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![handle is hein.barjournals/flabn0024 and id is 1 raw text is:
Jacksonville's. Coker named president-elect
Jacksonville trial attorney and Board
of Governors member Howard C. Coker
has become president-elect designate of
The Florida Bar. He will be sworn inas
president-elect at the JuneAnnual Meet-
ing and will become president the follow-
ing year.
Coker was the only Bar member to file
for the post, and his election became of-,
ficial December 16 when filing closed.-It's
the third year in a row the Bar has had
an uncontested election for president-
elect.
I certainly consider it -an honor and
a privilege, the new president-elect des-
ignate said. He added the Bar can use
the time that would have been focused
on a contested election to meet hal-
lenges in the upcoming legislative ses-
sion.
He said lie sees two major tests, and
a host of other issues that will require
the attention of the Bar.
The most significant challenge we
have will be the delivery of legal services
to the poor, Coker said, noting Congress
'1 think we need to
take a very
pragmatic
approach to
helping lawyers in
small firms and
solo practices!
has cut: funds for legal. aid programs.
While legal services to the poor.is a so-
cietal problem, I think it is going to be
placed at the feet of lawyers. How well
the Bar addresses assistance to the poor
will have an effect on such things as man-
The Flo News
January 1., 1997.a Vol. 24, No.I
Fifteen elected:
Fifteen lawyers have been elected or
reelected to The Florida Bar. Board of
Governors, and another seven seats Will
be determined by ballot in March elec-
tions. Filing for the board seats closed
December16..
TheBr is also preparing to hold spe-
cial elections for two seats where mem-
bersare leavinig early.
Gov. to address
Bar conference
Gov. Lawton Chiles has been con-
firmed as the .keynote speaker for the
January 22AII Bar Conference in Miami.
Conference Chair Edith Osman said
the Governor agreed December 19 to ad-
dress the annual gathering of local and
state bar leaders, held in conjunction
with the Bar's Midyear Meeting.
I was absolutely ecstatic that he ac-
cepted, Osman said. This is the first
time he has spoken to a lawyers' gather-
ing that I can recall. We have a group of
significant bar leaders, and I believe this
dialog is overdue.
Seating is limited for the luncheon,
which is jointly sponsored by the Dade
County BarAssociation. Tickets are $25.
Registration information is available
from the Dade Bar - (305) 371-2220 -
or the Bar's Public Information and Bar
Services Department - (904) 561-5764.
Voluntary bar representatives have
until January 10 to confirm their partici-
pation in the program.
Osman said a number of other well-
known judges and lawyers will partici-
pate as conference speakers, including
Chief Justice Gerald Kogan, federal
Judges William Hoeveler and Peter Fay,
Broward Chief Judge Dale Ross, retired
See Chiles, page 8
httpDJ/www.FLABAR~org
06...:0.1-o
t0 Boardof Governors; seven elections set
Here are'the contested elections: - * In the Eighth Circuit, seat one, in- * In the 11th Circuit, seat eig
e In the Second Circuit,, seat one, in- cumbent James G. Feiber, Jr., is being Sharon L. Langer of Miami, Andr
cumbent'Jon Whitney of Tallahassee is challenged by Stan Cushman. Both are Needle of Miami andAdam R. Schiffn
being'challenged by Kelly Overstreet, from Gainesville. ofAventura are running to replace re
Johnson of Tallahassee. * In the Ninth Circuit, seat two, Ri- ing board member Dean C. Colson.
o In the Fifth Circuit, seat one, Jean chard H. Adams and Michael P. seat 10, Michael Diaz, Jr., Richard
A. Bice of Ocala and Daniel B. Merritt, McMahon, both from Orlando, are run- Leslie, Arthur Halsey Rice and Nei
Sr., of Bibksville are running to replace ning to succeed retiring board member Robertson' all from Miami, are runn
retiring-board member. Roger L. Rice. Lawrence J. Phalin. to replace retiring board member Sc
:,..'.s ' ' .. T. Haena.
*ht,
rew
man
etir-
For
M.
il P.
ing
cott
* In the 15th Circuit, seat 2, Jerald
S. seer of West PalmBeach and Richard
B. Kay of'Tquesta are running to replace
retiring board member Robert V. Romani.
