St. Lucie County Bar Association

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

 ST. LUCIE COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION                                                                 October 21, 2004

OFFICERS FOR 2004-05:

                   Ian Lloyd, President

            Joel C. Zwemer,  President - Elect                 Kevin Griffin, Secretary

              Richard E. Gitlen, Treasurer

MEETING AND BAR LUNCHEON underwritten by Harbor Federal

Noon Friday October 29th

2nd floor dining room of the Mana Tiki Downtown Fort Pierce

BAR DUES FOR 2004-05

Thank you to those members who responded to the last newsletter and paid their annual dues.

Please pay your SLCBA dues.  Make your checks payable to SLCBA or St. Lucie County Bar Association. Your annual dues are $100 for attorneys with 5 years or more experience;  $75 for government attorneys and those in practice less than 5 years.  

Mail your check today to:                     SLCBA

P.O. Box 3014

Fort Pierce, FL  34948

Meetings and Luncheons for 2004 begin at 12:00 noon:

October 29^th     November - no meeting     December - no meeting/bar mixer

HURRICANE LEGAL AID AT LAW LIBRARY

On November 12^th at 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM in the Law Library, the Friends of the Law Library will hold  a Hurricane Legal Aid program to dispense disaster recovery legal advice at the law library to the general public.  This legal advice will cover small business relief,  homeowners insurance issues,  and landlord tenant questions.  A suggested donation of $10 to the Friends is requested from those attending.  Can you volunteer for 1 hour of time to dispense legal advice.  The point of contact for attorney volunteers for one hour of work is Karen Emmerson, a member of our bar and the vice-president of The Friends of the Law Library.  Karen’s phone number is 461-2310 or contact Marilyn at the Law Library 462-2370..

2004-2005 BAR ASSOCIATION PHOTOGRAPH

Details still being worked out for individual sittings with a photographer in the law library.  Anticipate 3^rd or 4^th week in November.  Announcement in the November newsletter.

CIRCUIT JUDGE APPOINTMENT 24 APPLICATIONS RECEIVED  6 FORWARDED

Of 24 applications 6 were chosen by a local JNC and forwarded to Governor Bush to pick one.  Of the lucky six are Robert Belanger, Lawrence Mirman, Shields McManus, Pamela Roebuck, Paul Terlizzesse, and John Unruh.  The Governor is expected to make his appointment within the next 30 days.  None of these attorneys forwarded by this local JNC are members of this bar.

THE CONSTRUCTION IN FRONT OF THE COURTHOUSE

by Kevin Griffin

We all feel like a boxer down here on 2^nd street who has gone several rounds against a heavy puncher.  Still reeling from the hurricanes the construction in front of the courthouse and the law offices that line 2^nd street downtown adds to the thumping from the recent storms.  Every rain shower creates new obstacles for those of us who must cross from the west.  The east side of  2^nd street is manageable for foot traffic but the west side is another dimension with wooden sidewalks to walk on sometimes, sand trenches to traverse, and heavy ground excavating equipment to dodge.  The parking garage is a real plum for most down here in the legal community.  Those of us who don’t use it find traversing from the available spots to the courthouse from the westside of 2^nd street a real adventure.  Trenches, cables, pipes, wet and dry sand, little and big excavating machinery to contend with and dodge.  The offices on the west side sometimes have electricity, sometimes running water, sometimes access to their door, sometimes access to mail, and sometimes quiet from the machines installing the pipe or covering the street with this weeks brand of sand.   When this phase of the downtown 2^nd street improvement is completed the weariness will go away and all that mess mentioned above shall be forgotten forever.

NEW GOOGLE SOFTWARE TO SEARCH YOUR  HARDRIVE AND IT’S FREE                                           Google’s latest invention: Google Desktop Search. As the name implies, it's software that applies the famous Google search technology to the stuff on your own hard drive. It's free, it's available right now for Windows XP and 2000 (desktop.google.com), and it's terrific.

SEARCH FOR A WILL

Estate of Pat Ludovico: Mr. Ludovico died on September 1, 2004 and it is believed he may have left a will. Please review your will files and if you prepared a will for Mr. Ludovico please call Chester B. Griffin             at 464-8200.

NEWSLETTER INFORMATION 

Please send information and original articles you would like published in this Newsletter by the 15^th of the month to: griffinlaw@bellsouth.net or via fax to SLCBA 468-7742 or mail to:SLCBA P.O. Box 3014  Fort Pierce, Florida 34948.