After sharing stories on his childhood, his upbringing, his motivations for pursuing a legal career and his passion and utmost respect for the legal profession, Angones answered questions and attended a reception in his honor.

“As someone who identifies with the hardships that accompany immigration, I found Mr. Angones’ speech encouraging, insightful and inspirational,” said Elora Andrade, a second-year law student who emigrated from Brazil in 1998. “It is refreshing to hear that as Florida Bar President, Mr. Angones aims to improve diversity within the legal profession.”

Following his discussion, Angones graciously greeted and shared personal one-on-one time with each student in attendance. “Mr. Angones is not only friendly and approachable, but he is also willing and eager to share his vision and the direction he wishes to pursue this year as President,” said Cristina Fernandez, another second-year law student in attendance.

“As a future lawyer, he encouraged us to take pride in our profession, reminding us of the special role all lawyers have to protect and advocate for the rights of others, particularly on behalf of minorities,” SALSA treasurer Carmen Manrara said.

Since being admitted into the Florida Bar in 1976, Angones has attained a number of accolades, including becoming the youngest attorney ever to assume the presidency of the Cuban-American Bar Association and the first Hispanic to be elected President of the Dade County Bar Association. Angones has also served as a member in a number of organizations including the Dade and Broward County Bar Associations, the American Bar Association, the Cuban-American Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute, the Spellman-Hoeveler American Inn of Court, the American Board of Trial Advocates and the International Association of Defense Counsel. He is also on the Board of Directors of U.S. Century Bank.

Angones arrived in the United States in 1961, after his parents sent him from Cuba through Operation Peter Pan, a program coordinated in 1960, which sought to assist Cubans and expatriates in getting their children to Miami. Angones received both his bachelor’s degree and Juris Doctor from the University of Miami.

Kern, a senior associate general counsel for Darden Restaurants, first started working with the company while at Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor, and Reed, PA, in Orlando, where he was a partner specializing in real estate and land development law.

“While working at my old firm, one of the clients was Darden Restaurants, and I got to know the company well,” Kern said. “After working with them for awhile, they asked me to join them in-house and I decided it could be a great opportunity.”

After being with a firm for his whole career, Kern says the opportunity to represent a Fortune 500 company, while taking part in business-related projects as well is very rewarding.

“I had been at the firm for 14 years after law school, and it’s a great firm that I had not really thought about leaving,” he said. “The chance to be involved with the business aspects of a Fortune 500 company and explore management opportunities was not something I could experience while with a law firm.”

In his role with Darden Restaurants, Kern reports to the General Counsel, manages the in-house real estate legal teams for development of new restaurants and works with outside counsel, he said.

“I enjoy the real estate practice, and this position gives me an opportunity to practice law and work closely with the senior leadership team as a business partner as we work together to meet our new restaurant opening goals,” Kern said.

The characteristic that sets the best attorneys apart is the ability to understand the client’s entire business situation, not just provide basic legal services, he said.

“Whether it’s in a firm or as in-house counsel, the way you communicate and strive to learn about your client’s issues, rather than simply providing legal service is the thing that separates the best attorneys from the rest of them,” he said. “When I work with outside counsel, I look for people who want to understand the business and want to be part of the business team.”

Kern, who interviews local law students looking for internships, says a background in business is very important in his field of law.

“If I could have done anything differently, I would have taken more business classes,” Kern said. “While I have learned on the job, having a business background would certainly have been helpful in my practice, and it’s easier to take those classes and get the background while still at school such as the joint business and law degree programs offered at UF.”

For current law students who are interested in getting involved with the in-house legal department of a company, they should get some well-rounded experience at a quality law firm first, Kern said.

“Getting a good base of experience is easier to do at firms as most companies do not have the resources to train and develop young lawyers,” he said.

The report also shows that Florida ranked first in terms of the number of entry-level legal positions gained within state government. Not surprisingly, Washington, D.C. ranked highest of the geographic areas with the largest number of graduates being employed at the federal level.

A look at the employed graduates by salary reveals that the national median salary for all types of jobs was $62,000. While UF Law was higher than the national median for all types of jobs, at $66,291, it was lower in its largest employer type. UF graduates employed in private practice constituted 56% of those employed and they reported a median salary of $80,000. This difference is attributable to the size of the law firm as can be seen below. Florida has fewer of the large law firms and UF Law has fewer graduates at the largest of law firms.

The mean entry-level salary for Atlanta firms was $100,075 and for Washington, D.C. $125, 442. Stop by the CCS to review Jobs & JD’s, Class of 2006 or for assistance with formulating your job search strategy.