Panel reviewing make-up of non-voting Board of Governors seats is taking comments at a Winter Meeting Town Hall
A special committee looking at the role of Bar Board of Governors non-voting members will be taking member comments at its February 7 meeting at the Bar’s Winter Meeting in Orlando.
The Special Committee on Non-Voting Appointments was set up by Bar President John Stewart in October and charged with reporting by the board’s March meeting.
The committee’s deliberations center around Standing Board Policy 1.20, which allows Bar presidents to name non-voting members to the board to ensure diverse representation from all parts of the Bar. Currently, the board has representatives from the Cuban American Bar Association, the Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter of the National Bar Association, the Florida Association for Women Lawyers (traditionally the presidents of those organizations fill those seats), government lawyers, and judges representing the statewide conferences of county and circuit court judges. The committee is considering whether SBP 1.20(d) should be amended to reflect greater representation of certain groups (Hispanic, African American, LGBTQ, etc.) rather than individual voluntary bars.
Committee chair and past Bar President Eugene Pettis said the committee is considering several options and hopes to get input on those at the February 7 meeting, which is set for 8-10 a.m. in the Bayhill 27 room at the Hyatt Regency Orlando.
“These are ideas that have come up and we’re inviting people to come to the Town Hall Meeting to have their input on these ideas and the floor will be open for other ideas that we may not have thought of,” Pettis said.