Sections and Divisions of The Florida Bar.

Administrative Law

This millennium year presented the Administrative Law Section with new challenges and with many opportunities to engage in activities important to the theory and practice of administrative law.

First District Court of Appeal Judge Bob Benton sought the section's formal input on a draft of an administrative appellate rule relating to stays, an issue that has vexed all three branches of government in recent years. The executive council offered Judge Benton its suggestions, and the rule, which will bring uniformity and order to this issue, was referred to the Appellate Rules Committee of The Florida Bar for review and ultimate consideration for adoption by the Florida Supreme Court.

The Administrative Law Section has launched its law student writing contest, the Pat Dore Administrative Law Essay Competition. The section solicited law student submissions on administrative law topics, including constitutional issues in administrative law or processes, from among the law schools in the state. The section hopes that this effort not only will foster interest in administrative law among Florida's law student population, but also will strengthen the relationships between the section and Florida law schools. The competition carries cash prizes, and the section plans to submit the winning entry to The Florida Bar Journal to consider for publication.

In the publications arena, the section concentrated on reinvigorating its quarterly newsletter, and garnering submissions to The Florida Bar Journal. The section solicited article topics from the executive council for the newsletter and Journal, and hopes that a standing list of topics for future articles can be maintained and offered to interested authors.

Several years ago, concerns about the availability and long term retention of administrative orders led to a legislative interim project which set a uniform standard for indexing, retaining, and making available agency administrative orders. That effort has been largely successful. The section is examining, however, whether orders are indeed universally available as intended, and whether there may still be gaps in indexing and research administrative orders.

In the CLE category, the Administrative Law Section presented its most important conference, the 2000 Pat Dore Administrative Law Conference, in Tallahassee on April 13 and 14. Like the essay competition, this most significant conference is named in memory of the much-beloved Professor Pat Dore of the Florida State University College of Law. In addition to being a highly regarded expert in administrative law, Pat was active in the work of the Administrative Law Section and particularly in the section's Administrative Law Conference. As when Pat helped shape the weighty agendas of the Administrative Law Conference, the Pat Dore Conference engaged discussions at a sophisticated level of topical and cutting-edge administrative law issues. The tremendous success of the conference was a tribute to the hard work of its organizers and speakers, as well as to the interested conference attendees. As part of the Pat Dore Conference, the section honored the justices of the Florida Supreme Court, the judges of the First District Court of Appeal, and the administrative law judges of the Division of Administrative Hearings.

As it has in the past, the section availed itself of opportunities to engage in a dialogue with legislators and key legislative staff about issues important to administrative practitioners, both from the public and private perspective. The section's role in fostering effective legislative relationships will become increasingly important when the "eight is enough" legislative term limitations commence in advance of the 2001 legislative session. The section is preparing for a long range planning retreat in part to craft a strategic plan for dealing with this unprecedented turnover in the legislative ranks, and for effectively participating in the most important administrative law "process": the legislative one.

Finally, the Administrative Law Section is preparing for the sixth edition of its practice manual, Florida Administrative Practice, a joint project of the CLE Publications Department of The Florida Bar and the Administrative Law Section. This excellent publication is a comprehensive, one-volume desk reference for practitioners of administrative law.

The section thanks our valued section administrator, Jackie Werndli, for her tireless assistance and patience. The section is fortunate to have an active and able executive council which has been primarily responsible for the "heavy lifting" of the past year. Of course, those efforts were aided immeasurably by the section's membership of administrative law practitioners--both public and private sector--who have a keen interest in the field of administrative law. I am privileged to be associated with the Administrative Law Section of The Florida Bar, and it has been a true honor to serve as its chair.

DAN R. STENGLE Chair

Appellate Practice

This past year has been an eventful and productive one for the Appellate Practice Section.

* CLE--In July, the section held its second Florida appellate practice seminar at Stetson University School of Law. This three-day seminar, which teaches the fundamentals of appellate advocacy and focuses on improving brief writing and oral argument skills, has been extremely well received by practitioners at all levels of experience. Florida appellate judges from all five district courts and the Supreme Court gave both class and one-on-one instruction. Attendance at this seminar earns the attorney-student approximately 20 CLE credits. Executive council member Tom Hall conceived the idea for this seminar and, along with a dedicated committee, has organized and coordinated it each year. The seminar will be presented for a third time July 26-28, 2000.

In October, the section's CLE committee, headed by Jack Aiello, developed and presented a brand new seminar, What Do You Mean I Didn't Preserve the Issue? This very successful seminar was cosponsored with the Trial Lawyers Section and was attended by both appellate and trial attorneys.

* Programs--In November, the section sponsored the regional moot court competition hosted by Nova Southeastern Shepard Broad Law Center. Robert Glazier, with the help of a committee that included Nova professor Michael Richmond, organized and coordinated this new section event. Teams from South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida law schools competed to attend the finals in New York. The November semifinals marked the first time in a dozen years that the regionals were held in Florida (and not Georgia).

The section once again sponsored its instructive Discussion with the Florida Supreme Court at The Florida Bar Annual Meeting in Boca Raton and invited all to receive their "just desserts" at the annual Appellate Practice Section dessert reception. Caryn Bellus-Lewis and other members of the Programs Committee planned and coordinated these two successful events.

* Publications--This year the section published four informative issues of its journal, The Record, under the editorial direction of Kim Staffa Mello. We also published the latest edition of the Florida Appellate Practice Guide, which contains information about the section as well as information about Florida's appellate courts and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Court information includes court histories, internal operating procedures, and biographical sketches of the appellate judges. The Publications Committee also submitted several articles for publication in The Florida Bar Journal, one of which was a point-counterpoint article on the proposed change to Rule 9.130(3)(C)(iv) of the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure. Another was the very popular article written by Susan Fox, "Citation Form: Getting it Right."

* First Section Retreat--In April, the section held its first retreat at the Indian River Plantation Marriott on Hutchinson Island. The purpose of the retreat was to plan for the section's short and long term futures. The section's officers, executive council members, and committee chairs met on Friday evening for a reception followed by a dinner with Judge Philip Padovano of the First District as guest speaker. Saturday was an all-day planning session with a facilitator, and Sunday morning everyone got together one last time for an informal breakfast that included family and guests. The section's administrator, Austin Newberry, ably assisted the Retreat Committee in coordinating this event. The section will spend the remainder of 2000 and the next few years implementing the plans formed at this retreat.

LUCINDA A. HOFMANN Chair

Business Law

The Business Law Section represents over 4,000 business lawyers throughout the state. Members are engaged in a wide variety of legal practice areas including antitrust and unfair trade practices, bankruptcy and creditors rights, business litigation, corporate and securities, financial services, and intellectual property. The section serves as a forum for the discussion and exchange of ideas focused on improving laws relating to business issues and providing education and professional development for business lawyers. It is also very active in the legislative arena. We review, monitor, and comment upon just about every piece of proposed Florida legislation related to business issues. In the last several years, our section has played a major role in the enactment of many new statutes that govern corporations, partnerships, commercial transactions, LLCs, and LLPs, including drafting the legislation working with legislators and various governmental agencies and testifying before legislative committee hearings.

In addition to our legislative agenda, the section has always been involved in a wide range of projects and activities. We have undertaken projects to assist in the acquisition of upgraded facilities for various courts and...