It has been another successful year for The Jacksonville Bar Association Young Lawyers Section.
I am humbled to be taking over as president and to follow in the footsteps of Michael Fox Orr.
For those of you who do not know Michael, you should add him to your "to meet" list. He is truly a gem in our legal community and someone who, despite his youth, has already accomplished a lot.
Michael has developed a tremendous reputation as an attorney and leader, and I am certain he will continue to achieve even greater accomplishments in the future.
On a personal note, he is a true friend to me and to the entire YLS board. I think I write for the whole board in saying "thank you" for your service and leadership. We will miss you.
I suspect Michael will look back at the 2012-13 year as one of the proudest years in his practice of law and no doubt in his personal life.
Most notably, in January Michael and his wife, Eileen, welcomed their first child, Michael Fox Orr II.
In addition to serving as president of The Jacksonville Bar YLS, Michael has been a long-time member and officer of The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division. This past year, he was elected to serve as president-elect of The Florida Bar division.
The good news is that while Michael has finished his term as president for the local YLS, he will continue to lead and represent all of us on the state level.
One of his most noteworthy achievements for The JBA YLS this past year was reviving the YLS Golf Tournament after a several-year hiatus.
Under Michael's leadership, the golf tournament was held in October at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club Ocean Course and had a record number of golfers.
The golf tournament was a tremendous success and raised a substantial amount of money for Catholic Charities of Jacksonville.
All the while, Michael has continued to grow his practice and the Dawson Orr law firm, try several cases and serve on multiple committees and boards on the local and state level.
Thankfully for his clients, his level of success in the courtroom this past year has far exceeded the level of success the Dawson Orr team achieved in The JBA Sports League this year.
As the incoming president, I am fortunate Michael has built a tremendous amount of momentum for the YLS and left a great group of officers and board members to work with.
I am proud to call Pat Kilbane, Lindsay Tygart, and Christian George my fellow officers.
Our plan for this year is to continue to build on existing YLS programs and to expand our efforts to increase our active membership.
The YLS board will participate in a planning retreat in mid-July where we will discuss our goals for the year and make appointments for committees for the coming year.
If you or someone you know would like to become involved with the YLS, please email me at [email protected], or any of the board members above, and we will be happy to help you become involved.
There are projects and committees of every size, and I promise we will endeavor to find a group or committee that fits your interest and time constraints.
With the start of a new (Bar) year, I say "happy new year" to all of you!
There's no need to wait until 2014 to make a new year's resolution about becoming more involved in the Bar.
The time is now, and I extend to you a personal invitation to join us.