Scott and Fenderson Law Blog

St. Pete Bar Association March Meeting

Featured Speaker: Mayor Rick Baker, City of St. Petersburg

with a "State of the City" Address Friday, March 7, 2008

Mirror Lake Lyceum 737 Third Ave. North, St. Pete 11:45 a.m. Registration

Buffet opens at Noon.  Let me know if you'd like to come as my guest.

St. Petersburg Bar Association

The St. Petersburg Bar Association just moved a few doors down from us on Central Avenue.  Their new address is as follows:  St. Petersburg Bar Association, 4701 Central Ave., Suite B, St. Petersburg, FL 33713.  I'm planning to walk over for their open house today.

Teddy Bear Drive

Byrd Alzheimer’s Center and Research Institute’s Teddy Bears for Elders Drive

During the month of October, the St. Pete Bar Association is joining forces with other organizations in the area by conducting a “Teddy Bears for Elders Drive” in conjunction with the Byrd Alzheimer’s Center and Research Institute. The goal of this drive is to promote awareness of Alzheimer’s disease, encourage donations for research, and to collect 1,000, toddler safe, medium size, stuffed animals for distribution to elders in the Tampa Bay area that have dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. 

How You can help…

· Bring teddy bear donations to the St. Pete Bar Membership Luncheon on October 4th or to the bar office on or before October 31st.

· Organize a "Teddy Bear" collection in your office...

· Visit www.byrdinstitute.org and click on the ‘Be Heard’ tab to make a donation!

Or, please drop off a Teddy Bear to Scott & Fenderson and we will make sure the bears get to the St. Pete Bar Association!

St. Petersburg Bar Lunch / September 2007

My partner (and husband) Charlie Scott and I attended the Bar Membership Lunch by the St. Petersburg ar (whose website is http://www.stpetebar.com/  today at the Mirror Lake Lyceum, its website is http://www.mirrorlakelyceum.com/ and here is a picture of their beautiful building in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.  The lunch was sponsored by www.westlaw.com.

The Featured Speaker was The Honorable Robert J. Morris, Jr., Chief Judge, Sixth Judicial Circuit. 

Chief Judge Morris started by saying that the St. Pete Bar told him that he could speak about anything he wishes, he said he'd like to talk about flamingos and the Bahamas, but said he thought a bunch of lawyers would be more interested in the law. 

Chief Judge Morris spoke of when he headed the Pinellas County State Attorneys Office and all the attorneys who were in the office with him, including our now Governor Charlie Christ.  He talked about how many of the attorneys he knew back then he still knows now.  That these professional relationships sometimes last longer than marriages in today's world and stressed that we should treat each other with common courtesy and respect.  He also stressed how important it is to "Be Positive" and that the way we speak about other lawyers definately has an impact on the public's perception of lawyers.  I think this is an important message.

Chief Judge Morris also spoke about the fact that the Judiciary in Florida has only .06% of the state's budget for governement and that the legislature has proposed to cut this even further.  He said the result has been the closing of law libaries but that a few have been saved, thanks largely to the Clerk of Court Ken Burke.  He said that the courts operate very efficiently with very little funds and that further cuts would result in negative changes in our court system in Florida. 

Chief Judge Morris is a wonderful and engaging speaker and he spoke to a very full house - just about every judge and lawyer in St. Pete was in attendance. 

Pictured is Attorney Kathryn Fenderson Scott and The Honorable Robert J. Morris, Jr., Chief Judge, Sixth Judicial Circuit.

Here are some more photos:

Attorney Charlie Scott and Hon. Judge Fullerton:

 

Kathryn Fenderson Scott and Honorable Judge Susan Bedinhaus: