PRESIDENT’ S MESSAGE
PBCBA RESOURCE GUIDE
PRESIDENT’ S MESSAGE
Dear Colleagues,
Jack Rice 2026-27 PBCBA President
Welcome to the 2026-2027 Bar year! I hope this summer is affording you and your families a well-deserved opportunity to relax, recharge, and, hopefully, enjoy a slower pace. While some schedules may catch their breath this time of year, PBCBA is already hard at work. It is an absolute privilege to step into this role, and I am looking forward to a fantastic year ahead for our legal community.
Our year is already off to a great start, and it was wonderful to see many of you at our 104th Annual Installation Banquet. I am sincerely grateful to you all for entrusting me with the responsibility of serving as president. It was a pleasure to be back at The Breakers, and the event set an inspiring tone for the months to come. Of course, an event like the Installation Banquet doesn’ t happen on its own.
I’ d like to recognize the dedication and professionalism of the PBCBA Staff in making the Installation Banquet such a success. As many of you may have heard, our Executive Director, Carla Tharp Brown, will be retiring this fall after a decade of distinguished service to PBCBA. Carla will be deeply missed and leaves a legacy of achievements, including:
• Successfully steering us through a facility crisis and subsequent renovation after a fire in our headquarters( during her first five months as Executive Director);
• Growing the Bar association’ s membership and spearheading community support during the pandemic, including organizing the donation of over 2,000 pounds of food to the County Food Bank; and
• Expanding community access to legal services by implementing an online intake platform to enhance the Bar’ s Lawyer Referral Program, which contributed to a more than 60 % expansion of the program.
While we will miss Carla’ s steady leadership and wish her the absolute best in retirement, we have already begun the search for our next Executive Director. I have convened an ad hoc Search Committee, composed of past presidents, to assist the board of directors in finding a new Executive Director. The committee will be chaired by Julia Wyda and be responsible not only for identifying and selecting the most qualified candidate, but also to help ensure a seamless transition.
This transition is also an opportunity to reaffirm the vision for PBCBA and candidly assess our organizational strengths and areas for growth, making it an ideal moment to launch a strategic planning initiative. In the coming months, the board of directors intends to engage consultants to evaluate the organization and help chart a course for our future. Those who attended the Installation Banquet have already shared their insight and we look forward to receiving the ideas of all members throughout the year. These collective ideas will form the foundation for PBCBA’ s next chapter.
One of the best ways to contribute is by staying involved. Please don’ t hesitate to reach out to me at jrice @ gunster. com if you are interested in serving on a committee this upcoming year. The Bar’ s strength comes from you, our active members. I wish you all a safe, relaxing, and enjoyable summer, and look forward to an exciting upcoming year.
PBCBA RESOURCE GUIDE
Whether you’ re looking for upcoming CLEs, legal community news, member resources, or new ways to get involved, PBCBA keeps you connected through these key channels:
Website— CLE and event registration, committees, sections, member benefits, Bar Bulletin archive, latest Association and court news, and more.
Bar Bulletin— PBCBA’ s official monthly publication featuring legal community news, featured articles, judicial profiles, and membership highlights.
Mobile App— Convenient access to PBCBA information, register for events and access other resources on the go.
Weekly eBlasts— Timely CLE reminders, upcoming events, court announcements, and Association updates.
Social Media— Member highlights, news, sharable events and ways to stay engaged.
Explore these resources and more at www. palmbeachbar. org
PBCBA BAR BULLETIN 3