Editor's Message: Thank You for Your Service

By Ed Comey

Almost every day, my oldest daughter, Gabriella, who is 4, asks me to tell her the Cinderella story. When I start by telling her that Cinderella’s real name is Ella but that her step-sisters call her Cinderella because she would get dirty cleaning the cinders out of the fireplace, Gaby turns story time into a one-sided version of the improv game where characters can only speak in questions.

“What are cinders, daddy?
“Um, they’re like ashes, honey.”
“Well, what are ashes?”
“Good question. It’s something left over after a fire.”

It’s at that point I realize there are some things I just know even if I can’t articulate them.

That thought occurred to me a couple of months back when I visited the Vietnam Memorial during a trip to Washington, D.C., with my daughter. As we walked along the wall, Gaby asked me if I’d help her find abuelito’s friend. My father-in-law served in the 1st Battalion, 7th Calvary — presumably as the world’s shortest infantryman (he claims all of the parachute landings caused him to shrink from 6’1 to 5’1) — during Vietnam. Unfortunately, my father-in-law, like all too many others, lost a dear friend during the war, and before we left for our trip to D.C., he told Gaby to look for his friend while we there. Of course, she didn’t know what the wall was, and I knew that if I couldn’t explain Cinderella’s name to her satisfaction, there was no chance I’d be able to do justice to the Vietnam Memorial.

But as we searched for my father-in-law’s friend, Gaby found a note a young kid left at the foot of the wall, which she asked me to read:

As a citizen of the USA and a soon to be adult, I greatly appreciated the freedom I have in this country. I can work for my own money, get a decent education, and enjoy recreational activities without someone else telling me what I can and can’t do. I also know who I have to thank for my freedom. You soldiers who lay down your own lives and futures, your hopes and dreams, all to preserve the lives, futures, hopes and dreams of the upcoming generations of people in our nation. None of you deserve anything less than the highest honors available for your sacrifices.

I’m not sure I could put it much better.

Now that I’m a parent, I realize how fortunate I am that my children will grow up in a country where they are free to go as far as their talent and hard work (and a little luck) will take them. And I realize that’s true because people with more courage than I have — people like Col. Kenneth Davey (who was profiled by our Military & Veterans Affairs Committee); my grandfather, Mike Joseph (who served as a Seabee in World War II); and my father-in-law and the others who served alongside him in in the “Garry Owen” Brigade in Vietnam — were willing to risk their hopes and dreams for mine. I’ll never be able to adequately express my gratitude, so I’ll just simply say thank you to all the veterans who have served our country.

Construction Law: You Cannot Both Have a License and Be Unlicensed at the Same Time

By Carl Mitchell

     The First District Court of Appeal recently issued a decision on a construction licensing issue that has industry-wide implications.* See Taylor Morrison Servs., Inc. v. Ecos, 163 So. 3d 1286 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015). The case involved alleged construction defects in a single-family home in Jacksonville. Although the home did have some defects, the homeowners opted to bring not only a construction defect claim but also a claim for negligence by an unlicensed contractor under section 768.0425, Florida Statutes. A business organization is considered unlicensed if it “does not have a primary or secondary qualifying agent in accordance with this part concerning the scope of the work to be performed under the contract.” § 489.128(1)(a), Fla. Stat. Further, a “contractor shall be considered unlicensed only if the contractor was unlicensed on the effective date of the original contract for the work.” § 489.128(1)(c), Fla. Stat. (emphasis added).

     Although the builder in Ecos employed several qualifying agents on the contract date, the homeowners argued, and the trial court agreed, that having a qualifying agent “in accordance with this part” meant that all of the other provisions of chapter 489 should be evaluated in determining a contractor’s licensure, including the level of the contractor’s supervision during construction and the manner in which the building permit was obtained. Accordingly, the trial court ruled that the builder was unlicensed because: 1) the qualifier who signed the building permit was no longer employed by the builder and did not authorize the use of her license; and 2) there was a lack of qualifier supervision on the project. See Ecos, 163 So. 3d at 1288-89.

