Thursday, August 22, 2013

General Meeting Minutes

Opening
       President Tanya Williams began the meeting and Secretary Jessica Czaya led the group in the pledge of allegiance. After the pledge, Judge Patricia Thomas officially swore in the newest leaders of the C.C.B.A., Tanya Williams, President, Adam Czaya, Vice President, Jessica Czaya, Secretary, and Montyce VanNess, Treasurer.

General Announcements
       President Williams discussed the events the Bar Association is planning for the upcoming year including some events the Association participated in last year and some new events like happy hour mixers.

Family Law Section
       President Williams introduced Steven Fichtman, Chairman of the Family Law Section of the CCBA, to discuss upcoming events for the Family Law Section. Attorney Fichtman informed members of the first meeting which will take place on September 26th at Noon in the Jury Assembly Room of the Citrus County Courthouse. The topic will be Standing Administrative Order C2007-22-B and Fam. R. Civ. P. 12.285, which impact every case, the ability to resolve cases in a timely matter, the likelihood of motion hearings and trial, and the amount of time and attorney fees in a case. The meeting will look at the practical application of the order and rules, and Attorney Fichtman will personally invite every family law attorney practicing in our community as well as senior and board certified lawyers in and around the community for a variety of perspectives on the impact of the rule and order. The goal of the meeting will be to open honest dialogue about the impact on family law practices and practitioners from the point of view of the attorneys as well as the judiciary. Looking ahead to the upcoming year, the Section will have six meetings and will aim to provide education and information (with CLE credits) with an eye toward the day-to-day practice of family law. The Section will host one or more "View from the Bench" meetings which will allow attorneys to submit questions to our Judges to get their perspective on issues, practice questions, or problems that practitioners face. More information on these meetings will be provided in the future.

       Attorney Fichtman encourages all those attorneys who are practicing in the field of family law to sign up for the Family Law Section, if you have not done so yet.

Guest Speaker
       Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, Angela Vick, spoke to the group regarding recent and upcoming changes in the Clerk's office. She opened the floor to any questions or concerns regarding e-filing and announced that criminal court e-filing will go into effect beginning October 1. She also discussed that recent mortgage foreclosure legislation has slowed foreclosure fillings by about 70%, and that the Clerk's office is working through those issues. The Clerk's office is looking forward to the implementation of Smart Bench, an electronic reader program that will allow our Judges to automate paper processes in the courtroom. Please check out the "Clerk's Corner" portion of this blog to see the latest updates from the Clerk's office.

Closing Remarks
       President Williams concluded the meeting by reminding members about our blog and Facebook page. Be sure to like our Facebook page for reminders about meetings and events. You can subscribe to our blog feed in the "Follow by Email" Bar to the right to receive blog posts by email. We are all looking forward to an exciting and successful year for the CCBA and we hope to see you at our Family Law Section meeting on September 26th, or our next general meeting on October 24th.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Meeting - Thursday, August 22nd at Noon

Join us for our first meeting of the year on Thursday, August 22nd at noon in the Jury Assembly Room of the Citrus County Courthouse. We will have a special guest speaker, Angela Vick, the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller for Citrus County, and a delicious selection of Cuban food from Natalia's will be served. We hope you'll all join us for a great start to the new year for CCBA.

Membership dues for the year are due prior to the first meeting date. For information on dues, see our Membership Information page.