Speak up! Engage!(Florida Bar) (President's page)

• Author: Schifino, William J., Jr.

As Election Day approaches, I urge all of us to get engaged. We can't sit on the sidelines. Too much is at stake.

Particularly in this tight presidential race in our swing state of Florida, the politics have been wildly polarizing. I've heard too many people say, "Well, I'm just not voting for either candidate."

That seems like a cop-out to me. Pick a horse and ride it, and you should have good reasons to back up your choice. Whoever your candidate may be, articulate why, be sure to vote, and, armed with knowledge, help others make informed choices.

I like to think of us lawyers as "thought leaders." Our friends and peers look to us for guidance and rely on our opinions.

Voice your opinions thoughtfully and carefully. If you believe in someone --on the local, state, and national level--get behind high-quality candidates and speak up and support them.

As lawyers, we have a civic responsibility to lead. Lawyers play a significant role in our democratic society.

In the Florida Legislature, during 2014-16, 34 out of 120 members of the House of Representatives are lawyers; and 11 out of 40 senators are lawyers.

Consider that 25 out of 44 presidents of the United States were/are lawyers. Sixty-eight percent of vice presidents and 78 percent of secretaries of state have been lawyers.

A recent study by Nick Robinson, a visiting lecturer at Yale Law School, shows that lawyers once dominated Congress, but the numbers are declining. In 1890, about one out of every 265 lawyers was a current member of Congress, while today one out of every 6,000 lawyers is a current member of Congress.

So the list of lawyers participating in the political arena is shrinking.

When I sit back and think of ways in which we lawyers can make a difference, it is by continuing to lead at all levels.

For those of you interested in politics, get involved. It doesn't mean, necessarily, that you are the one declaring your...