Happy New Year, readers. I hope your holidays were wonderful. Much is going on this time of year. The Professionalism Luncheon will be held on February 9, 2012, at the Heritage Isle Club in Viera. Our guest speaker will be former Florida Supreme Court Justice, Harry Lee Anstead.
Mock trial competitions will be held on Tuesday, February 21st, Thursday, February 23rd and on Saturday, February 25th. The championship round will be on Saturday, February 25th at 11:00 a.m. Board Member Phil Zies is looking for attorneys to judge the competition, so if you would like to help out, please give him a call. Law Day is coming up on Wednesday, May 2nd. Thank you to all who have made these wonderful events possible: annual sponsor Mercedes-Benz Porsche Audi of Melbourne; Funk,Szachacz, and Diamond, LLC; Fowler, Brink and Fowler; and Board Members Alan Diamond, Philip Zies, Leslile Castaldi, and Jay Fowler.
Also, please note on your calendar that the date of our Spring CLE has been changed. The new date is Friday, May 11, 2012. Erwin Chemerinsky, lawyer and Dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Law, will speak to us about recent United States Supreme Court decisions. Please register as soon as possible as seating is limited.
For those of you who have not heard, the Brevard County Bar Association has a mentoring committee. Should you need some advice or just someone to bounce an idea off of, do not hesitate to call a member of the committee or a member of the bar. Just last month, one of my cases took an unexpected turn, so I sent out an email requesting some information from a bar member. What I received back was an offer to help, which I immediately accepted. I encourage all of our members to lend and receive a hand when needed,
I also invite all of our members to attend the Annual Brevard Legal Aid Gala on Friday, February 17th at the Suntree Country Club. As you know, Legal Aid provides legal services to persons who many not be otherwise able to afford representation. As the prosperity decreases, the demand for free and reduced cost legal services increases. If you can volunteer, please do so. It all begins with a telephone call to bar member Robert Johnson who is also the Executive Director of Legal Aid.
Lastly, our friend, colleague , and bar member Jack Hendren, who had been quietly and heroically battling cancer, passed away in January 2012. Jack will be missed by us all.
As the holiday season winds down, I encourage you all to slow down just a little and appreciate the many blessings that you have.