Committee on Professionalism is working on a host of new projects
The Standing Committee on Professionalism is launching a host of new projects, from gender bias and mental health to mentoring, as it continues its mission to assist the Henry Latimer Center for Professionalism implement its programs.
“I know we’re going to move the needle, and I know we’re going to make a difference,” said Chair Jason Berger.
Convening October 20 during the Bar’s Fall Meeting, the panel received encouragement and an update from President Gary Lesser.
“I can say unambiguously the work of this committee is essential to what the Bar is doing,” Lesser said.
Berger served last year on the Special Committee for the Review of Professionalism in Florida and is currently serving on the Special Committee on Mentoring New Lawyers. The former was a priority of immediate past President Michael Tanner, and the latter is a top Lesser priority.
Lesser noted Berger’s service and said he intends to meet in the next few weeks with Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos Muῆiz to discuss the professionalism special committee’s recommendations.
They include increasing the number of professionalism CLE hours a lawyer must earn in every three-year cycle, and a proposed Supreme Court administrative order designed to enhance the mission of local professionalism panels, some of which have become inactive, Lesser said.
“What we recommended was a streamlined process that was uniform across the state of Florida,” Lesser said.
Lesser said the Special Committee on Mentoring New Lawyers expects to “have a curriculum built up by the end of the year.”
Earlier in the meeting, Berger vowed that the mentoring program would be the best in the nation.
“I agree with Jason, we are going to have the best program in the country,” Lesser said.
The program will target beginning lawyers with three or less years of experience and who work in law firms of three or fewer lawyers, Lesser said.
“If you know lawyers in this category, encourage them to sign up,” he said.
After Lesser’s presentation, the committee broke into working groups – Awards, Education & Resources, Gender Bias, Mental Health & Wellness, and Mentoring Initiatives – to discuss project proposals.
Chardean Mavis Hill, the committee vice-chair, said the Awards Working Group was working on a promotion strategy and considering new deadlines for nominations and applications.
“We are considering looking at our timing window, when we send everything out,” she said. “As lawyers, we like shorter deadlines, because then we tend to forget everything.”
Education and Resource Working Group Chair Shannon Nash said each member of her group had pledged to produce a “Pro Tip Tuesday.”
The two-minute recordings are one of the Center for Professionalism’s most popular social media offerings.
“By December 16, you should have a slew of Pro Tip Tuesdays in your inbox,” Nash said.
Gender Bias Working Group member Michael Rajtar said his panel would recruit speakers for the Center for Professionalism podcast series, “Never Contemplated.”
The group will recruit law school deans and senior or managing partners for another project, Rajtar said.
“We have a CLE that we’re looking to do, as to why women are leaving the profession,” he said.
Mentoring Initiatives Working Group Chair Ita Neymotin said one project the panel is considering involves creating a “personality assessment” for prospective mentors and mentees.
“And either match them up based on similarities or their differences,” she said. “Apparently, medical students are matched up this way for their residencies.”
Mental Health and Wellness Working Group Chair Margaret “Peggy” Williams said her panel was considering recruiting experts for a CLE on identifying the symptoms of mental illness.
“One of the ideas was to have is a CLE, a panel, talking about the signs of mental illness, so that someone who may be suffering from it can recognize it,” she said.
Berger launched the meeting by asking each committee member to describe what they hope to accomplish in coming the year.
U.S. Magistrate Judge William Matthewman, who presides in the Southern District of Florida, said he hopes the committee can help Florida lawyers overcome “the perception that so-called ‘bulldog’ lawyers do better.”
“We need to reach out the law students, and we need to reach out to the firms and associations, so that they get the message that professionalism makes you a better advocate,” he said.
