Rene Perras | 00:05
Welcome, I’m Rene Perras. Legal news reporter for Coffee with Q, and you’re in for a treat today with a new episode. I’m here with my longtime friend, Trevor Goring, Executive Director of the Trial Lawyer National Portrait Gallery. We are at the Florida Justice Association FJA Masters of Justice event. Today’s show is being broadcast from the Four Seasons in Orlando, Florida. Great to be with you, Trevor, as the event is reaching its conclusion.
Trevor Goring | 00:37
It’s wonderful to be here. Beautiful venue. And once again, as always, with the Florida Justice Association, a terrific conference.
Rene Perras | 00:45
It was, I agree. Yesterday’s highlight was the Master of Justice Founders Luncheon. This year’s event included some of the most famous and influential lawyers and non-lawyers who have, in their own right, been champions of justice. Trevor, for 25 plus years, you have been one of those champions through your visual art. You’ve been their resident portrait artist. Every year, the honorees receive signed museum-quality prints of your originals, Trevor Goring founder portraits. How did this all come about?
Trevor Goring | 01:22
Well, as you say, I’ve been working with FJA for almost 25 years, if not more. And, you know, on occasion, I’ve visited their offices in Tallahassee and rolled through their thousands of photographs, and so I feel that I, and they, go back a very long time. And so I feel very close to the organization; they truly are the best state-run trial lawyer organization in the country. And I’ve known just about all of them coming up through the ranks, and some of the very early, even some of the founders that I met. So I feel very privileged to be here.
Rene Perras | 02:08
I agree. I haven’t been as long as you have, but it’s coming on in almost 24, 25 years. Why don’t we start with FJA’s most prestigious award for selfless sacrifice and inspirational leadership in the pursuit of justice? That’s the Perry Nichols Award. This year’s honoree was presented to Alexander Zander Murphy Clem, a past president of the FJA. Xander is the managing partner of Morgan & Morgan, arguably one of the most influential and possibly the largest law firm in the world, or injury law firm in the world, not a law firm per se. He was presented the award by his mentor and longtime friend, John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan. What did you think of that?
Trevor Goring | 02:56
Well, what a treat. We haven’t seen John Morgan at a conference like this for a very long time, but he’s an extraordinary character and such a huge player in the field. So that was a real bonus for us all. The Perry Nichols Award is a very special award. You know, he was once described as a mix of Billy Graham, Vince Lombardi, and General George Patton. An extraordinary man. He was one of the founders of FJA, founder of the International Trial Lawyers Association, and president of the American Trial Lawyers Association, as it was called then.
So it truly is the most distinguished award that can be given, and Xander Clem, what a great character. What a wonderful man. I was very touched by the fact that John Morgan had brought up that when he interviews people, he often asks them the question, do they stand more for justice or more for mercy? And you know, when he posed that question to Xander, He came back, and I think wonderfully with mercy. And, you know, that word always reminds me of the great quote, quality of mercy is not strained, it droppeth from heaven like the gentle rain, you know, from Shakespeare. And it’s true that mercy is much more powerful than justice in the sense that it benefits both the recipient and the giver. So I was very touched by that. And Xander has done sterling work in terms of defeating tort reform time and time again, keeping the courtroom doors open. Obviously, a brilliant lawyer. So it was a wonderful occasion.
Rene Perras | 05:01
I agree. It was truly a touching moment. The show, Xander’s humanity, and John Morgan’s humanity. That was really something. Well, next, we had two awards presented to the Romano family. The Romano Law Group has been one of the most respected and honored law firms. Eric’s father, John, led the fight for justice as president back in ’89 and ’90. And is a recipient of most of the Founders Awards, except maybe for one, I think. And then 30-plus years later, Eric led the association. And he’s receiving the Al J. Cohn Lifetime Achievement Award. Setting an example for others to follow. This year, an added bonus was His mother. You know, Nancy Romano, the wife of John. And she’s receiving the Joan Williams Award, recognizing a non-lawyer for their passion and practicing or protecting the Florida civil justice system. So that was quite a treat too.
Trevor Goring | 06:13
Very moving, really, to see the entire Romano family turn up, you know, brothers, cousins, sisters, aunts, uncles, I think, you know, and very touching to see both Nancy and Eric receiving obviously very well-deserved awards. Awards Todd, Eric’s brother, was there, who is a wonderful trial lawyer and criminal defense lawyer. Yes, a remarkable family and a remarkable moment for them all. Very moving.
Rene Perras | 06:54
How about Al J Cohn? What do you think of that more?
Trevor Goring | 07:00
One of the early founders, of course, was a great war hero. He received not only American medals during the Second World War, but also medals from the UK, the British Military Cross, I believe. So, a towering figure, and one who brought a tremendous sense of dignity and humor. To the profession.
