Florida Bar debuts professionalism award honoring Judge Patricia Seitz
Senior U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz, center, accepts the inaugural Patricia Ann Seitz Outstanding Lawyer Professionalism Award from outgoing Bar President Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes, right, and Charise Morgan, chair of the Standing Committee on Professionalism, during the recent Bar Convention in Orlando. The annual award recognizes an attorney who has made a significant difference in the practice of law and the community through exemplary personal and professional ethics and conduct, and reflects Seitz's long-standing commitment to professionalism and access to justice.
The Florida Bar debuted a new professionalism honor at the Bar Convention in Orlando, recognizing exemplary attorneys while also paying tribute to one of the Bar's most influential leaders.
The Patricia Ann Seitz Outstanding Lawyer Professionalism Award was presented for the first time at the Judicial Luncheon in June, where Senior U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz was honored.
Established by The Florida Bar Standing Committee on Professionalism, the award recognizes an attorney who has made a significant difference in the practice of law and the community through exemplary personal and professional ethics and conduct.
The award reflects Seitz's long-standing commitment to professionalism and access to justice, according to the committee that established the award. Sworn in as Bar president in 1993 — the first woman to hold the post — Seitz helped promote newly adopted Rule 4-6, encouraging lawyers to provide pro bono legal services to those in need.
"Judge Seitz advocates that attorneys should 'understand each other as human beings' and often reminds attorneys of what is acceptable and unacceptable conduct," outgoing Bar President Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes said in presenting the award. Baker-Barnes noted that Seitz has mentored several past Bar presidents, including herself.
When she learned of the honor, Seitz said she was "humbled and unworthy to have a Lawyer Professionalism Award" named after her, "especially knowing all of the lawyers whose high standards of professionalism have been my guiding stars over the course of my career."
"If anything, I hope the award is a testament not so much to me, but to the important role they played in mentoring and molding me," Seitz said. "I had the best. I pray those who receive the award in the future will be even better examples of the highest ideals of professionalism."
After more than two decades in private practice, Seitz was appointed to the federal bench in 1998. She has continued to champion professionalism and pro bono efforts throughout her judicial career, helping launch initiatives such as Florida Pro Bono Matters and supporting programs like CARE Court, which assists individuals reentering the community after incarceration.
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