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31 Fla. B. News 1 (2004)

handle is hein.barjournals/flabn0031 and id is 1 raw text is: Committee Preference Forms are now at www.flabar.org Bookman named Bar president-elect He plans to reach out to Bar members, improve court access By Gary Blankenship Senior Editor Alan B. Bookman didn't get a chance to get a big head about becoming president- elect designate of The Florida Bar. When the call came late on December 15 that Bookman had won the post unop- posed, he was in a meeting with clients. I was sitting in a conference with two clients and they wouldn't let me do any- thing except work, Bookman said with a laugh. He was even late to the champagne cel- ebration planned by his Pensacola law firm, Emmanuel, Sheppard and Condon, as his clients, both good friends, good-naturedly insisted he attend to their legal needs. But Bookman, 56, finds that fitting. I'm just an everyday real estate and busi- ness practitioner. I don't do as much litiga- tion as I used to, although I still do some, he said. Basically, I'm an office practitioner. I Fifteenlawyers have been electedwithout opposition to the Board of Governors nd another 26 are running for eight contested seats. See page 3. earn my living by dealing with clients on a day-to-day basis. And that's how he sees most Bar mem- bers, whom he hopes to reach out to when he becomes Bar president in June 2005. He will be sworn in as Bar president-elect this June when Kelly Overstreet Johnson be- comes Bar president. I've been very concerned about the apathy of the average Bar member, and the perception that the Bar is doing 'to them' instead of 'for them,' Bookman said. 1 want to do something to renew confidence in the Bar itself. Another goal, he said, will be improv- ing the availability of legal services. I'm very big on access to the courts for the indigent as well as low- to middle- income families who don't qualify for legal aid but can't go to a lawyer because it's See Bookman, page 6 The Florida Bar News ° Volume 31, Number 1 wvwvw. EABAR.og January 1, 2004 MJP rules to be sent to the court Package calls for registration and fees for most non-Bar members By Gary Blankenship Senior Editor Rejecting last minute misgivings from the securities industry and a corporate counsel group, the Bar Board of Gover- nors has approved rule amendments to regulate multijurisdictional practice in Florida. Acting at its December 5 meeting on Amelia Island, the board accepted the rec- ommendations of its Special Commission on the Multijurisdictional Practice of Law 2002 and voted to forward them to the Su- preme Court for final review. The proposed rules also include an ex- emption for international arbitrations, changes made in response to Miami's cam- paign to become home of the secretariat of the Free Trade Area of the Americas. The FTAA would include arbitration of business disputes from throughout the Americas. What we're trying to do is create the concept of temporary practice, and create a presumption of when something tempo- rary becomes permanent, that lawyer will Certificatlon appeal process claified By Gary Blankenship the board itself when it gets an appeal. Senior Editor that caused concern among CPAC and A proposal to revamp the certification board members that they couldn't make appeal process has been abandoned in an informed decision when the appeal was favor of clarified policies, following Bar based on peer review. The BLSE argued Board of Governors action last month. that those appeals were supposed to be The board also accepted the recom- only on procedural issues and not the ac- mendation of the Program Evaluation tual content of the reviews. Committee for a compromise on real es- CPAC and the BLSE worked out a com- tate certification standards that had up- promise where the peer review would be set out-of-state Bar members, shared with an independent appellate In past meetings the board had been committee, and the committee would have reviewing a plan to change certification the final say with appeals no longer go- appeal because of problems involving ing to the full board. But the two groups confidential peer review. Under current disagreed on the membership of the new Bar procedures, only the area certifica- appellate committee, so the issue was sent tion committee and the Board of Legal to the Program Evaluation Committee for Specialization and Education see the peer further study. reviews during an appeal. Board members also raised concerns The peer review is not shown to the about not letting appellants see the peer appellant, nor is it shared with the board's Certification Plan Appeal Committee or See Certification, page 5 become a Bar member, said John Yanchunis, chair of the special commis- sion. Yanchunis said practicing in Florida has always required that a lawyer be a member of the Bar. The only exception was for judges who could admit out-of-state lawyers pro hac vice. In practice, out-of-state lawyers regu- larly did transactional, trial, and dispute resolution, he said. The ABA studied the issue and approved model rules, and the special commission reviewed those and recommended the changes to Bar rules. It did not accept all of the ABA proposals. According to the special commission's final report, out-of-state lawyers licensed in another jurisdiction and not under dis- ciplinary sanction would be able to tem- porarily practice law in Florida. But they would be required to register with the Florida Supreme Court, and comply with all Bar rules, including being subject to Bar discipline. If the matter involves ap- pearing in trial or handling an arbitration, the lawyers must also pay a $250 fee to the Bar (to offset monitoring costs) and cannot handle more than three matters in a 365-day period. Those requirements would not apply to the arbitration of international disputes. Yanchunis noted the board tentatively had approved the rule amendments, ex- cept for the international arbitration ex- ception, last May. He also defended the change to allow international arbitration while not allowing national securities See MJP, page 5 BAR PRESIDENT Miles McGrane presented Sen. Rod Smith, D-Gainesville, and Rep. Holly Benson, R- Pensacola, with The Florida Bar President's Legislative Awards at the Board of Governors recent meeting on Amelia Island for their continuing effort to address the court funding issues of Revision 7 to Article V. These awards are one way to thank Sen. Smith and Rep. Benson for their support of the judiciary and to ensure all Bar President-elect Designate Alan Bookman, Floridians have equal access from the left, Rep. Holly Benson, R-Pensacola, to justice' McGrane said. and President Miles McGrane. Sen. Rod Smith, D-Gainesville, from the left, Presi- dent-elect Kelly Overstreet Johnson, and Presi- dent Miles McGrane. U70- * Li Vii ' L *i Florida Lawyers Protecting rights, pursuing Justice, promoting professionalism Attorney donates a kidney to colleague's suffering daughter By Jan Pudlow Associate Editor Hooked up to hemodialysis at the hos- pital for four hours three times a week. Enduring the prick of needles the size of 16-gauge nails. Sapped of energy. Carry- ing only 86 pounds on. her 5-foot-3- inch frame. Unable to eat many foods, and forcing down nour- ishment that tasted tinged with alumi- num. Since 2001, that was the pain- ful routine for Stefanie Reed, now 20. Born with m e'd i c a I Nancy Lugo and Stef Reed problems, the kidney her father had given her when she was only 18 months old wore out af- ter 17 years. She was on the national list See Lugo, page 10 BOOKMAN

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