Annual Reports of Florida Bar sections and divisions.

Administrative Law

The Administrative Law Section had another great year thanks to the work of the section members and executive council. The section started the year on a good note by adding Daniel Nordby and Michael Cooke to the executive council. Michael Cooke is general counsel at the Florida Public Service Commission and chairs the section's Public Utility Law Committee. Daniel Nordby practices at Ausley McMullen, P.A., and chairs the section's Web page committee. Through Daniel's good work the section has improved its Web page and plans more improvements. We also welcomed Cathy Sellers as the section's new treasurer and Rhonda Chung DeCambre Stroman as our YLD liaison. And Larry Sellers was tricked yet again into serving as our Board of Governors liaison.

The executive council voted to move to a bi-annual schedule for the Pat Dore Administrative Law Conference, and, therefore, the conference was not held in the 2007-2008 year. Expect the conference to be back in October 2008. Conference Chair Seann Frazier and CLE Chair Scott Boyd will certainly put on an excellent program. This year the section teamed up with the Environmental and Land Use Law Section to produce the very popular Practice Before DOAH CLE. We had tremendous attendance thanks to the efforts of Scott Boyd, Wellington Meffert, the many speakers and "actors," and the ELULS folks. This CLE takes many hours of preparation and the section greatly benefits from the hard work of all the volunteers. And special thanks go to Chief Judge Bob Cohen and the DOAH staff for hosting the mock hearing. Continuing the section's series of practice-based CLEs, Michael Cooke and Cindy Miller chaired the Practice Before the PSC CLE in January 2008. This CLE was very well attended thanks to their hard work.

This year the section added a new legislative position stating that the section "[s]upports adequate funding of DOAH and other existing state administrative dispute resolution forums in order to ensure efficient resolution of administrative disputes." This new legislative position grew out of broader concerns by The Florida Bar over adequate funding for the courts. Our Legislative Committee of Bill Williams, Linda Rigot, and Wellington Meffert continues to monitor legislation and works to protect the core principals of Ch. 120 that all APA lawyers value.

At the executive council retreat this year, the council voted to develop a pro bono project to help clients with hearings involving the Agency for Persons with Disabilities. The section will be working with legal aid attorneys to provide training on how to try a case at DOAH, and developing a referral system to provide pro bono representation to indigent clients who have been denied services.

At the retreat, the section also began a project to develop recommendations for proposed amendments to the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure related to administrative proceedings. Administrative Law Judge Linda Rigot is leading a committee of long-time administrative law practitioners who will draft proposed amendments.

After years of service, Elizabeth McArthur stepped aside as editor of the section newsletter to focus on her duties as chair-elect of the section. While Elizabeth's stewardship of the newsletter will be missed, Donna Blanton has taken over as editor and is continuing the tradition of turning out excellent newsletters.

Andy Bertron, Chair

Appellate Practice

Who's your appellate lawyer? If you have one, chances are they are members of the Appellate Practice Section. If you don't, the Appellate Practice Section is the first place to look. Serving the interest of all practitioners with an interest in appellate law and practice, the section serves the needs of appellate lawyers and judges alike. From the presentation of seminars and the publication of articles to the sponsorship of events facilitating the interaction between the Bar and the bench, the section provides services to 1,300 lawyers across Florida. And we throw a good party as well!

This year, our section is very proud of the completion of our most ambitious and important project to date, the Pro Se Appellate Handbook. Starting from an idea nurtured by Tom Hall, clerk of the Florida Supreme Court, the handbook is designed to guide pro se appellants through the maze of the appellate court system. Although in a perfect world, every litigant would be represented on appeal, the unfortunate fact is that thousands of litigants are unrepresented in our appellate courts. Most, if not all, of these litigants need help with the basics. What do I file, and when and where must I file it? What goes in my brief? In the past, pro se litigants have directed these questions to appellate and trial court clerks who had little in the way of resources to offer much guidance.

