Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes promises a seat at the table for every lawyer
Retired 15th Circuit Judge Moses Baker administers the oath of office to his daughter, Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes, as she is sworn in as the 77th president of The Florida Bar during the Annual Florida Bar Convention in Boca Raton on June 27. Her mother, Rosalyn Baker, holds the Bible used at Judge Baker’s own swearing-in in 1994, while her husband, Edrick Barnes, and their children, Selia, Emri, and Edan, look on.
In a historic moment blending pride, purpose, and vision, Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes was installed as the 77th president of The Florida Bar on June 27 during the Bar’s Annual Convention in Boca Raton. She made history as the first Black woman to lead the Bar.
Her father, retired 15th Circuit Judge Moses Baker, administered the oath, using the same Bible he swore on at his own installation in 1994.
Acknowledging the Bar’s 75th anniversary and its broader roots stretching back to 1889, Baker-Barnes noted the apparent numerical anomaly in her new title.
“History rarely moves in a straight line. It twists and turns. . . Our Florida Bar history is not perfect. . . But with our imperfection comes opportunity,” she said.
In a speech that moved between heartfelt personal reflection and a clear roadmap for the year ahead, Baker-Barnes called on Florida’s legal community to lead with intention and reimagine what it means to thrive in the legal profession.
“As I begin this role, I carry with me a spirit of gratitude, a deep sense of legacy, and a clear purpose,” she said. “And now — it’s my turn, your turn, it’s our turn. Not just to preserve that legacy — but to build on it.”
Baker-Barnes opened by honoring her grandmothers, Bessie Dawson and Mary Baker — women who, despite having no formal education, shaped generations through their values.
“They didn’t have high school diplomas on the wall. No college degrees. No law degrees,” she said. “But what they had was far more enduring: faith, family, and a fierce commitment to excellence.”
Their legacy, she said, gave rise to six first-generation college graduates in her family and ultimately to her own success in law.
“I am standing here because in me they saw no limits,” she said. “Because they showed us that excellence is not just a goal — it’s a duty.”
Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes: ‘We’re not just opening doors. ‘We’re saving a seat at the table for all of us. A seat for the new lawyer unsure of where they belong. A seat for the seasoned practitioner with ideas still to share. A seat for every attorney who wonders if their voice still matters. Because it does.’
She extended heartfelt thanks to her parents, who celebrated 50 years of marriage last year; to her husband, Edrick, whom she called her “anchor, protector, and everything;” and to her children, Selia, Emri, and Edan. “Every step I take, I take with you in mind,” she told them.
Turning to her vision for the Bar, Baker-Barnes emphasized the importance of creating a profession where all lawyers feel seen, supported, and heard.
“We’re not just opening doors,” she said. “We’re saving a seat at the table for all of us. A seat for the new lawyer unsure of where they belong. A seat for the seasoned practitioner with ideas still to share. A seat for every attorney who wonders if their voice still matters. Because it does.”
To support that vision, Baker-Barnes announced two major initiatives focused on broadening inclusion and strengthening the profession.
In response to in-house lawyers who felt disconnected from the Bar’s work, she launched the Corporate Counsel Committee, chaired by Michel Morgan, with Grasford Smith and Manny Farach as vice-chairs.
“These are brilliant attorneys, advising billion-dollar companies, shaping industries and feeling unseen,” Baker-Barnes said.
She identified sectors including healthcare, technology, banking, construction, and transportation, and named organizations like Brightline, the Miami Dolphins, Spirit Airlines, and Citibank as now finding a place within the Bar’s growing outreach.
She noted that Florida is one of the fastest-growing states for corporations and said more than 100 corporate counsels were attending the convention for the first time because of this expanded engagement.
Baker-Barnes is also introducing a Sustainability Committee, chaired by GC Murray and President-Elect Mike Orr, to address the growing strain of burnout, isolation, and exhaustion across the profession.
“We have too many lawyers quietly asking, ‘Can I really keep doing this?’ Not because they lack talent or commitment but because they are overwhelmed, isolated, and burning out,” she said.
The committee will explore the long-term health of the legal profession through tools and training in practice management, mentorship, mental health and support networks, and strategies for navigating the business of law.
“We are here for community — not just to open doors, but to pull up a seat at the table,” Baker-Barnes said.
Her intent is to build on the Bar’s legacy by “creating spaces where every lawyer sees themselves in the future of the profession,” “designing systems that not only protect our standards but also adapt to the evolving realities of legal work,” and enabling lawyers to thrive, not just survive, in the profession.
Throughout her remarks, Baker-Barnes expressed deep gratitude to those who helped her along the way — mentors, past presidents, colleagues, and peers. She named the seven women who previously served as Florida Bar presidents — Patricia Seitz, Edith Osman, Kelly Overstreet Johnson, Gwynne Young, Mayanne Downs, Michelle Suskauer, and Dori Foster-Morales — and acknowledged men who supported her, including former Bar Presidents Eugene Pettis, Greg Coleman, Gary Lesser, Scott Westheimer, and Roland Sanchez-Medina, Jr.
Saying leadership echoes through generations, she also cited examples set by trailblazers including Virgil Hawkins, Henry Latimer, and retired Justice Peggy Quince.
She also thanked her law firm, Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, for allowing her to “feel supported not just in my practice but in seeking to serve the legal community.”
Baker-Barnes recognized incoming Young Lawyers Division President Arti Hirani as both a friend and an example of the profession’s rising leadership, adding, “The Young Lawyers Division is the future of this profession.”
She closed with a reminder that leadership is not about titles or accolades, but about impact.
“What we do as lawyers, how we lead, how we serve, how we show up, matters,” Baker-Barnes said. “I’m saving a seat at the table for each and every one of you — for your ideas, for your leadership, for your distinct voice that only you can offer. Because what you do with that seat will echo through generations.”
