USPS Publication Number 16300
T h is C om mu n i t y N ewsp a p er is a pu bl ica t ion of E sca m bia / S a n ta Rosa B a r Assoc ia t ion
Se r v i ng t he Fi r st Jud icial Ci rcu it
Section A, Page 1
Vol. 17, No. 51
Visit The Summation Weekly Online: www.summationweekly.com
December 27, 2017
1 Section, 8 Pages
Michael A. Doubek
The Definition of Servant Leadership By Jodi D. Cooke
H
e seeks no credit. He never has. Year after year, meeting after meeting, he quietly and professionally plans every aspect, attends to every detail, and handles every hiccup. He encourages the chosen leadership and enables their initiatives, while doing his best to blend into the background to give others a chance to shine. Those who have worked with him know how lucky our local bar is to have him, and this summer he received the recognition he has so long deserved from the leadership of our state bar. Our own Michael A. “Mike” Doubek, Executive Director of the Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association, is the recipient of the 2017 Marshall R. Cassedy, Sr. Award. Doubek has been at the helm of the Association since 2003, taking office at a time when the Association faced many challenges. With quiet grace and determination, he led the group past those hurdles, onto steady ground, and eventually to the thriving organization it is today. Doubek extended the Bar’s reach into the community, opening channels of communication with area leaders that had not previously been opened, and became the face of the organization for both those inside and those outside its ranks. Like all good leaders, his success is a combination of how much he does and the way he does it – with consistently professional kindness and humility. Much like Doubek, the namesake of the Award, Marshall R. Cassedy, was the kind of lawyer-leader whose impact lingers far longer than the tenure of his service. The first Staff Counsel to the Florida Bar and its Executive Director from 1961-1980, Cassedy led our state Bar to receive numerous national awards, to more than triple its membership size, and to conceive and construct the Tallahassee headquarters the Bar still uses today. The lawyers with whom he served described him as “an exceptional man” with a “zest for life that was unique and infectious.” Honorable Chief Judge of the First Judicial Circuit Linda Nobles was mentored by Cassedy during her years at Florida State and credits the experience with having a profound impact on her professional path. Upon Cassedy’s death in 2011, then-President of the Florida Bar, Scott Hawkins, appointed a committee to recommend ways to honor and memorialize Cassedy’s distinctive legacy of service and the leadership attributes that made him so memorable. Those recommendations led to creation of the Award and placement of a permanent commemorative plaque in honor of Cassedy in the lobby of
the Florida Bar headquarters in Tallahassee. Given by each Florida Bar President since 2012 to honor extraordinary service to a voluntary bar or the Florida Bar, the Award recognizes bar leaders who serve with the same laudable distinction as Cassedy in what can often be a thankless and underappreciated role. Over the first five years, the Award was given to many deserving voluntary bar leaders and Florida Bar employees in honor of their extraordinary service, including the Executive Directors of the Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Clearwater, and Sarasota County Bar Associations. Doubek deservingly joins the ranks of distinctive servant leaders from around the state. On June 23, 2017, in the General Assembly, during the Annual Meeting of the Florida Bar in Boca Raton, Florida Bar President William “Bill” Schifino presented Doubek with a commemorative plaque and commended him for the number and breadth of personal letters submitted in support of his nomination. As Schifino quoted when presenting the Award, “this award was ‘made for Mike.’ ” The following are additional excerpts from many of the fourteen letters of support submitted to President Schifino with Doubek’s nomination for the Award:
With quiet grace and determination, he led the group past those hurdles, onto steady ground, and eventually to the thriving organization it is today. “Over his nearly fifteen-year tenure as Director of the Association, Mike has quietly and confidently raised the ‘bar,’ pun intended, for the ESRBA in every possible way. He respects and responds dutifully to all members, creating a positive culture and comradery among the lawyers, judges, and support staff in our area. He actively engages and supports other constituencies in the legal community and the local community at large,
thanklessly assuming countless roles that promote the legal profession and the integrity of the judiciary, whether it is part of his job description or not. Mike continues to bring professionalism, class, and respect for the rule of law to any and every task he undertakes, to the benefit of the ESRBA and the legal profession as a whole.” —The 2016-2017 Officers of the ESRBA “The Association was founded with three main objectives - honor the judiciary, promote the profession, and protect the oppressed. During Mr. Doubek’s nearly 15 year tenure as Executive Director, he has tirelessly promoted those objectives, and made our jobs look easy.” —The Past Presidents of the ESRBA “While it is not one of his designated job responsibilities as Executive Director, Mr. Doubek has, for many years, selflessly given of his time and talent to assist court personnel in making our naturalization ceremonies a befitting welcome to those individuals who have made tremendous sacrifice to become citizens of our country. In addition to attending each and every ceremony on behalf of the EscambiaSanta Rosa Bar Association, Mr. Doubek coordinates with local state and county judges who also participate in the ceremonies, enlists a guest speaker, and organizes the set up of refreshments for the new citizens and their guests following the ceremony. This is but one example of Mr. Doubek’ s many community outreach efforts on behalf of the Association.” —Chief Judge M. Casey Rodgers, United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida “I participated in the hiring decision when Mr. Doubek was engaged as Executive Director of our local bar association. It is some of my best work. . . . Thanks to Mr. Doubek’s leadership we now enjoy a local bar association that provides extensive and excellent service to its members and also to our local communities. He has vastly extended our outreach programs and communications channels.” —Honorable Robert Hilliard, Santa Rosa County Judge “Mr. Doubek has put his heart into his position as Executive Director for the ESRBA. He genuinely cares about the mission of the bar and wants to support the local legal community in any manner that he can. He
is forward-thinking in his approach, kind in his interactions, and open to any suggestions for ways to provide better services to the legal community and those who need the services of attorneys.” —Pam Childers, Escambia County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller “[Doubek] has lead the association to incredible growth both in membership numbers and in the impact the Association has on the legal community and panhandle communities at large. He is a vital asset to any organization and we are truly lucky to have him as a part of our great city.” —Ashton J. Hayward, Mayor of Pensacola “As a legal services provider, I must highlight Mike’s unending support of the work we do, the clients we serve, and the role of pro bono attorneys in filling the justice gap. Whether it is asking for time on a meeting agenda, or help in recruiting pro bono attorneys to a clinic, Mike always finds a way to balance the needs and mission of ESRBA with the community needs. He goes above and beyond personally to support our work, moving tables and chairs at a clinic, taking pictures, and guiding clients.” -Leslie N. Powell-Boudreaux, Executive Director of Legal Services of North Florida “In my experience with Mike, he and the attorneys he leads have consistently given back to the proverbial “least of these,” without recognition or credit for their good works. In doing so, they have made a lasting, positive impact for the legal profession on a very vulnerable group in our community.” —Jennifer Daniel, Director of the Backpack Buddies Program at C.A. Weis Elementary If you ask him why he is so humble, how he can be so agreeable in the most contentious circumstances, he will once again (in true “Mike” fashion) give the credit to someone else -- a mentor who advised him when he first took the job that it would be much easier to do if Doubek would remember “it’s not about you.” Those were words he clearly took to heart, as he’s made it about everyone else for the last fifteen years. For once, and with sincere gratitude, it is finally all about Mike. Jodi D. Cooke is an associate with Stichter, Riedel, Blain & Postler and the President of the Escambia Santa Rosa Bar Association.