The pro se handbook will change all that. A comprehensive guide to the appellate process, the handbook will be available at law libraries, prison libraries, and clerk's offices around the state. The handbook is also available to anyone with access to the Internet. Through a generous grant from The Florida Bar Foundation, the handbook is being translated into Spanish and Creole French and is being made ADA-compliant. Thus, the handbook will be accessible by virtually any pro se litigant in Florida. To see or print the handbook, simply go to the section's Web site, www.flabarappellate.org.

The handbook is the product of hundreds of hours of work by members of the section. Dorothy F. Easley served as chair of the subcommittee in charge of its production and served as editor-in-chief, assisted by Kimberly Jones as vice chair and co-editors Caryn L. Bellus, Susan W. Fox, Siobhan Helene Shea, and committee liaisons Tom Hall and Harvey Sepler. The list of authors and other contributors is too numerous to name here. Members of the section have performed an important service with this project, and our hope is that it will be a model for other sections working to serve the needs of the unrepresented.

The section has several important upcoming events. Of course, the annual meeting in Boca Raton approaches. Section committee meetings and the meeting of the executive counsel will be held on Thursday, June 19. Later that afternoon, the section will cosponsor the annual Conversation with the Court, in which the court convenes live to answer questions from the audience. Our signature event, the Annual Dessert Reception, follows later that evening. All of you are invited.

In July, the section will sponsor its most successful CLE program, the Appellate Practice Workshop on July 30 through August 1, at Florida Coastal Law School in Jacksonville. The seminar is an amazing opportunity for appellate practitioners to work with and learn from appellate judges and expert appellate advocates from around the state. Participants prepare by writing a short brief, which is critiqued by an appellate judge. Judges and lawyers then present a program on various topics of interest ranging from legal writing to appellate procedure. The grand finale is the presentation of oral arguments by the participants, followed by immediate feedback from the court. The program always gets rave reviews and, if you have not participated in it yet, plan on participating this year.

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The section's outreach programs continue to be successful. Local groups of appellate practitioners and judges are meeting around the state, including groups in Hillsborough, Orange, Leon, and Sarasota counties. If you are interested in forming such a group, please let us know.

The section presents numerous first-class CLE seminars throughout the year under the able guidance of Betsy Gallagher, assisted by Matt Conigliaro. Every third Tuesday of the month, we present an informal seminar by telephone conference. Simply grab lunch, sit at your desk, earn some CLE credits, and learn from appellate judges and lawyers about timely topics. Other seminars include presentations on Practicing Before the Fifth DCA, the E. Earl Zimmer Practice Before the First DCA Seminar, seminars on appellate aspects of family law, administrative law, and criminal law, hot topics, and federal appellate practice. Information on any of our seminars is always available on the Web site, www.flabarappellate.com.

The section's publications this year continue to be overseen by Caryn Bellus, publications chair. Jack Reiter continues to serve as editor of our own publication, The Record: Journal of the Appellate Practice Section. The Record contains a lively mix of scholarly articles, judicial profiles, and book reviews, as well as recounting the social and other gatherings of the section.

Next year the reins are passed to Siobhan Shea, incoming chair, and Dorothy Easley, chair-elect. The section will indeed be in good hands. Last, but certainly not least, we thank our Bar liaison, Carolyn Shovlain, who has done a wonderful job of filling the shoes of our long-time liaison, Austin Newberry. Carolyn, we welcome you! STEVE BRANNOCK, Chair

Business Law

The Florida Bar Business Law Section, with nearly 4,800 members, had another phenomenal year thanks to the enthusiasm and tireless energy of the members of the section's various committees, the section's outstanding lobbyist, William B. Wiley, and the members of the section's executive council. It's a great time to get involved in the Business Law Section, whether to gain further substantive knowledge in your area of practice or to build your network of attorneys around the state to share ideas and business.

Executive Council and Committees. We again grew the executive council this year to bring you more value through the input of younger lawyers, professors, and judges, as well as attorneys from the many geographic regions of our state. We maintained the position of judicial chair in connection with four of the section's committees: Bankruptcy/UCC (Judge Catherine P. McEwen, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of...

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