The Business Law Section of The Florida Bar, organized in 1970, serves Florida lawyers, judges and the faculty of its law schools. Its members share a common interest in laws affecting Florida's businesses, including corporate, contract, bankruptcy, franchise, antitrust, securities, and intellectual property law. The Section also addresses the process for resolving business disputes in Florida, including commercial litigation and alternative dispute resolution.

The mission of the Pro Bono Committee is

To achieve 100% participation in Pro Bono Service by Business Law Section members and attorneys in their firms

December 2011, from the Legal Opinion Standards Committee

The "Report on Third Party Legal Opinion Customary Practice in Florida, dated December 3, 2011" is now available. To obtain a copy, click here.
 

Chair's Message from Mindy A. Mora

August 2011

Welcome, to the Business Law Section ("BLS") of The Florida Bar.  It is my honor and privilege to serve as the Chair of the BLS for 2011-2012 program year.  On behalf of our Chair-Elect Brian Gart, our Secretary-Treasurer Steph Nagin, and the Executive Council of the BLS, I encourage all BLS members (there are nearly 5,000 of you out there) to become active in your Section, by joining a committee or a task force, working on a project, or simply attending a BLS meeting.  For those of you who are unable to attend our meetings in person, we encourage your involvement in the BLS by submitting an article for publication in the BLS annual Case Law Update or the Florida Bar Journal, or by joining our online discussions on Linked-In.

The BLS has been at the forefront of initiatives to ensure adequate funding for the state court system, preserve judicial independence, establish Business Courts within Florida, enhance and improve our business entity and commercial laws, stimulate diversity and acceptance among lawyers , provide forums for special projects and initiatives which encourage the exchange of ideas and expertise among academicians, lawyers, and judges, preserve the Rule of Law, improve the practice of law for Florida business lawyers, and encourage law students to practice in the area of business law. The BLS has a full year-round schedule of meetings and activities, including numerous substantive law committees, which are worthy of your consideration.

Why should you become involved in the BLS? The answer is easy for those of us who have melded active involvement in the BLS with their ongoing practices. Our involvement in the BLS provides opportunities for networking, practice updates, professional growth, legislative involvement, professional development, intellectual stimulation, and much more.

Unless you come to BLS meetings, the benefits of active involvement in the BLS are much harder to appreciate. So, I invite you to come and experience the BLS in person. The "pay-back" may not be monetary, but the rewards in terms of networking, personal growth, intellectual stimulation and professional development are, as the commercials say, "PRICELESS." 

The next meeting will be the Annual Retreat being held at the Ritz Carlton Naples from September 2 to 5, 2011. Following that, the BLS will have a fly-in and fly-out meeting on December 1, 2011 in Tampa.  This will be a meeting of just our Section geared to keep us focused on our legislative agenda and the business of our Section.

The details are still being worked out but the third meeting will be an Executive Council meeting on March 14-18, 2012.  Historically, our Executive Council has met in some nice locales including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Toronto, Park City, Paris, Costa Rica and many others.  This year is no exception as the EC meeting will be in Buenos Aires.  All members of the BLS are invited to join the Executive Council for its spring meeting in Buenos Aires.

Our final Meeting of the 2011-12 fiscal year will be in conjunction with The Florida Bar Annual Meeting, at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando on  June 20 - 23, 2012.  Not only is this a full Section meeting for the BLS but all of the other sections of the Bar will be there as well.  This is always a great meeting not only to take part in the business of our Section but to stay in contact with lawyers in other sections as well.  The changing of the guard occurs not just for us but also all of the other sections and for the President of The Florida Bar.

At most of these meetings, the Chapter 608 LLC Drafting Task Force, chaired by a past chair, Lou Conti, with the assistance of our Reporter Greg Marks and our recording secretary Steve Lear, will be holding drafting sessions in connection with our detailed evaluation of wholesale replacement of the Florida Limited Liability Company Act. This Task Force is typical of the long-standing commitment of the BLS to bringing updates and "fixes," as well as occasional entire re-writes of our Florida Business Entity Statutes. The BLS has taken the lead in drafting and seeking enactment of amendments of our Business Corporation Act, our Not- For-Profit Corporation Act, our General Partnership and Limited Partnership Acts, our LLC Act, the Florida Securities and Investor Protection Act, aspects of the Florida Uniform Commercial Code, and various other state statutes like the Trademark Act and the Assignment for Benefit of Creditors statute, which affect the commercial community of Florida.  These activities are some of the most rewarding for our membership. CLE credit is available for lawyers who participate in the LLC Drafting Sessions as there is a lot of subject matter expertise communicated in these sessions. A full listing of the LLC Drafting Task Force meetings are available on the web-site.

