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.

Join us at the Labor Day Retreat celebrating our 40th Anniversary! Full Details and Registration

 Thank you to our Platinum Sponsors!!  *  Berger Singerman  *   Lexis Nexis  *   Management Planning, Inc.  *  Michael Moecker & Associates, Inc.  *  Navigant Consulting, Inc.  *  PCE Investment Bankers

Chair's Message From Michael Higer

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 2010-2011 fiscal year.  On behalf of our Chair-Elect Mindy Mora, our Secretary-Treasurer Brian Gart, 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.  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, and improve the practice of law for Florida lawyers. We have a full schedule of meetings and activities, including a few new committees within the BLS which are worth mentioning.

Why give up your time to participate in the BLS? The answer is easy for those of us who have become part of the "active minority" within a Section of the Bar, but much harder to understand if you have never participated in any meaningful way with BLS activities. So, rather than have me try to explain it, I invite you to come and experience the BLS in person. The "pay-back" is certainly not monetary, but the rewards in personal expansion, intellectual stimulation and professional development are, as the commercials say, "PRICELESS."

We have five meetings over the course of the fiscal year which runs from July 1 through June 30.  Our first meeting is always the Annual Retreat, which we hold over Labor Day Week-End at the Ritz Carlton Beach Resort in Naples on September 3 – 6, 2010. This is our "kick-off meeting" where we set the goals and agendas for the year, meet new committee members and really get to know one another. There are CLE programs, committee meetings, social  & recreational activities, and time for BLS members to bring their significant others and families and relax.  This year marks the 40th Anniversary of our Section and the celebration will include an opening cocktail reception and dinner honoring our past chairs.  This Retreat is always one of the premier events for our Section which you should make every effort to attend.

The next meeting will be a fly-in and fly-out meeting on January 19-20, 2011 at the Tampa Marriott Meeting.  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 next meeting will be an Executive Council meeting on May 11-15, 2011.  Historically, our Executive Council has met in some nice locales including Barcelona, Toronto, Park City, Paris, Costa Rica and many others.  This year is no exception as the EC meeting will be in Amsterdam.  

Our final Meeting of the 2010-11 fiscal year will be in conjunction with The Florida Bar Annual Meeting, at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando on  June 22 - 25, 2011.  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 all of these meetings our Chapter 608 LLC Drafting Task Force, chaired by our immediate 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.

The BLS is really run by the Executive Council which is comprised of almost 100 lawyers, law school professors, and judges from around the state. A truly talented and dedicated group who take their roles seriously, yet manage to enjoy their work in a collegial atmosphere,  and particularly meld at our hospitality suites at the meetings.  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 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.

 Our substantive standing Committees are:
Antitrust, Franchise & Trade Regulation, under the leadership of  Jason Murray, Manuel Dominguez & academic chair Professor Marilyn Cane;

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

Bankruptcy Judicial Liaison Committee, under the leadership of Judge Paul Hyman and Jason Burnett;

Business Litigation Committee, under the leadership of  Ryon McCabe, Mark Nichols & Judge Ed LaRose;

Computer & Cyber Law Committee, under the leadership of  Steve Milbrath & Kevin Levy;

Corporations, Securities & Financial Services, under the leadership of Roland Sanchez-Medina, Robert Brighton,  &  academic chair Professor Stu Cohn

Intellectual Property Committee, under the leadership of  Joel Rothman, Robert Thornburg, & Leora Herrmann;                               

State/Federal Judicial Liaison Committee under the leadership of  Steven Fender, Jim Gale, 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 & Steve Fender

Continuing Legal Education, under the leadership of  Stefan Rubin & Jamie Marx

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

FICPA Liaison Committee, under the leadership of Diane Noller Wells & Nick Lioce                                                             

Legislation Committee, under the leadership of Gary Teblum, Stephen Nagin and 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, Lori Vaughan, & Michael Chesal

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

Retreat & Sponsorships Committee, under the leadership of Alan Howard & Alan Aronson

Our newest committee is the Pro Bono Committee which will coordinate 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, FICPA,  and Pro Bono 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 Lou Conti and our Section Administrator is ValerieYarbrough.   Our Web-site guru is Tracey Eller, our Section lobbyist is William Wiley, and our Board of Governors Liaison is Gwynne Young.  

Hope to see you soon!

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