The Florida Bar 2024-25 President Roland Sanchez-Medina Jr. visited the Jacksonville Bar Association members meeting Nov. 21.
Born in Cuba, Sanchez-Medina, his sister and parents escaped the Fidel Castro regime and then lived in the then-communist Belgian Congo and later South Africa and Spain before immigrating to the U.S., where his father established an orthopedic surgery practice in Miami.
A 1988 graduate of the University of Miami, Sanchez-Medina received a J.D. from Boston College school of Law in 1991, then an L.L.M. in taxation from New York University School of Law in 1992, the year he was admitted to The Florida Bar.
“We grew up poor in a 400-square-foot apartment, there was no legacy of wealth. Our legacy was to work hard and become educated,” he said.
Sanchez-Medina said he feels at home in Jacksonville with the many friends he has made here during his career and later in his roles in state Bar leadership.
“I was accepted with open arms as a young attorney,” Sanchez-Medina said.
He is a past president of the Cuban American Bar Association and a member of community organizations including the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Miami-Dade County School Board and the Orange Bowl Committee.
Sanchez-Medina was elected to The Florida Bar board of governors a decade ago and is a member of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law, Business Law, and International Law sections.
“The best part of being on the board of governors is the people you meet. Life is abut relationships. A Harvard study shows that stronger, better relationships lead to a longer, healthier life. If that’s true, I’ll live to be 110,” Sanchez-Medina said.
One of the themes of his year as president will be to encourage attorneys to embrace taking care of themselves physically and mentally.
“Check in on yourself. Our profession is relentless and intense to bill the hours and bring in the work. It’s a pressure cooker,” Sanchez-Medina said.