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New officers named to Board overseeing Florida Bar admissions

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New officers were selected recently for the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, which implements the Florida Supreme Court’s constitutional authority to oversee and regulate admissions of new attorneys to The Florida Bar.
The changes involve members from the Panama City and the Miami areas. They are:

Elizabeth J. Walters, of Panama City Beach, Florida, was named Chair of the Florida Board of Bar Examiners. Ms. Walters was elected Vice Chair in 2016 by her fellow Board members at a meeting of the Board held in Tampa, Florida on October 15, 2016.  Her term of office with the Florida Board of Bar Examiners began November 1, 2013.  Ms. Walters will serve as Chair through October 31, 2018.

Ms. Walters was born in Panama City, Florida.  She attended the University of West Florida where she received her BA degree in Political Science and her MA degree in Political Science, and The Florida State University School of Law where she received her Juris Doctorate degree.  Ms. Walters is a partner at Burke Blue Hutchison Walters & Smith, P.A.  She was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1995 and the Alabama  Bar in 1996, and is a member of the Bay County Bar Association and the St. Andrews Bay American Inn of Court.

In addition to serving on the FBBE, Ms. Walters has undertaken numerous civic endeavors, including currently serving as the Chair of the Panama City Port Authority, Chair of Bay Medical Center/Sacred Heart Health System Board of Directors and Chair of Alignment Bay County.   She also serves as a Director of Summit Bank, N.A. and is a Trustee of the Florida State University Foundation.

Scott L. Baena, a founding partner at Bilzin Sumberg Baena, Price & Axelrod LLP in Miami, Florida, was elected Vice Chair of the Florida Board of Bar Examiners by his fellow Board members at a meeting of the Board held in Coral Gables, Florida on October 19, 2017.  Mr. Baena’s term of office with the Florida Board of Bar Examiners began November 1, 2014.  Mr. Baena will become Chair of the Board on November 1, 2018.

Mr. Baena attended George Washington University, where he received his BBA and Juris Doctor degrees.  He was admitted to The Florida Bar in December 1974, and is a member of the following associations:  Dade County Bar Association (Director), Legal Services of Greater Miami (Director), American Bankruptcy Institute, South Florida Bankruptcy Bar Association, American Law Institute, and the American Bar Association.  Mr. Baena was a member of The Florida Bar Board of Governors from 1987-1995; served as Chair of the Business Law Section of The Florida Bar 1986-87; and currently serves on the Senior Lawyers Committee of The Florida Bar.  Mr. Baena additionally served on the board of The Florida Bar Foundation from 1997-2000.

The Florida Board of Bar Examiners is an administrative agency of the Supreme Court charged with the responsibility of enforcing the Rules of the Supreme Court Relating to Admissions to The Bar.  This involves the supervision of character background investigations as well as the administration and grading of the Florida Bar Examination.
The Board’s website, located at www.floridabarexam.org, has the Board’s computerized Bar Application forms available to applicants free of charge.  The website also features the full text of the Rules of the Supreme Court Relating to Admissions to the Bar, Frequently Asked Questions and links to other agencies, including The Florida Bar and the Supreme Court.

Florida Supreme Court appoints Dade City attorney to Board overseeing Bar admissions

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Larry Stewart Hersch of Dade City, Florida, has been appointed to membership on the Florida Board of Bar Examiners by the Supreme Court of Florida to succeed Barbara J. Pittman of Tampa, Florida. His term of office will begin November 1, 2017, and extend through October 31, 2022.
Mr. Hersch has his own law practice in Dade City, Florida. Mr. Hersch attended Oglethorpe University where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree and Stetson University College of Law where he received his Juris Doctorate degree. He was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1975.  Mr. Hersch is the past president of the East Pasco Bar Association.
The Florida Board of Bar Examiners is an administrative agency of the Supreme Court charged with the responsibility of enforcing the Rules of the Supreme Court Relating to Admissions to The Bar. This involves the supervision of character background investigations as well as the administration and grading of the Florida Bar Examination.
The Board’s website, located at www.floridabarexam.org, has the Board’s computerized Bar Application forms available to applicants free of charge.  The website also features the full text of the Rules of the Supreme Court Relating to Admissions to the Bar, Frequently Asked Questions and links to other agencies, including The Florida Bar and the Supreme Court.

Florida Supreme Court appoints three to Board overseeing Bar admissions

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The Florida Supreme Court has appointed three new members to the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, which implements the court’s constitutional authority to oversee and regulate admissions of new attorneys to The Florida Bar.
The new members come from the Panama City and the Tampa-St. Petersburg areas. They are:

  • Major General William F. Hodgkins (United States Air Force – Retired), of Lynn Haven, Florida, has been appointed to membership on the Florida Board of Bar Examiners by the Supreme Court of Florida to succeed retiring Member Janet M. Sermon of Tallahassee, Florida.  His term of office will extend through October 31, 2020.

General Hodgkins was born in Lansing, Michigan.  He is a graduate of Auburn University, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Education and a M.Ed. in Educational Administration.  He also attended Carnegie Mellon University’s Program for Executives, and an International Securities Studies Program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. General Hodgkins retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2006 after 32 years of service.  Among his assignments, he was a former Wing Commander at Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, FL.  After his retirement from the Air Force, he worked for The Boeing Company’s Defense, Space and Security business as a Senior Executive responsible for Boeing’s business development offices in Colorado, California, Texas, Nebraska, New Mexico and Louisiana.  General Hodgkins retired from Boeing and relocated to Florida in 2012.

  • Jennifer Martinez Mooney of Land O’Lakes, Florida, has been appointed to membership on the Florida Board of Bar Examiners by the Supreme Court of Florida to succeed Scott N. Richardson of West Palm Beach, Florida.  Her term of office will begin November 1, 2017, and extend through October 31, 2022.

Ms. Mooney works in the Legal Department of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, in Tampa, Florida.  She was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1998 and was the Chairperson of the Florida Bar’s Unlicensed Practice of Law Committee from April 2011 to February 2016.  Ms. Mooney is an alumnus of the University of South Florida and Stetson University College of Law.

  • Elaine Terenzi, of Tampa, Florida, has been appointed to membership on the Florida Board of Bar Examiners by the Supreme Court of Florida to succeed retiring Member David Carl Lyles, of Jacksonville, Florida.  Her term of office will extend through October 31, 2020.

Ms. Terenzi was born in Brooklyn, New York.  She earned a Master of Business Administration from the New York Institute of Technology, and a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from The New York School for Social Research and John Jay College of Criminal Justice, respectively. Ms. Terenzi served as Chief U.S. Probation Officer for the U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida from 1996 to 2012, and is currently president of Independent Business Group, LLC, and a volunteer Guardian ad Litem.
The Florida Board of Bar Examiners is an administrative agency of the Supreme Court charged with the responsibility of enforcing the Rules of the Supreme Court Relating to Admissions to The Bar.  This involves the supervision of character background investigations as well as the administration and grading of the Florida Bar Examination.
The Board’s website, located at www.floridabarexam.org, has the Board’s computerized Bar Application forms available to applicants free of charge.  The website also features the full text of the Rules of the Supreme Court Relating to Admissions to the Bar, Frequently Asked Questions and links to other agencies, including The Florida Bar and the Supreme Court.