     The First DCA reversed because, in its view, section 489.128(1)(c) “precludes considering events that occur after [the contract date], by instructing that a contractor be considered unlicensed ‘only if’ the contractor is unlicensed at that specific time.” Ecos, 163 So. 3d at 1289. Because it “cannot be known on the contract’s effective date whether the business organization will actually ensure compliance with the permitting and supervision requirements of chapter 489,” considering such activities would require the court “to read the date requirement out of the statute.” Id. at 1290. In reaching that conclusion, the court recognized the pitfalls associated with tying licensure to ongoing activities during the course of construction (such as permitting or supervision) — namely, “a business organization’s licensure status ... can change throughout the course of construction for a particular project.” Id. Ultimately, the First DCA concluded that, while contractors may be penalized under other sections of chapter 489 for how they engage in construction activities, those activities are “irrelevant to the narrow issue of whether [a contractor] is licensed” on the contract date. Id. at 1292.

     As a result of the decision in Ecos, Florida contractors that are qualified on the date of a construction contract are licensed for the project.

*Note: The author is an attorney at Sivyer, Barlow & Watson, P.A., which represented the builder in Ecos.

Executive Director's Message: U.S. District Court Celebrates “Fifty Years of Justice”

By John F. Kynes

U.S. Customs undercover agent Bob Mazur sensed he and his family were in imminent danger for their lives.

You see, Mazur had previously gotten word that a contract had been put out on his life because of the intelligence he had gathered after infiltrating deep into the seedy underworld of international money laundering and drug trafficking. As a precaution, Mazur had relocated his family to a rural area 1½ hours north of Tampa.

One night, however, after driving his son home from gymnastics, he noticed a man outside in a pickup truck parked next to a nearby pond. He turned off all the lights in the house and took out his binoculars. He looked out a window at the truck and, to his surprise, saw that the man in the front seat had a pair of binoculars as well.

Fearing the worst, Mazur told his family to lie on the floor, and he quickly got out his .357 Magnum. Sneaking around back through some woods, Mazur approached the truck from behind.

Mazur confronted the stranger, who became visibly shaken. He asked what the man was doing parked next to the pond.

“I’m watching the migration of alligators,” the startled man explained, much to Mazur’s relief.

Mazur shared this bizarre encounter, as well as other eye-opening stories about his work as the lead undercover agent in the historic Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) money laundering case, at a luncheon this September at Le Meridien hotel in Tampa. The event was organized by the U.S. District Court to coincide with the release of the new book, “Fifty Years of Justice: A History of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida,” written by Florida Southern history professor James Denham.

Le Meridien hotel, which formerly served as a federal courthouse for many years, was the scene for the BCCI trial in 1990. The historic building was restored and opened as a boutique hotel in 2014.

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, created in 1962, was carved out of the Southern District and includes 35 of Florida’s 67 counties. It stretches geographically more than 350 miles from the Georgia border on Florida’s northeast coast to south of Naples on the southwest coast.

Over the years, the district court, which is considered one of the busiest federal courts in the nation, has been the scene for many important legal proceedings. Along with the BCCI case, the district court is most recognized for the litigation surrounding the Terri Schiavo “right to die” case. Some other notable names and cases in the District Court’s recent history: Santo Trafficante, F. Lee Bailey, Denny McLain, Ted Bundy, Sami Al-Arian, hanging chads, and Baby Sabrina.

Along with agent Mazur, the Hon. William Terrell Hodges, who served as the trial judge, and Tampa lawyer Bennie Lazzara, who served as defense counsel, participated in the panel presentation about the BCCI case.

At the time, FBI Director Robert Mueller described the BCCI case as “one of the largest money-laundering prosecutions in U.S. history.” The bank also was known to handle the money laundering needs of former Panamanian dictator General Manuel Noriega.

During the panel presentation, Judge Hodges recalled the complexity of the case and the mental and physical toll the lengthy trial took on all the participants. He said agent Mazur’s performance as a government witness ― recalling every detail of his multi-year investigation ― was “absolutely spectacular.” Mazur appeared on the witness stand every day for three months of the six-month trial.

Judge Hodges also explained how the trial almost got derailed because of a problem with a juror during jury deliberations. One of the jurors had to be dismissed, Judge Hodges said, because the juror had inexplicably taken a telephone number from a trial exhibit and called the number, then subsequently spoke to other jurors about the call.

Attorney Lazzara talked about the challenges faced by the defense team and the overwhelming amount of evidence presented by government prosecutors. Lazzara noted that the court had worked out a creative arrangement whereby all the international defendants in the case, along with their families, were housed in condominiums on Davis Islands under 24-hour guard for the duration of the trial.

Mazur also recounted the elaborate federal sting operation, called Operation C-Chase, that helped bring down the bad guys. The sting climaxed with an elaborate staged wedding at Palm Harbor’s Innisbrook Resort in which all the international bankers and drug dealers being investigated were invited to what they thought was Mazur’s wedding.

The night before the wedding, however, the attendees were whisked away in limousines to what they thought was going to be wild bachelor party at MacBeth’s atop the old Exchange Bank building in downtown Tampa. Instead, federal agents were waiting in the building’s parking garage, and dozens of astonished attendees were taken into custody.

Now retired from the federal government, Mazur said a movie based on the 2009 book he wrote about his undercover work and the BCCI case will be coming out in 2016. The movie, titled “The Infiltrator,” will star award-winning actor Bryan Cranston, who will play Mazur.

See you around the Chet.

Military & Veterans Affairs Committee: Why We Must Never Forget

By DJ Reyes, Colonel, U.S. Army (retired)

      Just recently, a remarkable resident of Tampa ― whose sacrifice made our liberty a reality over 70 years ago ― met his maker.

      If I have any regret, it is that I knew this remarkable man for too short of a time. Earlier this summer, I had the unique honor of visiting with the father-in-law of one of Hillsborough County’s finest assistant public defenders, Marie Marino. I had met Marie in my volunteer role mentoring veterans who have fallen on the wrong side of the law and find themselves in the Veterans Treatment Court (VTC).

       But on this particular day, I was not asked to mentor a fellow veteran in need. You see, Marie had a simple request of me ― just spend time with another fellow combat veteran, her father: Colonel Kenneth W. Davey, USAF retired. He was over 100 years old and flew bombing raids from the United Kingdom, across the English Channel, over Nazi Germany, during World War II. He is part of that elite and time-honored group of Americans that Tom Brokaw once dubbed “the greatest generation.” Having also participated in initial U.S. military operations in places such as Haiti and Iraq, I felt an immediate kinship with the colonel. I was also quite excited to meet probably one of the last few warriors and heroes of the war that forever changed the history of, and cemented the eventual world preeminence of, the United States of America. To me, Colonel Davey represented “living history.”

      I was mesmerized during our three-hour visit. At times when he spoke, I felt like I was watching the last scene of the movie “Saving Private Ryan,” when the now elder Ryan “re-saw” Operation OverLord, the Normandy Beach landings, and “re-heard” the final charge that his company commander, Captain John H. Miller, uttered before he passed away: “James, earn this. Earn it …” On a more lighthearted note, we laughed when Colonel Davey recalled his “extra duty” ― escorting then Princess Elizabeth (now the Queen of England) around his Royal Air Base and his lively discussion with her. I also learned that he flew with the famed 303rd Heavy Bomb Group, based out of RAF Molesworth, U.K.

      More than 61 years later, I would command the U.S. European Command’s Joint Analysis Center (JAC) in RAF Molesworth and home of the famed 303rd Heavy Bomb Group. I felt another connection with this great American.

      At the end of our visit, I stood at attention, rendered a salute to a senior officer, and thanked him for not only his service to our great nation but for blessing his family, and all of us whom he has touched throughout his incredible life. Colonel Davey looked at me, and with a gleam and fire in his eyes, slowly but ever so precisely saluted in return. It was at that moment that I felt a spiritual passing of the baton. It was as if he was telling me, and our current and future generations of servicemen and women, to “Earn this. Earn it.”

      On August 15, 2015, Colonel Davey died. Those teenagers and brave Americans who were in their 20’s during World War II are now seniors in their 90’s and are leaving us. They are no longer easily found. But the world that their courage created still stands.

Consider Adding Collaborative Law to Your Practice

By Jeremy Gluckman 

     We all learned in law school that our legal system is an adversarial system. However, if you have ever thought that there might be a “better way” to go about resolving legal disputes, now is the time to consider adding collaborative law to your practice.  

