Becoming a Better Legal Community by Working Together

 

Thurs. August 1, 2019 \ by The Honorable Eric H. DuBois \ Articles, News

Judicial Relations Committee // “Becoming a Better Legal Community by Working Together” by The Honorable Eric H. DuBois // The Briefs, August 2019 Vol. 87 No. 7. //

What a year it was for the Judicial Relations Committee! I would like to thank all of the committee and voluntary bar chairs for their participation this past year.

The Judicial Relations Committee was created to serve as a conduit between members of the bar and the judiciary where concerns, ideas, and criticisms can be shared in a comfortable setting that invites open and frank conversations. That is exactly what we did this past year. At each meeting, the administrative judges gave a quick report on issues or changes in their specific division, and the chief judge addressed issues that impacted the circuit as a whole. Throughout the year, we discussed ways to streamline and make the court process more efficient without sacrificing the level of service provided to members of the bar as well as the public.

As we all are aware, a major topic that attorneys wanted to discuss was the very difficult decision in 2018 to close our Business Court. More importantly, the committee focused its efforts on making the community aware of our need for a new circuit judge and how members of the bar could help influence the decision makers in Tallahassee. As you know, the circuit was able to get a new judgeship, the first in more than a decade, and, with that, Business Court will reopen. Thank you! This was a total team effort, and we could not have achieved it without the help of the Judicial Relations Committee members.

We also presented a program for Court Administration on the social media outlets the Ninth Circuit uses to help disseminate information about court closures and emergencies, as well as information related to our judiciary, programs for the community, employment openings, and upcoming events.

I leave the committee in the capable hands of chair Mary Ann Etzler, Esq., and vice-chair the Honorable Martha Adams, who have tremendous ideas and goals for the committee. I encourage you, and every member of the OCBA and local voluntary bar, to listen to the meetings this year by calling 1-800-346-8020 Code 772589# and share your ideas. We will only become a better legal community when we all work together.

  

The Honorable Eric H. DuBois is a county court judge in the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court. He has been a member of the OCBA since 2000.