he is as aggressive as he was then, the Bar is going to be served well.”
In 1994, Coker was elected to the Bar Board of Governors, representing the Fourth Circuit. Since then, he has chaired the Board Review Committee of Professional Ethics and the Program Evaluation Committee, and served on the Budget, Disciplinary Review, Legislative, and Executive committees.
For the past year, he has been president-elect, and immediate past President Edward Blumberg said the Bar is in good hands with his successor. “Howard is a clear thinker, has a delightful sense of humor and doesn’t hesitate to roll up his sleeves and work hard,” he said.
President-elect Edith Osman said she’s looking forward to working with Coker in the coming year, especially on efforts to improve the profession’s image.
“Howard has great interpersonal skills, always combining strength with humor,” she said. “He has proven himself to be a no-nonsense, hard-working and perseverant leader. I know that through his persistence we will be able to tackle the challenges that face the Bar.”
There will be plenty of challenges in the coming year, according to Blumberg and others interviewed for this article: Continuing challenges in the legislature to Supreme Court oversight of the legal profession; the Bar’s ongoing professionalism efforts; improving legal access for the poor and middle class; improving the public perception of lawyers and the legal system.
The latter is already something Coker and Osman are working on. “Howard and I have made a committment to combine our resources and energies to create a program to restore the public perception of lawyers — a high priority for both of our administrations,” she said.
Fran Coker said Bar members will be well served because her husband always brings commitment and careful planning to his endeavors.
“Whatever he was involved in and wherever he was, he jumped into it with both feet, and always tried to do whatever he could to make it better,” she said. “He doesn’t expect to just jump in and make an impact; he’s willing to set a goal for himself and work at it.”
And Coker definitely has some goals in mind.
“I’m tired of the public’s perception of lawyers,” he said. “I intend to do something about that. I intend to improve communications with our own members, the public, and the press.”
Part of that solution is already underway. At Coker’s urging, this year’s annual Bar fee statements, which were mailed May 15, included an optional section asking Bar members to detail their civic, cultural, and other community service pro bono work. With those statistics, he plans to show that lawyers, as a group, spend more time giving back to their communities than any other profession.
The Bar must also remember that it must serve and help its own members. “Fortunately what I’ve heard over the past two years is that The Florida Bar is doing a better job of providing members services. and large a great majority of our lawyers are happier with services,” Coker said. “But we have to continue to improve and provide more services for membership. I think it’s important for members to know that the Bar is trying to do something for them instead of something to them. The emphasis is on member services.”
One area the new president hopes to see member services improving is with technology. “We have to find new ways for members to access the services we have and we have to find new services for our members. In sum, we have to be vigilant and respectful of our membership.”
Part of those services include continuing the Bar’s professionalism program. “I think the professionalism efforts are welcomed by all segments of the organized Bar,” Coker said. “The legal system is adversarial in nature, but there’s no reason why civility and respect for one another can’t be part of that system.”
Although this year was relatively quiet in the legislature as far as some lawmakers attempting to wrest oversight of the Bar from the Supreme Court, Coker expects that to be a continuing — and one of the Bar’s most important — challenges.
“The Bar should do whatever is necessary to keep membership under the auspices of the Supreme Court,” he said. “It should also do everything it can to preserve and protect the independence of our judiciary.”
One reason that’s important, Coker said, is because when it comes to comparing the Bar to other state-regulated professions or to other state bars, “The Florida Bar sets the standard for professional discipline.”
“When you go to ABA conferences, The Florida Bar is the standard by which other bars try to gauge themselves,” he added. “No matter what the topic, Florida is usually ahead of the field as far as trying to handle or take care of different matters, from pro bono to legal services cuts, to professionalism.”
The Bar is expecting Supreme Court action soon on its proposed new advertising regulations, which include a ban on trade names, regulations on Internet ads, and new rules for electronic ads. Coker said the Bar will deal with incorporating whatever the court does into the rules.
“I recognize that everyone has the right to advertise,” he said. “I personally have chosen not to advertise. Member surveys certainly indicate that the majority of members of the Bar feel that advertising is a cause of a lack of public confidence in the judicial system.”
He hopes the Bar can reach out, without advertising, to find ways lawyers can offer affordable legal services to those now frightened at the cost of hiring a lawyer.
“To me the biggest challenge we face is to put together a group of lawyers who need clients and clients who need legal services at modest rates. Too many lawyers need work and too many moderate- and lower-income people need lawyers and cannot afford them,” Coker said.
“My suspicion is we’ve got to find a way through technology for lawyers to serve larger groups of people at lower rates.”
While technology may provide a solution for this and other problems lawyers face, it also holds pitfalls for the profession.
“Technology has caused everything to come at us much more rapidly,” Coker observed. “There’s very little time to reflect on our actions. It’s disturbing to me that we really don’t have time to reflect on the consequences of our actions. Technology provides some huge benefits, but it also provides some huge obligations.”
A new issue for the Bar will be ancillary businesses, Coker said. That issue is being studied by a special committee headed by Garcia. Its report is expected during Coker’s term as president.
“Right now in Europe and Australia, many law firms are being bought out by accounting firms; there are no prohibitions there for those entities to practice together,” he said. “From my own view, one of the most important things we can do is preserve our independence as lawyers.”
According to Coker’s friends and colleagues, Bar members should remember Coker will bring a couple of underlying values to his approach to these problems and other challenges of Bar leadership. As Gentry put it, “He loves the law. He went into the law not only because he saw it as a way to become successful, but to carry out the values he sees as important. . . . He really has the kind of basic moral values that I think we all hope we stand for. He lives them and in every aspect of his life he feels a commitment to protect what he believes are his fundamental values.”
There’s no place Coker would rather be carrying out those values than in a courtroom or in negotiations. Coker himself puts it in characteristically direct language: “I enjoy helping people. I truly enjoy the satisfaction from seeing you have genuinely helped an individual or family. I love the practice of law. I enjoy the people I meet. I enjoy my fellow lawyers and every day is different. I can’t think of another job I’d like.”
He paused and added with a smile, “When you spend 12 to 14 hours a day doing something, you should like it.”