     The Hillsborough County Bar Association, through our Collaborative Law Section, has taken on the task of promoting collaboration as a non-adversarial alternative in our legal system. Started initially in family law cases, efforts have now begun to expand collaborative practice into other areas of the law. The Tampa Bay Collaborative Divorce Group began to integrate this process into our legal community back in the 1990s. Years later, the Collaborative Divorce Institute of Tampa Bay (now known as Next Generation Divorce) was formed, and the Collaborative Law “movement” gained momentum. The Florida Civil Collaborative Practice Group, the most recently formed collaborative practice group, is designed to promote the collaborative process as a means of resolving almost every other kind of legal dispute. One of the main goals of our Collaborative Law Section is to act as a liaison between these three groups as we join forces on multiple projects.

     To HCBA members not yet exposed to collaborative law, the process used in family law consists of two clients who each retain separate lawyers, along with a neutral mental health professional and a neutral financial professional (the full team model). Collaboration starts through a written agreement between the parties and the team. Unlike litigation, the lawyers’ only job is to help the clients settle their disputes; in fact, if the clients are unable to reach a settlement, the parties agree that the lawyers must withdraw from the case. The mental health professional acts as a facilitator throughout the process and will help the parties develop the best parenting plan possible when children are involved. The financial professional gathers relevant financial information from both parties and then helps them to divide their assets and analyze alimony and child support scenarios and alternatives. 

     The process involves open communication and disclosure between the clients and their lawyers, working together with the team in a collaborative manner. Through a series of meetings, the team works to ultimately reach a comprehensive settlement agreement.  

     Variations of this model are being developed for use in non-family disputes. In those cases, the system works a little differently, but the goal of finding the best and most workable solutions to conflicts is the same. And the results are often plans developed by the parties that judges might never have the authority or understanding to bring to an adversarial case.

     In September, our collaborative groups held one of many training programs in St. Petersburg. On November 5, all of our collaborative practice groups are co-sponsoring a meeting with the president of our statewide collaborative association. If you would like to start learning about practicing collaboratively, sign up for our next training program.

Appellate Law: Remembering Second DCA Clerk Jim Birkhold

By Jared M. Krukar and Mariko K. Outman

        Jim Birkhold was, superficially, a curmudgeon. At least some close friends have affectionately called him one, noting that Jim would probably approve of the description.

        Jim, who had been the Second District Court of Appeal's clerk for 16 years, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in August of this year. His death is a tragic loss to all who knew him. Despite Jim's gruff exterior, he was a generous, compassionate, and devoted man whose contributions to the Second District and the Florida court system will long be remembered.

        Jim was known to dislike the limelight, and he had little patience for formality. But perhaps Jim — who loved to tell stories — would not mind so much if he were remembered by stories from those who worked with him.

        There is no group at the court who will miss Jim more than the staff in the clerk's office. Many of these individuals worked with Jim for all or most of his tenure as clerk. They spoke of their deep fondness and respect for him. They described Jim as compassionate, honest, intensely devoted to them and to the court, witty, incisive, protective, helpful, and soft-hearted.

        They spoke of Jim's willingness to assist anyone who requested help. Jim spent considerable time — at the counter in the clerk's office or on the phone — responding to questions and concerns from attorneys, pro se litigants, and anyone else who called. The court's prisoner mail was particularly important to him. Jim regularly responded to inmates to explain the procedures or the obstacles they faced or to simply provide information about case progress. He wanted them to know that someone was on the other end and had considered their problems. And Jim also helped those who did not ask. More than once, his staff saw him chase after homeless men and women who had been sleeping at the entrance to the courthouse — not to usher them away — but to give them money.

        The staff in the clerk's office also had less serious stories to share. For instance, Jim repeated a tale about a life-sized plastic cow he displayed on his home patio. The cow had become mildewed in the Florida weather. To clean it, Jim pushed it into his chlorinated pool and sunk it to the bottom using bricks. But Jim did not account for the fact that his hollow, leaky cow would slowly fill with water and ultimately weigh as much as a real cow. Upon his discovery of the thousand-pound oversight, Jim recruited his wife, Christy, to jump in and help him wrestle the beloved bovine back to safety. The plastic cow vengefully pushed Jim back into the pool upon reaching dry land, while Christy stood by laughing.

        Another time, Jim tripped over one of his many prized dachshunds and broke a finger during the fall. Jim's hand was placed in a cast with his single, broken finger sticking out as a sore reminder of his (or his dachshund's) clumsiness. The situation became a running joke in the office — he carried his X-ray with him for days to illustrate his oral account of what had happened. One of his deputy clerks brought him a cake adorned with lady fingers, with just one sticking out.

