In memoriam: William O.E. Henry.

• Author: Harkness, Jr., John F.
• Position: Former president, The Florida Bar and Florida Bar Foundation - Obituary

It was with great sadness that I learned William O. E. Henry--former president of both The Florida Bar and Florida Bar Foundation, a Holland & Knight lawyer for more than half a century, a champion of the poor, and an Eagle Scout extraordinaire--died March 11 after complications from a lung disorder.

Bill was always a caring and giving person, as well as an outstanding lawyer, Bar leader, and dedicated Gator. And while he had a passion for justice, that intensity was always accompanied by a dry sense of humor and a congenial smile.

Henry, 77, of Maitland, was one of the six original associates of what was then Holland, Bevis and McRae in Bartow. Twenty-one years ago, he opened Holland & Knight's Orlando office, after heading the Lakeland office, and retired in January 2005 after 51 years of a distinguished career as a tax lawyer. He died before the firm dedicated a conference room in his name on the SunTrust Tower's 30th floor.

As Bar president in 1983-84, I remember he strongly encouraged his lawyer colleagues to take on the cases of death row inmates on a pro bono basis because no state money was available. Why? He stated it quite succinctly in a 1983 Bar Journal column: "We do a pretty good job with our efforts to improve the administration of justice, but the public thinks the judicial system is not working. They blame the system because it is failing to carry out the death penalty. The Bar has no role in the social and political decision creating the death penalty, but once it is law, the Bar has a responsibility to see that it is carried out."

Though the idea was unpopular at the time, Henry convinced large law firms to handle at least one pro bono case representing a death row inmate. I don't think those firms would have heeded the request if they had not respected Bill tremendously.

As president of The Florida Bar Foundation in 1988, Henry lobbied for mandatory funding to provide legal services for the poor, and succeeded the following year when the Florida Supreme Court made mandatory the IOTA program requiring lawyers to donate interest from...