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Dear Trial Lawyers Section Members:

The Trial Lawyers Section of The Florida Bar wishes to amend Article I, Section 2 of its bylaws to bring them into line with what we perceive to be our actual mission and mandates.  For years, we have reported to the Council of Sections and to our members and the public at large that we are committed to preserving and promoting access to courts, preserving and protecting the independence of the judicial branch, and promoting and encouraging diversity and inclusion in our section and in The Florida Bar.

The proposed amendments add to and do not diminish the purposes already articulated in Article I, Section 2 of our current bylaws.  A copy of Article I, Section 2, in legislative format with deletions stricken through and additions underlined is attached to this correspondence.

In accordance with Standing Board Policy 5.52, below is a brief statement of the reasons for each substantive proposed change to Article 1, Section 2:

1. Current subsections (b) through (f) were revised and in some instances made more succinct and are now contained in subsections (b), (d), (f), (k), and (l).
2. Proposed subsection (c) is a codification of the goal of our annual flagship Advanced Trial Advocacy program that seeks to expand trial abilities beyond mere knowledge and preparation.
3. Proposed subsections (e) and (h) explicitly express what we have always done and form what we believe should be among our primary missions as a section.  The concepts set forth in these two subsections are also often the main focus of our lobbying efforts in Tallahassee.
4. Proposed subsections (g) and (i) are foundational principles that we believe should be codified in our bylaws.  They both relate directly to the goal of increasing the integrity of lawyers and to improving the public’s perception of lawyers.

On September 19, 2020, the Executive Council of the Trial Lawyers Section approved the proposed amendments for submittal to The Florida Bar and the Board of Governors by a unanimous vote.

As a member of the Trial Lawyers Section, we are requesting your input on the Bylaw revisions proposed above. Please complete the form below to submit you comments, suggestions, concerns, or additional feedback.

Please review the proposed revisions and submit your feedback by December 11th, 2020 through the links below:

Proposed Bylaws Revisions – Trial Lawyers Section

Submit Feedback Here

Sincerely,
Wiley Hicks
Chair, Trial Lawyers Section