Your Board of Governors.

• Author: White, John G., III
• Position: Florida - President's page

The holidays are a time of giving. But the season of giving is yearlong for the members of The Florida Bar Board of Governors. Studying voluminous documents, information, and thick notebooks of board materials, they dedicate a significant number of hours a month to their work as elected governors. They are not reimbursed for expenses to attend six meetings a year.

I wish there was sufficient space in this article to tell you about all 52 board members and their hard work, dedication, and commitment to The Florida Bar. Unfortunately, there is not enough space, but I would like to tell you a little bit about a few members of our board.

What prompts them to give of their time and energy to deal with Bar business that includes enforcing violation of the unlicensed practice of law, reviewing grievance cases, handling ethics opinions and appeals, recruiting nominees for judicial nominating commissions, and serving as liaisons to Bar committees?

"There is only one reason Bar service is worthwhile to me. It is the same reason I decided to become a lawyer. At the end, I want to know that the world is a little bit better because of me," said senior board member, David Rothman, a former prosecutor who is now a partner in a three-person Miami criminal defense firm.

"Being a member of the Board of Governors is not just an honor, but an opportunity to help our community, the profession, and the lawyers of Florida. It is why for every year of my service on the board, I have served on the one Bar committee dedicated to discipline, the Discipline Review Committee," added Rothman.

"Every calling is great when greatly pursued, and I can think of no greater calling than serving on the Board of Governors," said Mayanne Downs, a partner at the six-lawyer litigation firm of King, Blackwell, Downs & Zehnder in Orlando, in the Ninth Circuit.

"Being surrounded by those who excel in both public service and their own profession is an ever-constant source of knowledge and inspiration. We are such a large state now, and our profession reflects increasingly not only ethnic and gender diversity, but also the more subtle diversity of geography, culture, and thought. Being a member of that group, and having the chance to participate in the consideration, debate, and formulation of policy issues is an honor and a privilege. I wouldn't trade my time on the board for anything," added Downs.

Gwynne Young, a shareholder, civil litigator, and certified arbitrator at Carlton...