HCBA Lawyer Magazine No. 31, Issue 1 | Page 14

E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R ’ S M E S S A G E J o h n F . K y n e s - H i l l s b o r o u g h C o u n t y B a r A s s o c i a t i o n paigegreenleeinstalledasnewHCba presidentasbaradaptsamidpandemic andlookstotheFuture thenewbaryearandthefallseasonbringsnewopportunities forHCbamembers,evenwhileweareallaretryingtostaysafe andsociallydistancing. Tampa attorney Paige Greenlee has served the legal profession in various leadership positions at the state and local level for many years. But Greenlee says she never could have imagined becoming president of the HCBA in the middle of a global pandemic. That is exactly what happened, however, when Greenlee was sworn in as president of the HCBA by Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Ron Ficarrotta this past June amid the current devastating COVID-19 crisis. More than a century ago, the 1918 influenza pandemic swept across the globe and killed an Greenlee speaking with Legal Talk Network in 2019 at Florida Bar Convention. estimated 50 million people, including 675,000 Americans. And while I don’t know much about the HCBA’s installation of G.E. Mabry in 1918 when he became HCBA president, I can safely assume the ceremony wasn’t held via Zoom, which is how this year’s ceremony was held. In her remarks during the firstof-its-kind virtual HCBA ceremony, Greenlee said she was honored to become president of the HCBA regardless of the circumstances, and that she looked forward to helping the association pivot and serve its members in this “new normal” to the best of her ability. Continuedonpage13 1 2 S E P T - O C T 2 0 2 0 | H C B A L A W Y E R