Longtime Florida Bar leader and West Palm Beach attorney Gary Lesser, J.D. ’92, has been elected as president-elect designate of The Florida Bar. Lesser was sworn in as president-elect at the annual Florida Bar convention in June.
Miami Law, through an initiative led by the HOPE Public Interest Resource Center, has been named the 2022 MVP in the Florida Bar Foundation Law School Pro Bono Challenge for having
the most matches of students and alumni engaging in pro bono during the challenge, which ran this spring.
Alumnus takes the reins
Lesser, J.D. ’92, is the managing partner of Lesser, Lesser Landy & Smith PLLC, a 11-attorney personal injury firm. At Miami Law, he was a member of Bar & Gavel Society, and he served as associate editor of the yearbook of International Law and Editor-in-Chief of Res Ipsa Loquitur, the law school’s former newspaper.
“I am grateful for my years at the University of Miami School of Law, which always places a big emphasis on community and professional involvement and leadership,” said Lesser. “It was amazing to see so many UM Law alumni at the Florida Bar Annual Convention, including a number of friends of mine from Section “B” from many years ago.”
Before joining his present firm in 1992, Lesser was an intern while in law school at Aronovitz Trial Lawyers and he also worked with the Miami-Dade County Homeless Legal Project.
Lesser is a member of the Health Law Section, where he also serves as board liaison, and to the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law and Trial Lawyers sections. He has been a member of the Palm Beach County Bar Association since 1992 and has chaired its Professionalism and Medical Legal committees.
Other Miami Law alumni who have led the Florida Bar include Michael J. Higer, J.D. ’85, and Edith Osman, J.D. ’83.
HOPE wins pro bono challenge award
The challenge engages all Florida Law schools. Miami Law was also the MVP in 2020.
“We are so proud to accept the MVP Award for Pro Bono from the Florida Bar Foundation for the Law School Pro Bono Challenge,” said Assistant Dean Marni Lennon, director of the HOPE Public Interest Resource Center. “Miami Law’s institutional commitment to inculcate our students with a pro bono ethic is a great source of pride. Through the challenge, we have the opportunity to facilitate the matches, linking our students to dedicated alumni, to engage in pro bono advocacy. This leads to essential work being done on behalf of clients in need, while building the Miami law community in an authentic and impactful way.”
Founded in 1949, The Florida Bar serves the legal profession for the protection and benefit of both the public and all Florida lawyers. With more than 103,000 members and one of the nation’s largest mandatory bars, The Florida Bar fosters and upholds a high standard of integrity and competence within Florida’s legal profession as an official arm of the Florida Supreme Court regulating the practice of law in the state as well as promoting the administration of justice.