        Judges and staff attorneys, past and present, also spoke fondly about Jim. They too emphasized Jim's devotion to the court, his patience with and respect for the public, and the fact that he took pride in making the court and its procedures accessible to its litigants. But there were some fun anecdotes from them as well.

        Jim was a baseball fanatic. He spent much of spring training attending Detroit Tigers games in Lakeland. He invited judges and staff to attend with him often. If he had tickets he could not use, he would give them to his staff by drawing names out of a hat.

        Jim's interests were diverse. One staff attorney remembered that late one night, she heard something not entirely unlike music coming from Jim’s corner of the courthouse. Jim had apparently taken up banjo lessons and was practicing at the court when he thought nobody was there. Jim never mentioned whether his practice locale was by choice or by directive.

        Jim was fond of reminiscing about his past. He once got a summer gig as an usher for NBC, and it was rumored that he twice was a member of the “Peanut Gallery” on the “Howdy Doody Show." When Jim learned that one of the newer staff attorneys attended the World Cup on his honeymoon, Jim sent him an email illuminating the “pitifully low-octane attack” of his own 1966 college prep school's soccer team. His email included a team photo with a young Jim Birkhold in a collared uniform and with a full head of well-coiffed, dirty blonde hair.

        But the following anecdote is the one that most of those at the court thought best depicted the kind of person Jim was. Before Jim joined the court, he was an assistant public defender. For many years, and until Jim passed away, he regularly visited a former client in prison who is still serving a life sentence. Jim provided his former client money and sent him books and other things. Jim remained this man's lifelong friend, even though he was unable to obtain the justice he thought this man deserved.

        Beneath the surface, Jim wasn't so much of a curmudgeon after all. Rather, he was a great man, a devoted servant, and a loyal friend. He, and his many stories, will not soon be forgotten.

President's Message: Florida’s Leaders Solving the Justice Gap - The Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice and Florida’s Vision 2016 Commission

By Carter Andersen

Admission by Motion and Reciprocity are dead in Florida. The red herring has been hooked, fileted, and fried. Florida Bar members have spoken, The Florida Bar Board of Governors has listened, and by many accounts, the great public interest in preserving the rigorous standards for admission to practice in Florida courts has won the day. What’s next?

The Justice Gap

The real issue facing Florida is solving the justice gap ― who will solve it? Will it be Florida lawyers? Will it be technology companies? One thing is for sure ― Florida’s legal leaders are working hard to solve it! Solving the justice gap is a high priority for the Florida Supreme Court and Florida Chief Justice Jorge Labarga, as well as for The Florida Bar and President Ramón Abadin.

Abadin described the justice gap at our September 16 Membership Luncheon as the “fat middle.” Studies show that the top 10 percent of legal consumers (our clients) get legal services by paying top dollars for excellent lawyers at law firms big and small. And the bottom 20 percent of legal consumers get legal services from legal aid organizations, pro bono legal services, or contingency fee lawyers. What does that leave? The “fat middle” ― could it be that 70 percent of legal consumers are left without a lawyer?

Retired Judge William Van Nortwick, who sits on the Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice and is now practicing with Akerman in Jacksonville, echoed Abadin’s concerns about the justice gap problem in his October 1 presentation to Bay Area Legal Services at the Chester H. Ferguson Law Center:

• Only 14 percent of the people who reported having civil legal issues during the past year obtained legal help in addressing them.
• Less than 20 percent of the legal needs of low-income Americans are being met.
• When confronted with a civil legal problem, 30 percent of low-income Americans give up and seek no legal redress.
• For every client served by a federally funded legal aid program, someone else seeking help is turned away.
• In many courts, 90 percent of parties in restraining order matters are unrepresented.
• 80 percent of divorce cases in Florida had at least one pro se litigant.

Internet Technology

Abadin opened a lot of eyes with the examples of more than 50 companies selling legal forms online, and he explained the estimated size of the unserved legal market in the United States is $45 billion. He also pointed out that in the Internet marketplace, consumers have virtually unlimited access to legal information and knowledge. The balance of power has shifted from professionals (lawyers) to consumers (clients).