Elected Unopposed
Twelve incumbent board members
were returned without opposition. They
are: Henry M. Coxe III from Jacksonville
in the Fourth Circuit; Anthony S.
Battaglia from St. Petersburg in the
Sixth Circuit; Herman J. Russomanno,
Manuel R. Morales, Jr., and Edith
Osman, all from Miami, in the 11th Cir-
cuit; John Patterson of Sarasota in the
12th Circuit; Marsha G. Rydberg of
Tampa in the 13th Circuit; David D.
Welch of Pompano Beach, William S.
Spencer of Hollywood and John Hume of
Coral Springs in the 17th Circuit; Louis
B. Vocelle, Jr., of Vero Beach in the 19th
Circuit; and Michael P. Stafford of Gar-
den City, NY for an out-of-state seat.
Three new members were elected
without opposition. They are Mark P.
See Board, page 4
CCR faces legislative ba..le
By Mary Smith Judd
Assistant Editor
State Sen. Charles Williams has prefiled a bill to abolish the Capital Collat-
eral Representative office, saying he wants to shorten the death penalty appeals
process.
Challengers of the bill argue the proposal would further delay the process.
Itjust makes little sense that we fund our state attorneys, we fund our judges,
we fund our court system to the degree
that we do and the Office of Capital Col-.Capial
lateral Representative seems to thwart Cpt
everything that the law calls for in the *., Collateral
way of capital punishment with their Representative
post-conviction, frivolous appeals that. _ Michael
just bog down the court system and de- Minerva was
lay the execution for many years and at - not among
great expense to the people of Florida, those
Williams ad. applying to
The Live Oak Democrat said he does lad the
not want to do away with the mandatory office into the
appeals process provided in both the U.S. 21st Century.
and Florida constitutions, but said re- Story, page
view by the BQard of Clemency and the 16.
Governor provides4proper safeguards in
the law.
The state is responsfible for providing representation only to a point, Williams
said. Once the U.S. Supreme Court has reviewed it and refused to hear it, at that
point, I believe the execution .should be carried out, he said.
Larry Spalding of Tallahaiseedirector 4f.the CCR office from its opening in
1985 until 1993, said the bill reflects a lackof understanding of the appeals pro-
cess.
I don't think he understands the duie process and equal protection needs of
inmates, even those on death row.
Growing Caseload
. Spalding said the office was created because Florida had one of the largest
death row populations in the nation and there were not enough volunteer lawyers
to handle inmates' appeals.
Since 1985 the number of people on death row has almost doubled and there
is no reason to believe that volunteer attorneys could be recruited to handle these
cases, he said. Consequently, if one makes the assumption that the courts will
not execute death-sentenced inmates without attorneys, then everything stops,
which is the exact opposite result that Sen. Williams intends. He seems to believe
that if we don't have attorneys, then valid legal issues can't be raised and people
will be executed much faster.
That's a valid assumption only if the state and federal courts agree that they're
going to execute people without lawyers, which is a position they have adamantly
opposed, Spalding said.
Although critics of the bill fault the senator's approach, many share his frus-
tration.
The Associated Press recently reported 2,998 prisoners nationwide were un-
See CCR, page 16
60.r2
minutes L9-3
with the i ; IJ
Board of
Governors
All members of The Florida Bar are
invited to address the Board of Gover-
nors at 8:30 a.m. on January 10 at Its
Tallahassee meeting. The board will
meet at The Florida Bar Annex.
Please appear at least 10 minutes before
the meeting to sign in.
datory pro bono and the Bar's efforts to
make *voluntary the current mandatory
-pro. bono reporting rule, he added.
The second biggest challenge we face,
in my opinion, is the [upcoming] Consti-
t ~tin Revision Commission - which I
.th~hk will present us with opportunities
49d challenges and we have to be ready
for both, Coker said.
Programs that must be continued, he
said, include programs which improve
the public perception of lawyers, pro-
grams which keep lawyer regulation un-
der the Supreme Court, and new efforts
by the Bar and court to promote profes-
sionalism. Also, I think we must be ever
vigilant in terms of preserving the inde-
pendence of our judiciary, Coker contin-
ued.
I think we need to take a very prag-
matic approach to helping lawyers in
small firms and solo practices. I think
we need to practice the politics of inclu-
sion and not the politics of exclusion.
See Coker, page 2](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.barjournals/flabn0024&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)