Nicholas A. Shannin is the President of Orange County Bar Association. Each month, he writes a newsletter. His June 2014 newsletter is below:
Starting each message,
An original haiku.
Poetic license!
The second rule from the classic movie Roadhouse (the subject of a future professionalism-related message) is simply this: Take it outside. Both last month and this, we followed Swayze’s advice and took advantage of our Florida environs. The cover shot from May’s Briefs, marred only by my mug, is the view of the Lake Lucerne from my office on Lucerne Circle on the south side of downtown Orlando. I love this view and felt that getting out of the office would be better than a stodgy old indoor picture. Fortunately, my friend and outgoing OCBA president Paul Scheck agreed, and the scenic tableau is the result.
This month’s cover photo is similarly outside, this time in front of our beautiful OCBA building. We’ve almost always taken the picture of the Executive Council inside the building; taking it outside was a means to give The Briefs an invigorating breath of fresh air.
Location has always been one of Orange County’s greatest advantages. Miami might have its beaches, Tallahassee the Capitol, Jacksonville its, its, well, whatever it is that keeps people in Jacksonville. Orlando, however, has it all. We have the Mouse, we have the Wizard, we have the Whale. Businesses of all stripes, top notch medical facilities, and the second largest university in the nation. The Magic may be rebuilding, but its hometown is always having a winning season.
Part of the lure to have all those things – we are the center of the center. Prime, Grade A, realtor-salivating property smack dab in the middle of Central Florida. Which is why the conventions, they come to us. Not least among the conventions: The Florida Bar, which has held its last several midyear meetings in Orlando, and which holds its Annual Meeting here at least every other year.
This is one of those years. We play host this month. From June 25-28, the lawyers of the state will be here – and I encourage each of you to attend. We have home field advantage. Let’s be there in force and prove that we are the gravitational center around which The Florida Bar rotates. This is the reason we are not holding our June meeting at Church Street – we are instead meeting at the Gaylord Palms, and we invite all The Florida Bar to join us! Essentially our same location, just a slight modification to a building that could hold all our out-of-town guests. I hope to see you all there!
Nicholas A. Shannin, Esq., Board Certified Appellate Attorney at Shannin Law Firm, P.A., practices appellate and governmental law and serves as a Certified Circuit, Appellate, and Federal Mediator. He has been a member of the OCBA since 1994.
Orange County Bar Association The Briefs, July 2014, Vol. 82, No. 6. All rights reserved.