Florida Supreme Court Justice Charles T. Wells speaks to a classroom of law student about professional resposibility.

Florida Supreme Court Justice Charles T. Wells used three recent Florida Bar cases to highlight a talk about professional responsibility to a group of law students on Friday.

Wells has served on the Florida Supreme Court since 1994 and served as Chief Justice from 2000-2002. He was brought to campus by the American Constitution Society.

Wells graduated from the UF College of Law in 1964. He has a great feeling of importance toward the law school because of the public service graduates have provided. He also advised students to continue this trend.

“So many of the leaders of Florida have come through and are coming through the College of Law,” Wells said. “It’s enormously important in the day that we live in now that we have people that are dedicated to making our government work… As you move through law school and into the practice of law, I hope that you will build on your enthusiasm for work in the community and work in government because it needs you.”

Wells spoke largely about the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction, which includes all professionalism matters with the Florida Bar.

He used three recent cases to highlight three important areas of professional responsibility. In The Florida Bar v. Morgan, the lawyer was rude to the court, which Wells said The Florida Supreme Court has taken a strong stance against. Wells has seen this type of unprofessionalism in person when he was working for the Justice Department in Kansas. He was arguing for the FAA for a summary judgment, which the judge did not grant.

“I had the FAA representative with me, and as we were walking out the back of the courtroom, the FAA representative said very loudly of course, ‘If there’s anything I can’t stand, it’s a dumb judge,’ Wells said. “I was very thankful that I got out of there, and I didn’t care much if he got out of there.”

In the second case, The Florida Bar v. Committee, a lawyer got so wrapped up in the case that he used the litigation process to harass the other side. This earned him a 91-day suspension, which actually lasts usually about a year because the lawyer has to prove rehabilitation, Wells said.

Finally, in The Florida Bar v. Martinez-Genova, the lawyer had a substance abuse problem and misappropriated third-party funds, then was disbarred for five years.

“We have now about 80,000 lawyers and there is unfortunately an enormous docket of grievance matters that come through the grievance committees,” Wells said. “If there is a finding of probably cause that a lawyer has committed a violation of the Code of Professional Conduct, that matter is then tried before a referee. The referee is appointed by the Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court. A report is developed by the referee, and then it comes to the court. So the ultimate decision on lawyer discipline is at the Florida Supreme Court.”

Besides Florida Bar cases, the Florida Supreme Court handles capital punishment cases and discrepancies in law between two Florida District Courts of Appeal. Sometimes, the District Courts of Appeal just pass the cases right to the Supreme Court, which is how Bush v. Gore got to the Supreme Court, when Wells was the Chief Justice.

“The district courts, as I often say, they saw how hot that potato was and they gave it the old wave,” Wells said. “They just waved it right on through to us, and we accepted.”

One of the biggest mistakes Wells sees lawyers often make is getting too involved with their cases and overstepping the advocate’s role.

“It’s important to understand that you are there as a lawyer in a representative capacity,” Wells said. “I see too many lawyers that forget that that, and the case becomes about them. They become so wrapped up in the issue, and it’s about them. They’ve forgotten that it’s the client, the party they they’re representing, whose future is on the line.”

“I knew that I would want to use my law degree to the extent I could to help people,” he said. “Including those who were less fortunate.”

Lazarus was recently honored for his service to those in need at the Legal Aid Society’s 20th Annual Pro Bono Recognition Evening. For Lazarus, an interest in serving the public runs in the family. His father, grandfather, stepmother and sister are all attorneys.

“My grandfather meant a lot to me,” Lazarus said. “He always took pride in being a lawyer.”

Although Lazarus graduated from UF with a finance degree, he quickly decided that he was destined for the legal profession, he said.

At UF Law, Lazarus was in the top 10 percent of his class and served as a senior editor of the law review. Before working at Holland & Knight, Lazarus served as an assistant state attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit in Jacksonville.

“To me it was much more appealing to help victims than to represent criminal defendants.”

In the State Attorney Office’s felony unit, Lazarus was exposed to serious crimes, including grand theft, burglary, armed robbery and attempted murder. Lazarus then moved on to the Special Assault Division at the State Attorney’s Office, where he prosecuted among the most serious crimes in the office, including child abuse, felony domestic violence and sex crimes.

“The most horrific crimes in that unit were the sex crimes against children,’ he said.

In his current position in the litigation department at Holland & Knight LLP, Lazarus has continued to serve those in need by providing representation to those who cannot afford it. While many attorneys simply write a check to the Legal Aid Society, Holland & Knight LLP actively encourages its attorneys to do pro bono work, Lazarus said.

