On Friday, Jan. 6, 2012, Gwen S. Cherry Black Women Lawyers Assoc. (GSCBWLA) brought in the New Year with its first General Membership meeting of 2012 with our Florida Bar President, Mr. Scott Hawkins, as the featured speaker. The luncheon was held at Noon at the Capital Grille on Brickell Ave. in Miami.
The meeting was attended by almost 50 guests, including 11 judges, the Miami-Dade County Public Defender, Mr. Carlos Martinez, as well as bar presidents from Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. Bar Assoc. (Nicole Ellis), Cuban America Bar Assoc. (Victoria Mendez) and the Haitian Lawyers Assoc. (Marie Jo Toussaint). The President’s message on court funding, service to community and family and merit retention was extremely well received. He also discussed the quality of the incoming leaders of the Florida Bar, Ms. Gwynne A. Young (Pres.-elect) and Mr. Eugene K. Pettis (Pres.-elect Designate). With the cloud of the obvious issues related to court funding looming, the dialogue from the group was very concerning at times. Mr. Hawkins was careful to give serious thought before responding to an array of questions on the subject and whether legislation was slated to help resolve the long-standing funding issues.
Gwen S. Cherry Black Women Lawyers Assoc. is very proud of this event and looks forward to reaching out to the Florida Bar in the future so that its members continue to have first-hand knowledge about the issues all Florida attorneys need to be cognizant of.
Kymberlee Curry Smith, Esq.