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New committee reviews Board of Govenors ex officio membership

Senior Editor Top Stories

Eugene PettisA new committee to look at how Bar Board of Governors ex officio members, who represent voluntary bars and other interests, are chosen has been appointed by President John Stewart.

The Committee on Non-Voting Board Appointments is chaired by former President Eugene Pettis and is charged with reporting to the board at its March meeting. The committee has set a public hearing for the Bar’s Orlando Winter Meeting in February.

Other members of the committee include Board of Governors members Julie Frey, Lorna Brown-Burton, and Thomas Bopp, former board member Leslie Lott of Coral Gables, Stephen Echsner of Pensacola, and attorneys Manuel Farach of Ft. Lauderdale, Anisha P. Patel of Tampa, and Larry Smith of Orlando.

“Over the past couple of decades, Bar presidents under Standing Board Policy 1.20(d) have appointed certain ex officio members to the Board of Governors in our efforts to make sure we have a representative board to address the needs of our members,” Pettis said. “There was a time when there was very little to zero diversity on the board.”

Around 20 years ago, representatives from the Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter of the National Bar Association and the Cuban American Bar Association were asked to sit in on board meetings, and a few years later, a representative from the Florida Association for Women Lawyers. Several years ago, a representative for government lawyers was included and immediate past President Michele Suskauer added one representative each from the statewide circuit and county court judicial conferences.

While all that was happening, the board’s elected makeup has become more diverse, Pettis said.

“It’s time to look at where we are as a board and how we’re covering and reflecting the face of our Bar and do we need to make adjustments in some manner,” he said. “We’re going to be doing an evaluation of the last five years: What is the makeup of the board, including gender, ethnicity, practice areas, public sector vs. private sector, to see how we can be most reflective of who we are.”

The first phase, he said, will be to look at the board’s makeup and then hold the public hearing in February.

“We need to make sure we have people around the table who can speak to the diversity we have, including ethnic diversity, practice diversity, and geographic diversity,” Pettis said. “We’ve made some improvements for the better and we always need to look at who we are to be the best we can be going forward.”

In the appointment letter to the members, Stewart wrote, “I created this special committee to review Florida Bar Standing Board Policy 1.20 Board Meetings (d) State, Voluntary or Local Bar Associations or Groups and to ensure diverse representation and inclusion in the Board’s deliberations from all groups of which The Florida Bar could benefit.”

Standing Board Policy 1.20(d) reads: “The Bar president may invite representatives of state, voluntary or local bar associations or groups to attend board meetings and may provide them with pertinent portions of the agenda and relevant backup. Representatives of state, voluntary and local bar associations or groups may not attend executive sessions.”

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