Jacob Ogles
A new President of The Florida Bar will take the reins when the organization holds its annual convention this week.
Sarasota attorney F. Scott Westheimer, a partner with Syprett Meshad, will be sworn in at The Florida Bar Annual Convention in Boca Raton. Miami attorney Roland Sanchez-Medina Jr. will become President-elect.
The convention runs June 21-24, with the changing of the guard happening at a June 23 assembly. Westheimer is expected to give a speech, which will be live-streamed on The Florida Bar’s YouTube channel.
Westheimer brings a history as a plaintiff’s attorney in personal injury and commercial litigation. That’s a critical background right now, as Florida trial attorneys make sense of a massive torts bill passed this year by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
He also teaches law at the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law.
“His main focus during his term is to analyze, enhance and improve the discipline system, which is already a national leader, and further its primary goal of protecting the public,” reads a release from The Florida Bar.
“He plans to help educate Bar members on compliance, improve communication about the system to our members, and the public, and invest in, and empower our more than 111,000 members, by supporting them in meaningful, practical ways with their daily practice of law, educating them about their ethical duties, providing them tools and resources to assist in complying with our rules, and supporting their health and wellness.
“Another focus will be examining changes in legal technology such as AI tools and cybersecurity. He also wants to increase collaboration between the Bar and its sections and divisions, as well as the valuable voluntary bar associations across the state to better serve Bar members.”
Westheimer previously served as President of the Sarasota County Bar Association and as President of the local Bar’s Young Lawyers Division.
Sanchez-Medina, meanwhile, is the managing partner of SMGQ Law. He served as President of the Cuban American Bar Association in 2009. The transactional attorney has served on the Program Evaluation Committee and has been a member of The Florida Bar Board of Governors for nine years.