Lazarus typically takes on between two and three cases a year from the Legal Aid Society. He is always handling at least one case for the society, he said.

“There have even been times that I have called Legal Aid myself asking for cases.”

In one of his most recent pro bono cases, Lazarus represented an elderly couple in a construction dispute. The pro bono clients hired a roofing company to replace their roof. The roofer failed to complete the job as contracted but continued to demand full payment, Lazarus said.

“After several months of pre-suit negotiations with the roofer’s attorney, the roofer filed a lawsuit against the pro bono clients,” he said. “I represented the clients during the months of litigation that followed.”

The roofing company ultimately dismissed the lawsuit.

Lazarus developed a good relationship with the clients, who were extremely thankful, he said.

“They praised me in letters to Legal Aid and to my superiors here at the firm.”

Throughout his legal career, the pro bono clients Lazarus has represented have been genuinely deserving of quality legal help, he said.

“These are people that without good legal representation would have nowhere to turn,” he said. “On many occasions, they have been on the right side and have had very legitimate complaints.”

UF Conservation Clinic teamed up with the University of Georgia Environmental Law Practicum to canoe the St. Marys River as part of a research project to protect the river.

Law students from the University of Florida and the University of Georgia met at the border for something other than football — an opportunity to canoe the St. Marys River, the boundary water between the two adjoining states.

The UF Law Conservation Clinic and the University of Georgia Environmental Law Practicum have teamed up for a trans-boundary water law project that involves researching and petitioning the state of Florida for an Outstanding Florida Water designation for the river (if warranted by research), while designing some sort of similar protection for the river in Georgia — which does not have an analogous regulation.

The two law school-based service learning programs are working with the St. Marys River Management Committee, a volunteer board appointed by the four counties that border the river (Nassau and Baker in Florida; Camden and Charleston in Georgia) and supported by the St. Johns River Water Management District. Students will also be looking into shared watershed cooperation mechanisms at the local level that could harmonize planning and local riverine protection regulations.

Project team members from both schools also got to savor some of the Old South as they stayed overnight at the riverfront hunting lodge of Merrill Varn, a committee member whose family owns 20,000 acres of working forest along the river in Georgia.

They worked well into the night on a plan for jointly executing the project. The following day the rest of the UF Law clinic joined the team for the paddle. The contingent was impressed to see a family moving their ruined belongings out of a riverfront home that sat on stilts 14 feet above the river — the victim of flooding in the aftermath of tropical storm Fay.

Equally impressive was the array of “redneck river furniture” (homemade smokers and grills, dilapidated shade structures and lawn chairs) encountered on the river’s occasional sand banks, a sign of its local recreational value.

Although the two groups are looking forward to working together, they agreed that it would not be good for the project to meet on Nov. 1, the day of the Florida/Georgia game. “Collaboration can only go so far,” said UF Law 3L and team member John November. Other UF law students working on the clinic project are Rachel Mertz and Kristianna Lindgren.

Over 100 competitors began the tryout process early this fall semester. After an arduous 4-week tryout process, the following members were selected for their outstanding trial advocacy skills: Kendell Ali, Wayne Atkinson, Adam Darrow, Dana DiSano, Danae Dunkley, Kali Feinman, Aaron Kelley, Allison Kirkwood, Joel Medgebow, Gabriel Munoz-Calene, Kevin Sharbaugh, Jamie Stephens and Melissa Welsh.

The four highest scoring advocates from round three advance to the Final Four Competition and are placed into two teams to present a complete trial to the law school community. The Trial Team would like to congratulate the fall 2008 Final Four competitors Amanda Brus, Katrina Gavette, Joshua Lukman and Kara Wick.

Based on the cumulative scoring of the judges evaluating round three of the tryout process, top competitors are invited to join the team. Gavette and Lukman will be representing Susan Smith, plaintiff, and Wick and Brus will be representing Lighter Corporation, defendant.

Judge Stephen Mickle, the first African-American judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida and UF Law alumnus, will serve as the presiding judge at the event. The two teams compete for the title of “Best Overall Team” and one member is awarded “Best Overall Advocate” of the intramural competition.

Please show your support by coming to the Final Four Competition on Friday, Oct. 3 to watch these competitors in action. First year law students are strongly encouraged to attend this event. If you have any questions regarding the Final Four Competition, contact Nicole Webb at nwebb@ufl.edu.

Final Four Competitors

Katrina Gavette, Plaintiff

Joshua Lukman, Plaintiff

Kara Wick, Defendant

Amanda Brus, Defendant