Although I serve as chair of the Section, the BLS is actually run by the Executive Council, which is comprised of almost 100 lawyers, law school professors, and judges from around the state. This is a truly talented and dedicated group who take their roles seriously, yet manage to enjoy their work in a collegial atmosphere.  Many of our EC members have built life-long friendships as a result of their interactions within BLS. We are  particularly fortunate to have always enjoyed very active and lively participation from judges on the federal (particularly bankruptcy) and state courts.  The Executive Council meetings are open to all Section members, and you are invited to attend all of the meetings of the Executive Council.

The past two years, Florida "Business Court" Judges have joined us at the Annual BLS Retreat in Naples to discuss activities within their respective circuits. The Annual View From The Bench Bankruptcy Program (held in Tampa and Miami) is always sold-out, and is a MUST attend program for bankruptcy lawyers. The opportunity to get to know our judges, work with them on projects of interest, and contribute to the profession and the practice of law in Florida is unique and special. Become involved in the activities of the BLS, and you too can become involved in serving on the Executive Council.

Our substantive law standing Committees are:

Antitrust, Franchise & Trade Regulation, under the leadership of  Manuel Dominguez, Jude Cooper & academic chair Professor Marilyn Cane;

Bankruptcy/UCC Committee, under the leadership of  Doug Bates, Jacob Brown, Judge Cathy McEwen & academic chair Professor Jeff Davis;

Bankruptcy Judicial Liaison Committee, under the leadership of Judge Paul Hyman and Leyza Blanco;

Business Litigation Committee, under the leadership of  Mark Nichols, Barbara Reisberg, & Judge Ed LaRose;

Computer & Cyber Law Committee, under the leadership of  Kevin Levy and Lawrence Kunin;

Corporations, Securities & Financial Services, under the leadership of Robert Brighton,  Laurie L. Green &  academic chair Professor Stuart Cohn;

Intellectual Property Committee, under the leadership of  Robert Thornburg, Leora Herrmann & Ury Fischer; and

State/Federal Judicial Liaison Committee under the leadership of  Ryon McCabe, Judge Mary Scriven, & Judge Tom Smith.

In addition to our substantive Committees,  we do a tremendous amount of work through our membership benefits committees which focus on providing and enriching the benefits to our members:

Communications Committee, under the leadership of Peter Valori, Lynn Sherman & Jude Cooper;

Continuing Legal Education, under the leadership of  Jason Burnett, Michael Chesal & Robert Charbonneau;

Diversity Committee, under the leadership of  Jason Murray, Leyza Blanco, Alex Brito, Judge Mary Scriven,  &  Judge John Olson;

FICPA Liaison Committee, under the leadership of Nick Lioce & Donald Workman;

Legislation Committee, under the leadership of Gary Teblum, Alan Howard & our lobbyist Bill Wiley;

Long Range Planning Committee, under the leadership of Roberta Colton & Judge Michael Williamson;

Membership Committee, under the leadership of Alan Aronson, Jodi Cooke, & Phil Kabler;

Pro Bono, under the leadership of Melanie Damian, Mark Stein, Judge Bill Van Nortwick, Jr. and Judge Laurel Isicoff;

Retreat & Sponsorships Committee, under the leadership of Alan Aronson, Lori Vaughan & Michael Chesal;

Our newest committee is the Pro Bono Committee which coordinates activities with the Big Bar while creating BLS initiatives as well.  In addition, the Diversity Committee is comprised of judges, academicians, and lawyers who represent a  broad cross-section of our membership. The focus of the Diversity Committee is to make the BLS an open and inclusive Section of the Bar, welcoming to all lawyers who are interested in enhancing diversity,  and mentoring lawyers of varied backgrounds and interests who want to become leaders of the Section and the Bar.   Lastly, we are revamping our Membership Committee to oversee and coordinate the activities of our Communications, CLE, Diversity, and Retreat & Sponsorship Committees, all in an effort to maximize the benefits to our members.

All of our Committees welcome the involvement of anyone interested in their activities, and I encourage everyone interested to contact the respective Committee leadership for more information.

Finally, our immediate Past-Chair is Michael Higer and our Section Administrator is Mary Ann Obos.   Our Web-site guru is Tracey Eller, our Section lobbyist is William Wiley, and our Board of Governors Liaison is Michael Higer.  

Hope to see you soon!

All my best to all of you for a great year, Mindy