Rene Perras | 07:31
Bob Polk, who presented Eric the award, talked about Al Cohn being on the front lines in 1944 on Christmas Eve. And being able to hear, they were so close to the front that they were able to hear the Germans singing Silent Night.
Trevor Goring | 07:50
Yeah, that was a wonderful story. And Rob Polk can always be counted on to come up with something out of the ordinary. And that was a great story.
Rene Perras | 08:00
Yeah, that was a great moment. Well, next, we had a rising star, honored Alex Arteaga-Gomez, partner at one of the premier Miami firms, Grossman Roth. Alex was the recipient of the BJ and Tom Masterson Award for his lifetime achievement for ethical professionalism, serving Floridians as both a civil justice attorney and a public defender for criminal defense. Trevor, tell us a little bit about that award.
Trevor Goring | 08:28
Yeah, BJ and then his son, Tom Masterson, are going right back. BJ was one of the very early founders. He made a great name for himself going up against General Motors in, I believe, 1961, if I’m not mistaken, and he was greatly admired in the Florida community. As was his son Tom later on. I was very impressed with Alex. He was just so full of energy and dynamism. I’ve always admired people who come up through the public defender, especially in his case, he left private practice to go and work as a public defender. You’ve got to admire that. And what was really terrific was that he just rattled off the name of every female member of the Florida Justice Association and paid tribute to them. And I thought that was a wonderful thing to do. You know, they really are the backbone of the organization. They keep everything running like clockwork, and kudos to him for doing that.
Rene Perras | 09:54
That was truly a nice moment. Finally, tell us about the last two awards. Jon E Krupnick, also known as Jonnyy Krupnick, was awarded to Michael Trentelange, and Victor Tipton was delivered to Kristen Morse.
Trevor Goring | 10:11
Yeah, two very interesting awards. Victor Tipton was the founder of the journal, the magazine of the Florida Justice Association, and was its first editor. And the recipients of that award are awarded because of their clarity and style of writing. And so very often this award goes to an appeals lawyer. And in this case, went to Kristin Norse, highly, very highly respected, incredibly ethical, detailed ethical writer. And the John Krupnik Award, which is given for perseverance, because for one, for many reasons, but one of the reasons was that he pursued a case on behalf of a four-year-old little girl, being very seriously injured. For over 15 years, you know, you have to have tremendous patience and belief in what you’re doing to be able to do that sort of work. And he’s a very interesting man; he wrote a number of books about the Pan Am Pacific flights and the wonderful seaplanes that flew at the time.
So, yeah, and that was Krupnik that was. Yes, that’s Krupnik, and that was awarded to Michael Trentelage, as you say.
Rene Perras | 11:42
Yes, and he shared with us that the first phase of the trial, they were very successful but the, there’s still litigation ongoing. Today, so it continues.
Trevor Goring | 11:59
That’s, that’s right, and he, you know, he’s in partnership with his wife. And so the company name is Trentillage Kelly, and they obviously make a tremendous team work very ardently on these sorts of cases.
Rene Perras | 12:17
I agree. Thank you, Trevor. For all your wonderful insight.
Trevor Goring | 12:21
I’d like to say that we’ve missed out on perhaps one of the most important events of the luncheon, which was a new award, unprecedented in the history of FJA, given to Chris Searcy from West Palm Beach, one of the towering pillars of the organization. And Chris was awarded a brand new award called the Legate Award. And as many of you may well know, the legates were appointed by the emperor or by the senate in ancient Rome. They were the equivalent of generals. They had tremendous roles of leadership, terrific vision, and power. And Chris was awarded this because over his lifetime, he has personally donated over $1 million to the Florida Justice Association. Not to mention the extraordinary work and support that he’s brought to the organization in leadership over the years. So that was a very special event, a very special award. And he was presented with a beautiful sword, which is fortunately in a case because it looked pretty lethal.
Rene Perras | 13:44
It did. It did. And Chris is one of those members. Who has had or received all of the awards, the majority of them anyways so he’s an important member of the association.
Trevor Goring | 14:01
And a brilliant trial lawyer. I’ve seen him speak on so many occasions and he goes into this extraordinary state whereby the way he speaks is really a dry eye in the room. He’s just able to touch your emotions. Brilliant man.
Rene Perras | 14:21
Well, it was wonderful to be with you again. Thank you for your wonderful insight.
Trevor Goring | 14:26
It’s an enormous pleasure to do this, Rene, and Coffee with Q is always a pleasure to appear on.
Rene Perras | 14:34
Well, we’re going to have you on again. I’m Rene Perras, legal news reporter with Coffee with Q. Inviting you to come back next time for another interesting show, a discussion on the civil justice system in America. For now, goodnight and be safe.