Many were surprised to hear from Abadin that outside equity investment in legal startup technology companies grew from $66 million in 2012 to more than $1 billion in 2014. Today, companies such as LegalZoom are creating technology-based platforms to connect consumers and lawyers. LegalZoom itself plans to have 20,000 to 50,000 lawyers on the platform within five years. The target clients are the middle-class and small businesses. Last year, LegalZoom served more than 2 million customers. Another company we all know, AVVO, had more than 70 million visits to www.Avvo.com. In 2014, AVVO connected 3.5 million consumers to lawyers and generated $8.5 billion in revenue for legal services in United States.

Abadin’s point? We have a justice gap problem. Those in need of legal services have access to the Internet. If Florida lawyers don’t solve the justice gap, Wall Street and technology startups will! What are you going to do? How should we solve the justice gap?

Leaders like Chief Justice Labarga, President Abadin, and Judge Van Nortwick are working hard throughout the state to solve the justice gap. They are going to the lawyers and the citizens of Florida and working for solutions ― following the advice of Winnie-the-Pooh: “You can’t stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” We should all thank them!

Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice

In November 2014, recognizing that economic disparity threatens access to a fair and impartial judicial system, Chief Justice Labarga established the Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice. The 27-member commission includes leaders from all three branches of Florida government, The Florida Bar, civil legal aid providers, the business community, and other stakeholders. The commission is studying the unmet civil legal needs of disadvantaged, low-income, and moderate-income Floridians.

The Commission on Access to Civil Justice will submit its final report to the Florida Supreme Court, the governor, and the Florida Legislature by June 30, 2016, and that report will likely recommend a permanent access to justice commission. The commission will address the need for staffed legal aid programs, resources and support for self-represented litigants, issues regarding limited-scope representation, pro bono services, and innovative technology solutions. The website for the commission is www.flaccesstojustice.org.

The Florida Bar’s Vision 2016 Commission

The Vision 2016 Commission is tackling a wide array of issues facing Florida lawyers. The commission had its inaugural meeting September 26, 2013, where then-Florida Bar President Gene Pettis appointed 68 individuals from the legal profession, public sector, and business community to perform a comprehensive three-year study of the future practice of law in Florida.

The Vision 2016 Access to Legal Services Subgroup yielded to the Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice, and it is working under that umbrella to meet its mission. The Vision 2016 Bar Admissions Subgroup is studying several issues relating to multi-jurisdictional practice, including reciprocity/admission on motion, the disaster rule (“Katrina rule”), foreign authorized house counsel rule, foreign pro hac vice, foreign legal consultants rule, alternative business structure models, the uniform Bar examination, and the licensing of non-lawyers for specific tasks. The Vision 2016 Legal Education Subgroup is studying how to define competencies that new lawyers should have, models for legal education reform, and how to work with all stakeholders to produce lawyers with well-rounded and extensive competencies. The Vision 2016 Technology Subgroup is studying the integration of technology into law offices and courts, technology that performs legal/lawyer work, e-discovery, mandatory technology CLE, online legal service providers, and other technology issues. Check out Vision 2016 at www.floridabar.org/vision2016.

In short, Vision 2016 teaches that the future is now. And through Vision 2016, The Florida Bar is tackling the future.

Recent HCBA Resolution

In September, the HCBA made a great effort to engage and educate our members regarding Vision 2016. Together with the THBA, HAWL, GEBA, and the FBA Tampa Chapter, we co-hosted a Vision 2016 Town Hall Meeting at the Chester H. Ferguson featuring Abadin and Florida Bar President-Elect Bill Schifino. We also hosted Abadin as the keynote speaker for our Membership Luncheon in September. After learning so much about the issues, our Board of Directors submitted HCBA Resolution Number 15 – 3 commending The Florida Bar and the Vision 2016 Commission for their effort to raise awareness that the practice of law is rapidly changing and our profession is facing new challenges. We also urged the Board of Governors to continue to educate, raise awareness, and look for solutions to these challenges that will serve all Florida Bar members.

I predict that Florida ― based on the efforts of leaders Chief Justice Labarga and Florida Bar President Abadin and those who follow ― will lead the nation in solving the access to justice issues and the many Bar admissions, legal education, and technology issues. The Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice and The Florida Bar’s Vision 2016 Commission are two efforts that invite all Florida Bar members to be part of the solution, and they deserve our respect and support.