Herman J. Russomanno, President of the Florida Bar.

• Author: Pudlow, Jan

"A 48-hour-a-day dynamo with a heart of gold."

After Hurricane Andrew ripped through Miami, rendering his own home unlivable, Herman Russomanno pedaled his bicycle several miles past downed electrical lines and fallen trees to wind-ravaged Palmer Trinity School.

He knew he had to help.

Worrying about theft from the devastated campus after that August 1992 disaster, Russomanno struck an unusual deal.

"On the first Sunday after Andrew, I happened to run into a group of soldiers, so I said, `What's going on, gentlemen?' This was the 82nd Airborne. They basically said they were lost, and they had to set up a perimeter because of the problems in the area. So I said: `Captain, do you know where you're going?' And he said, `Not exactly.'

"I said, "Well, I have a deal for the 82nd Airborne. You can use the school as a shelter, but set up a secure perimeter for us. I don't mind having the whole Airborne there."

And so, the soldiers did just that, with Russomanno bringing them dozens of donuts and coffee in the mornings during their several weeks stay at the school.

"I had to do it," Russomanno explains of pitching in to help the school, even as he dealt with repairs at his own home. "I've always been a person who finds it hard to say `No.'"

Lucky for the lawyers of the Sunshine State, Herman J. Russomanno has said "Yes" to leading The Florida Bar as the next president.

Chuck Baumberger, past president of the Dade County Bar Association and past chair of the Trial Lawyers Section, observed firsthand Russomanno's combination of brilliant lawyering, pro bono service, and community spirit, when they served together on Palmer Trinity's board and had to deal with Andrew's destruction of the school.

"He negotiated so that there was a stream of money coming in immediately, and he was able not only to get a replacement of the buildings, but he was able to get the lost income stream from the school started and just did a fantastic job," Baumberger recalls.

"That the school is alive and well and thriving today is no small thing."

Those who know Russomanno know that he's more than busy--he's busy doing good things. Besides serving in leadership capacities in the Bar and participating in 18 other law-related groups, Russomanno has found time to help his community, including the National Conference for Community and Justice, the Boy Scouts of America, Habitat for Humanity, and the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. He's been a trustee of universities and a leader of university advisory boards, school booster clubs and the boys baseball leagues, and he has helped St. Thomas University get its law school accredited.

"The quintessential Boy Scout," is how Steve Zack, president of the Bar in 1989, describes Russomanno.

"He has more merit badges than anyone I know. He really personifies the qualities of professionalism courses that are taught in law schools and our CLE courses. First and foremost, he is totally ethical. And he is, frankly, indefatigable, limitless in his energy ... I think Herman operates on a different clock. He finds 48 hours in the day to be a great lawyer."

How Russomanno squeezes so much into his life was demonstrated during a break in the October Board of Governors meeting. He was supposed to be taking a leisurely diversion from Bar business, strolling with the group down Boston's Freedom Trail, sightseeing historic spots.

But there was Russomanno, wearing his warm-up suit, cell phone pressed to his ear, chatting away while walking two or three miles and attempting to settle a complex commercial case with Florida lawyers.

Board member Mickey Cummings couldn't help but good-naturedly razz the incoming Bar president for his tireless drive to take care of business. She dialed his number. As he picked up the phone, he was facing Cummings, who grinned and let out a cheery: "Hello, Herman!"

Later, when Cummings, her husband, and board member Hank Coxe lost the rest of the group, she called Russomanno.

"He didn't know where they were because he was so absorbed in what he was doing," Cummings laughs.

That's Russomanno, a 50-year-old dynamo, packing all he can into a day, going to bed well after midnight, and rising before dawn.

Juggling a zillion things, he serves in leadership roles in a variety of good causes, runs his Miami law firm, plays baseball, laughs with friends and, most important of all, has time for his family.

Colleagues are in awe of his seemingly endless supply of energy and dedication.

"Really, there are three Herman Russomannos. There's just not enough time in the day for all that he does," says board member Miles McGrane III, who met Russomanno in 1972 on their first day of law school at Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.

"My photo idea is to have Herman in a blur. That is the true Herman Russomanno, a blur going from appointment to appointment and meeting to meeting."

Rep. John Cosgrove, D-Miami, who also went to law school with Russomanno, shares this historic perspective: "Herman has always been very energetic. You could almost comically say he isn't much different now than 25 years ago.... He looks the same and acts the same. Most of us have slowed down after 25 years. But Herman has the fountain-of-youth answer."

Russomanno just shrugs: "If I'm sleeping, I don't know what's going on."

And if he's awake, you can bet no time is wasted.

While dining at the Miami City Club with a panoramic view of the condo-studded coastline, Russomanno excuses himself from the table, and in a few minutes comes back to focus on his plate of mahi mahi and announces: "I just settled a case."

His wife, Sally, who teaches pre-kindergarten at St. Louis Catholic School in Miami, says with a laugh: "See, I told you he's so productive!"

What kind of president of the Bar will her husband make?

"I know he'll give his heart and soul," she says. "He's a perfectionist. He still talks about the only B he got in college. Always had to be the best. I said, `Get over it, Herman! That was 30 years ago!'"

Family First

In his hustle-and-bustle agenda as an outstanding board certified trial lawyer and community and bar leader, there's no question that his family--Sally, and sons Herman III (better known as "H") and Christopher--comes first.

"The stories he would tell us about how he had to run through airports and drive all night just to be with us! My dad has always been there for my brother and me," says 20-year-old Christopher, attending Elon College in North Carolina on scholarships for both varsity football (wide receiver) and golf.

"From the first time that I could remember, he was teaching us sports, and making us read books, even when we did not want to. He used to work with us so hard in sports, no matter what time it was or how tired he was, and he always made time to teach us to be the best. He came to all of our games no matter what sport it was, and he always made time to be our coach."

Older son Herman, who is a senior business major at St. Thomas and who recently returned with his baseball team from the NAIA College World Series in Idaho, plans to go to law school and follow in his father's footsteps.

"In working with my dad and his law partner, Mr. Borrello, I see that their law firm represents some of the poorest people and some of the wealthiest people and corporations in Florida--every age group, gender, nationality, and race. It's given me a chance to see how lawyers help people."

And he has learned so much from his father.

"My dad has devoted himself to helping my brother and me reach our educational goals and successfully compete in high school and college sports," says Herman III. "He's the ultimate teacher and coach. He enjoys helping people, whether he's teaching me to switch hit in baseball at age six or working with me to build homes for Habitat for Humanity in San Diego, Chicago, Homestead, and other cities."

At St. Thomas University, where Russomanno recently received an honorary doctor of laws...