Summati
THE
n Weekly 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
Section A, Page 1
Vol. 17, No. 12
Visit The Summation Weekly Online: www.summationweekly.com
March 29, 2017
1 Section, 8 Pages
YOUNG LAWYER DIVISION PAVES THE WAY By Tanner Yea
As practicing law has evolved, The initiative they pushed it can sometimes seem in- that won them the aforementimidating to both new law- tioned President’s Award, yers and the community at however, was their onBikes large. Luckily, Escambia Santa Rosa Bar Association’s own Young Law Division is helping to bridge this gap. On January 12, the ERSBA Young Lawyer Division received both the Small Affiliate of the Year Award and Presidents Award at the Florida Bar Young Lawyer’s Division’s Affiliate Outreach Conference. Frederick Longmire is the current President of the ESRBA Young Lawyer Division, and because of the grant he drafted, the YLD took home the Small Affiliate of the Year award, which was the first year the award was given out. “The proposal just described
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These awards are really a testament to all the strides that have been made in our Young Lawyer Division over the years,” said Longmire. the mission of the Young Lawyer Division and what we do,” said Longmire, who has been practicing since 2012 and is currently prosecuting felonies in the 1st Judicial Circuit. The proposal included strides the YLD had made to become more engrained in the community, and to build a sense of connection between young lawyers in the Escambia Santa Rosa area. This included holding a running club, having an informal and relaxed meeting with local judiciary, as well as holding the 10th Annual Breakfast with Santa – a chance for foster children to select presents for their guardians and to get into a holiday spirit.
nors. White has been practicing civil litigation since 2010 and currently is part of Emmanuel, Sheppard & Condon.
said Alex Andrade, the YLD board member who held the presentation that resulted in the ESRBA winning the Presi-
From left to right: Alex Andrade, Frederick Longmire and Adam White posing with the Small Affiliate of the Year award
Volunteers built over 167 Huffy bikes for donation to children in foster care program. Starting in 2016, the program has worked to build and donate bikes to foster children in need. “OnBikes was started by four lawyers who were a part of the YLD, and it has continued from there,” said Adam White, the First Circuit representative on the Florida Bar Young Lawyer’s Division Board of Gover-
The past year, the YLD had built over 167 Huffy bikes to give out to foster children during winter. One of the benefits of winning the Small Affiliate of the Year Award is that the ERSBA YLD was granted over $24,000 in grant money to help further their projects. “That grant money supplements the OnBikes project,”
dent’s Award. “It goes towards locks, helmets, safety brochures, and it just lets us participate more.” Andrade practices civil litigation at Moore, Hill & Westmoreland and has been practicing since 2014. Andrade made his OnBikes presentation alongside nearly 30 other presentations from different YLDs throughout the
state, but his shined the brightest. “Even during the presentation, I was getting texts from other lawyers saying how good Alex’s pitch was,” said Longmire. Andrade said that he was grateful for the opportunity, as the OnBikes program holds a special place in his heart. The YLD is composed of over 26,000 members across the state, all of them under the age of 36 or within their first five years of practicing. Through their efforts, they strive to connect lawyers to their community at large – whether that be access to judges, or mentorship, or helping in their community through initiatives like OnBikes and Justice Teaching. “These awards are really a testament to all the strides that have been made in our Young Lawyer Division over the years,” said Longmire. “It couldn’t have been done without the help of Sarah Carpenter—our former sitting Vice President—and Bo Harper —our President in 2016.” Andrade said that he was grateful for the opportunity given to him by Longmire to present OnBikes. “I really didn’t know what to expect. But because of the grant we received, we have been able to give away over 300 bikes as of April this year.” Longmire, Andrade and White stressed that the most important part of their positions is giving back to the communities that they work in. Their initiatives through programs, classes and funding through aid to local charities is one of their biggest priorities in that mission. “We’re definitely going to do more fundraising drives in the future,” White said. For more information about the Young Lawyer Division and its ESRBA branch, visit flayld.org. To find out more about the OnBikes program, email onbikespensacola@gmail.com.