Broward County Chapter

Officers

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A Message from the Chapter President

The Broward County Chapter of the Federal Bar invites membership from the entire Southern District of Florida, and particularly from Broward County, Northern Miami-Dade County, and Southern Palm Beach County. Our chapter has approximately 150 members from private practice, government service (including agencies, the local federal and state benches, and military branches), and local law schools.

We are committed to serving the needs and providing opportunities contributing to the collegiality and professional growth of the federal bar and bench within the Southern District of Florida. Towards this end, our chapter hosts luncheons with guest speakers of interest to the federal bar and bench community, continuing legal education programs, various opportunities for the federal bar and bench to interact among themselves, and programs aimed at newer members of the federal bar and law students. We invite you to review our Web site regularly for updates regarding our latest programs.

If you have not already done so, we invite you to attend our functions and to join the Federal Bar Association and the Broward County Chapter. The other officers and members of the board and I are also available to answer any questions or address any concerns you may have that may be relevant to our organization. Please do not hesitate to contact us.

We look forward to seeing you at our events.

On Behalf of the Broward County Chapter officers and board of directors,
Rene Harrod
Broward County Chapter President

June 2009 Newsletter
December 2008 Newsletter

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Calendar of Events

July 23, 2009
Broward Chapter Monthly Luncheon Featuring Guest Speaker Magistrate Judge Lurana Snow
Time: Noon - 1:30 p.m.
Location: Riverside Hotel, Fort Lauderdale
Cost: If paid by July 17: FBA members $30, Nonmembers $35, Government attorneys $25, Judiciary & Judicial Law Clerks $15. After July 17: FBA members $35, Nonmembers $40, Government attornets $25, Judiciary & Judicial Law Clerks $20.
Registration: RSVP to lwilliams@bergersingerman.com. Please make checks payable to “FBA Broward Chapter” and mail to Treasurer Lorianne Williams, Esq., Berger Singerman, 350 E. Las Olas Boulevard, Suite 1000, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301. Your check must be received no later than July 17, 2009 to obtain the prepaid discount.

Soliciting Editorial Board Members: The Broward Chapter of the FBA is soliciting volunteers for the inaugral Editorial Board of the chapter's quarterly newsletter. Contribute an article, a column, or assist with layout, article solicitation, or more. Interested? Please contact Gabe Pinilla at gpinilla@wardkim.com

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Recent Events

June 25, 2009
June Luncheon featuring Guest Speaker Bankruptcy Judge Raymond Ray
Riverside Hotel, Ft. Lauderdale
If paid before June 18: Members $30, Non-Members $35, Government attorneys $20; Judiciary and judicial law clerks $15
After June 18: Members $35, Non-Members $40; Government attorneys $25; Judiciary and judicial law clerks $20
RSVP to Treasurer Lorianne Williams, lwilliams@bergersingerman.com

Pictured left to right: judicial law clerk Phil Rothschild, board member Lenny Samuels, and incoming President Eric Gabrielle at a recent monthly luncheon.

June 19, 2009
Summer Associates Day at Court
Time: 8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
All summer associates are welcome to join us for this informative day at federal court. The day features a breakfast with the Court, followed by criminal and civil hearings, a Q&A with representatives of the Federal Public Defender and U.S. Attorney's Office, and a "Legends Luncheon" featuring war stories from some local legends of the courtroom.
FREE to FBA members; $30 non-members
RSVP to Mark.Levy@brinkleymorgan.com

May 27, 2009
All District Judicial Reception following Southern District of Florida Judicial Conference
Riverside Hotel, Ft. Lauderdale, 5:30 p.m. - 7 :30 p.m.

Marra

Pictured left to right: Judge James Cohn and board member Dan Alter at the April 2009 luncheon featuring speaker Judge Kenneth Marra.

Feb-09

Pictured from left to right: FBA guest, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and board member Valorie Chavin at the Feb 2009 luncheon.

First Biennial Southern District of Florida Bench and Bar Conference
Hosted by: The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida &
the South Florida, Broward, and Palm Beach Chapters of the Federal Bar Association
The day-long program allows participants to: earn CLE credits; attend panel, roundtable, and plenary sessions; and, interact with Southern District of Florida judges. The program includes lunch and a concluding reception.
Location: The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa, Hollywood, Florida
Cost: $150 for FBA Members; $185 for Non-Members; $35 for Public Sector Lawyers; Free for Judicial Officers. Only Visa and MC accepted. Sponsorship opportunities are available.
Registration: For required registration and more information visit: www.sfcfba.org

Southern District of Florida Orientation: An Afternoon at the Federal Courthouse
Friday, October 10, 2008
More than 50 attorneys attended this free orientation, which included comments from Honorable William J. Zloch, Honorable Robin S. Rosenbaum, Michael Beck of the office of the Clerk of the Court, and federal judicial clerk Phil Rothschild. The event was organized by Dora Kaufman and Lorianne Williams, both members of the Board of Directors of the Broward chapter.

Pictured are (l to r) Phil Rothschild, clerk to Hon James I. Cohn, Hon. William J. Zloch, Dora Kaufman (Director of Broward FBA), Hon. Robin Rosenbaum, Lorianne Williams (Treasurer, Broward FBA), and Michael Beck of the office of the Clerk of the Court.

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Opportunities

Justice R. Fred Lewis of the Supreme Court of Florida and Broward Circuit Judge David Krathen have asked our organization to participate in the "Justice Teaching" Project currently being implemented by Chief Justice Lewis. The goal of the project is to pair legal professionals (judges, lawyers and other law-related professionals) with every public elementary, middle and high school in the state of Florida, with the professionals to be available to help with classroom visits, teacher conferences, in-service training and other law-related education needs.

Chief Justice Lewis's office will be scheduling one-day training sessions for participating attorneys. After the training, individual attorneys will be asked to speak at a public Broward County middle school (the project will begin with public middle schools). There are to be structured and well-defined speaking and presentation criteria - i.e., activities and lesson plans -- which are to be covered in the training program. When signing up, attorneys are asked to identify any specific public middle school where they would like to speak, and efforts will be made to match attorneys with the schools they select. Attorneys will then continue to serve on an ongoing basis as resources for the classroom and school for which they are selected, with a time commitment of about two (2) hours per month.

Our objective is to have as many interested attorneys sign up to participate in the project as possible. (Sign-up can be accomplished through the Florida Bar Web site (www.flabar.org), and each lawyer's regular Bar-issued Web site password is required). Thank you for supporting this worthwhile endeavor.

Eric Gabrielle
Chair of the Justice Teaching Project

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