Lesser receives Solo & Small Firm Section’s Tradition of Excellence Award
Outgoing Bar President Gary Lesser, center, received the 2023 Tradition of Excellence Award from the Solo & Small Firm Section at the Annual Florida Bar Convention in Boca Raton from section Chiar Cristina Alonso and immediate past Chair Christopher Johnson.
Gary Lesser is the 2023 recipient of the Solo & Small Firm Section’s Tradition of Excellence Award.
The award recognizes Bar members who have committed themselves to improving the standing of lawyers in the community while also diligently working to enhance the overall reputation of those who are general, solo, and small firm practitioners. Chair Christopher Johnson (2022–2023), presented the award on June 23 at the Solo and Small Firm Section Annual Meeting in Boca Raton. Lesser is the Immediate Past President of The Florida Bar.
Current Solo & Small Firm Section Chair Cristina Alonso nominated Lesser for the award to recognize his leadership in creating initiatives that benefit solo and small firm members of the Bar.
“Gary created the Counsel to Counsel mentoring program that focuses on new attorneys working solo or in small firms, launched the Life’s Legal Moments campaign to help Floridians understand when and how to access legal counsel, and appointed a representative of the Solo & Small Firm Section to The Florida Bar Board of Governors,” said Alonso, a solo appellate law practitioner with Alonso Appeals in Pembroke Pines. “He has truly walked the walk to make a difference for solos and small firms — the majority of the Bar’s membership.”
The section surprised Lesser with the award when he visited the section’s meeting to congratulate incoming chair Alonso, who Lesser appointed to represent the section on the Board of Governors during 2022–2023.
“This is an unexpected and really appreciated honor,” said Lesser of West Palm Beach. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the recognition and for all of the hard work that this section continues to do on behalf of its members and The Florida Bar.”
