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,

Todd Stone
Broward County Chapter President

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Calendar of Events

February 27, 2008
February Luncheon
Sponsored by the Broward County Chapter
Guest Speaker: Robin Rosenbaum, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Florida
Time: Noon–1:30 p.m.
Location: Riverside Hotel, Fort Lauderdale
Cost: Before Feb. 15: Members of FBA Broward Chapter, $30; Non-Members $35; Members of the Judiciary, $15
After Feb. 15: Members of FBA Broward Chapter, $35; Non-Members $40; Members of the Judiciary, $20
Please RSVP to ctobin@abravermanlaw.com
To obtain the prepaid discount: Please make your check payable to FBA Broward Chapter and mail to Paul Lopez, Esq., Tripp Scott, 110 Southeast 6th Street, 15th Floor, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301-5005. Your check must be received no later than February 15, 2008 to obtain the prepaid discount.

March 27, 2008
March Luncheon
Sponsored by the Broward County Chapter
Guest Speaker: Patricia Seitz, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida
Time: Noon–1:30 p.m.
Location: Riverside Hotel, Fort Lauderdale
Cost: Members of FBA Broward Chapter, $35; Non-Members $40; Members of the Judiciary, $20
Please RSVP to ctobin@abravermanlaw.com

April 18, 2008
GUEST SPEAKER: Alan S. Gold, United States District Judge Southern District of Florida
Time: Noon - 1:30 p.m.
Location: Riverside Hotel, Fort Lauderdale
Cost: If prepayment is received by April 11:
Broward Chapter-Federal Bar Association Members: $30.00; Non-Members: $35.00; Judiciary: $15.00
All registrants after April 11 and all walk-ins:
Broward Chapter-Federal Bar Association Members: $35.00; Non-Members: $40.00; Judiciary: $20.00
RSVP: To reserve your seat, please e-mail your RSVP to ctobin@abravermanlaw.com

To obtain the prepaid discount, please make your check payable to FBA Broward Chapter and mail to Paul Lopez, Esq., Tripp Scott, 110 Southeast 6th Street, 15th Floor, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301-5005. Your check must be received no later than April 11, 2008 to obtain the prepaid discount.

May 21, 2008
Broward County Chapter Annual Installation of Officers and Directors
Featuring Guest Speaker James I. Cohn, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida
Time: Noon–1:30 p.m.
Location: Riverside Hotel, Fort Lauderdale
Cost: If Reservation and Prepayment Received by May 14th—Broward Chapter Federal Bar Association Members: $30.00; Non-Members: $40.00; Judiciary: $20.00. If Reservation Received and Payment Made at the Door—Broward Chapter Federal Bar Association Members: $35.00; Non-Members: $40.00; Judiciary: $20.00
Registration: To reserve your seat, please e-mail your RSVP to ctobin@abravermanlaw.com

            2008-2009 Officers_______
President                  Rene Harrod
President Elect         Eric Gabrielle
Vice President          Paul Lopez
Secretary                  Kim Gilmour
Treasurer                 Lorianne Trewick
Membership Chair Candice Tobin
National Delegate   Greg Ward
Past President          Todd Stone

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Recent Events

During the 2006-2007 year, the Broward County Chapter of the Federal Bar Association has held the following events:

Formal Speaker Luncheon Series:
These events are held at the Riverside Hotel and feature different speakers who present speeches based on topics of interest to federal practitioners. In the Broward FBA Chapter’s 2006-2007 year, to date, these speakers have included the following:R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida;Justin Sayfie, Chair of the Federal Judicial Nominating Conference for the Southern District of Florida;Bruce Rogow, accomplished United States Supreme Court practitioner and law school professor. For April 2007, the scheduled speaker isDavid Nelson, Regional Director of the Southeast Regional Office of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Brown Bag with the Judge Series:
These events are held at the United States Courthouse and feature small-group, informal brown-bag lunches with various members of the federal judiciary. These events are limited in size to 10 to 12 participants and are designed to promote interaction between the federal bar and the judiciary. Preference for participation in these events is given to FBA members. In the Broward FBA Chapter’s 2006-2007 year, to date, these lunches have featured the following members of the federal judiciary:United States District Judge James I. Cohn, andUnited States District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas. For April 2007, the scheduled member of the judiciary isUnited States Magistrate Judge Barry S. Seltzer.

Orientation to United States District Court: An Afternoon at the Federal Courthouse
This program was held in October 2006 at the United States Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, immediately following the administration of the admission test for the Southern District of Florida Bar. The program was designed as an introduction to the unique aspects of practice in federal court, and it featured speeches and question-and-answer sessions with a United States district judge, a United States magistrate judge, a law clerk to a United States district judge, a courtroom deputy to a United States district judge, a member of the Clerk’s Office, and a representative of the United States Marshal’s Service. The program, which was free of charge, also provided one hour of CLE credit.

Other Events
The Broward County Chapter also held a panel discussion at Nova Southeastern Law School, which involved a group of three federal district law clerks, who talked about their jobs, gave tips for those interested in pursuing clerkships, and provided practice tips.

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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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