Continuing its practice of public involvement, The Florida Bar seeks a new nonlawyer to serve on its governing board.

Since 1987, two public members have served on the Bar’s 52-member governing board, after the Supreme Court of Florida approved the organization’s request to have nonlawyer representation on the board. Only 12 other state bar associations have public members on their governing boards.

The board member will replace Sharon Middleton of Ponte Vedra Beach, whose second two-year term expires June 2020.

A screening committee of The Florida Bar Board of Governors has been appointed to review the applications for the public member position, conduct final interviews, and make recommendations to the Bar’s governing board during its March meeting. The board will then recommend three persons to the Supreme Court of Florida and the court will appoint one of the three nominees to the board.

The Board of Governors oversees the Bar’s lawyer discipline program, continuing legal education programs, legislative activities, and the overall administration of The Florida Bar. Board members, who are all volunteers, average 200-300 hours per year on Bar business depending on committee assignments. Although attorney members of the Bar’s governing board pay their own expenses related to their attendance at six board meetings and other events held each year, nonlawyer board members are reimbursed for “reasonable travel and related expenses for attending official bar functions.”

The new board member would serve a two-year term commencing June 19, 2020. Public members are not allowed by rule to serve more than two consecutive terms. Most of the Bar’s board is apportioned according to Florida’s 20 judicial circuits, with attorney members elected by lawyers in their locality. There are four additional out-of-state representatives. The other public member currently serving on The Florida Bar’s Board of Governors is Joseph “Jody” Hudgins of Naples.

Persons interested in serving as a public member may complete and submit the application online at the Bar’s website www.floridabar.org, or should call The Florida Bar headquarters at 850-561-5759, to obtain the application. applications must be received by Joshua E. Doyle, Executive Director, The Florida Bar, 651 East Jefferson Street, Tallahassee 32399-2300, no later than January 24, 2020.

The Board of Governors is seeking applicants for the following vacancy to be filled during its March 20, 2020, meeting:
 
Supreme Court’s Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee: One lawyer to fill a four-year term commencing July 1, 2020, and ending June 30, 2024. This is a 12-member committee that renders 20 to 25 written advisory opinions a year to inquiring judges and judicial candidates regarding application of the Code of Judicial Conduct to specific instances of contemplated judicial and non-judicial conduct. The committee meets once a year at The Florida Bar’s Annual Convention and attendance is strongly encouraged. The majority of the committee’s work, however, is undertaken via e-mail and phone conferencing. The committee is also responsible for judicial campaign conduct forums scheduled in election years.
 
Persons interested in applying for these vacancies may download the Application for Special Appointment or should call Bar headquarters at (850) 561-5757, to obtain the application form. Completed applications must be received by the Executive Director, The Florida Bar, 651 East Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, Florida, 32399-2300 or submitted via e-mail to specialapptapp@floridabar.org no later than the close of business on Friday, February 7, 2020. Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of the required application. The Board of Governors will review all applications and may request telephone or personal interviews.
 

The United Nations Regional Course in International Law for Latin America and the Caribbean is organized by the Codification Division of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs in cooperation with the Government of Chile and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

The Regional Course will be held at the facilities of ECLAC in Santiago, from 20 April to 15 May 2020. The Regional Course will be conducted in English. The course will accommodate up to 25 participants, including a limited number of spaces for self-funded participants.
 

For more information, visit the website: http://legal.un.org/poa/rcil/laac/index.html