PRESIDENT ’ S MESSAGE
Scott B . Smith 2022-23 PBCBA President
100 years ! 1,200 months ! 36,500 days ! Wow ! Happy 100th Anniversary to the Palm Beach County Bar Association and all of our current and past members ! This is truly a huge milestone and an incredible accomplishment for our Association . For 100 years , the PBCBA and all of our members have been committed to helping their clients , the legal system and our community at large . So too have we been steadfast in pursuing the PBCBA ’ s mission of serving our members , fostering professionalism and enhancing the public ’ s understanding and awareness of the legal system .
It was a great night at The Breakers for our Association ’ s Annual Installation Gala and Centennial Celebration on June 11th . Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to join us for the swearing-in of our new Board of Directors and for our “ one-hundredyears-in-the-making ” amazing event . I ’ d also like to offer a very special thank you to retired Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente for issuing the oath to our 2022-2023 Board and also extend a big thank you to Circuit Court Judge James Martz for leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance and for his invocation . A sincere thank you as well is owed to Chief Judge Glenn Kelley and all other members of our Judiciary who were able to be with us to recognize our 100 years of work , service and progress . Nearly 500 PBCBA members and guests attended the celebration and it was wonderful to all be back together looking and feeling our best after two years of being unable to do so .
As was highlighted in the event ’ s program and as I referenced at the banquet , we , as members of The Florida Bar and the PBCBA , are such an integral and important part of the various systems and moving parts that have helped make this Country the greatest and freest nation our planet has ever seen and we are also at the forefront of creating and effecting change when needed . We all have so much to be proud of in being part of a legal system committed to equal opportunity , equal protection and equal justice for all under the law .
The Palm Beach County Bar Association , an association started in 1922 ( 100 years ago !), with just 23 members and before the “ luxury ” of modern air-conditioning , has been diligent in helping its members meet and overcome the challenges associated with the practice of law and in performing the due diligence owed to our clients . Our aforementioned mission is a tremendously important and critical one , and our numerous public service activities and consistent giving back to our community are a benefit and blessing for so many .
So much has changed since 1922 , not only here in Palm Beach County , but across the globe . As I also noted at the Gala , we have evolved from legal pads to iPads , from rotary phones to cell phones , from typewriters to voice recognition typing and from the fax machine to e-mail . We have also seen and will likely continue to see , perhaps even soon , changes in our procedural law , substantive case law , rules of evidence and legislatively enacted laws , codes , and / or regulations .
Positive change and growth have also taken place in society and within our own Association . In 1993 , JulieAnn Rico was installed as the Palm Beach County Bar Association ’ s first women President . In 2006 , Manny Farach became our first Hispanic-American
PBCBA President and the following year in 2007 , the late and truly extraordinary Meenu Sasser , became our first Asian- American President . In 2011 , John Howe was sworn-in as our first African- American President and in 2017 Sia Baker-Barnes became our first African- American female President . I am also very happy to write into this President ’ s Message that my good friend Grasford Smith will become our 101st President next year while bringing in the second century of the PBCBA .
Throughout this coming year , we plan to highlight the extensive history of the PBCBA and our members . We further plan to highlight how much good members of the PBCBA have done for their clients and for our community , as it is unquestioned that members of the PBCBA have been at the lead of great and positive growth and change in Palm Beach County , Florida and throughout our entire nation . We plan to help further enlighten the public ’ s awareness and understanding of how much good our members do in our communities , schools , places of worship , and beyond .
We are all blessed to call Palm Beach County home and how fortunate we also are to serve the citizens of PBC and the great State of Florida . As I also proudly and loudly said at the gala , we are the best darn voluntary association in the land with our approximate 3,000 members ! From the North County Courthouse in Palm Beach Gardens to the West County Courthouse in Belle Glade to the South County Courthouse in Delray Beach and to our main Palm Beach County Courthouse in downtown West Palm Beach , we are members of the Palm Beach County Bar Association who proudly , competently and zealously serve our clients . May the Lord continue to bless all of us with great health , boundless exuberance , and immense wisdom so that we can provide another 100 years of productive , beneficial and committed service to our clients , our community and the Palm Beach County Bar Association !
PBCBA BAR BULLETIN 3