Florida Bar elects Board of Governors members and President

The Florida Bar has decided on several members of its Board of Governors and the President-elect of the legal organization.

Eighteen members of the Board of Governors will be returning to the panel after being re-elected to repeat two-year terms. No one ran against those incumbents. The Florida Bar also elected three new members to the Board who also faced no opposition.

Seat 2, representing Florida 13th Judicial Circuit representing Hillsborough County, is being contested. Florida Bar voting members have until March 1 to email or mail ballots to the organization for Seat 2. If there’s a need for a runoff election, that will be held in April. Candidates in that race include Benjamin Hill IV, Diane Marger Moore and Michael J. Trentalange, who have filed to replace retiring Board member Amy S. Farrior.

All new terms begin in June. Each post’s term lasts until June 19, 2026, or until a successor is elected or qualifies.

Meanwhile, Michael Fox Orr of Jacksonville had no opposition in his election to become President-elect of the Florida Bar.

Orr is resigning his seat on the Board, leaving a vacancy for the Fourth Judicial Circuit in Northeast Florida. The 17th Judicial Circuit for Broward County was also vacated by Hilary Creary, who was appointed a general magistrate in the domestic relations division in that circuit.

Any Florida Bar members who want to be considered for those posts must complete nominating petitions and file them with the Executive Director of the organization by 5 p.m. on Dec. 31. Once those petitions have been filed, ballots will be distributed before March 1. Those ballots must be completed before March 17.

“The Florida Bar is an arm of the Florida Supreme Court charged with lawyer regulation and other professional activities,” a Bar news release said.

The new members elected to the panel include:

— Jacqueline Simms-Petredis, replacing retiring Board member J. Carter Andersen in the 13th Circuit’s Seat 3.

— Shawn D. Smith, replacing retiring Board member Wayne LaRue Smith in the 16th Circuit’s Seat 1.

— Aron J. Gibson, replacing retiring Board member Adam G. Rabinowitz in the 17th Circuit’s Seat 5.