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    • To permanently honor outstanding and notable alumni of the University of Florida Levin College of Law and their contributions to the state and University, the Law Center Association Board of Trustees established the Heritage of Leadership Recognition Society. The Selection Committee determined the initial classes of inductees, barring exceptional circumstances, would be honored posthumously.

    Reece SmithW. Reece Smith Jr. (1925-2013)

    Class of 1949. The first American to serve as president of his local and state bar, the American Bar Association (1980-81) and the International Bar Association. UF Law Valedictorian and Rhodes scholar. American Bar Association Gold Medal recipient. Played key role in establishing nonprofit legal service organizations nationwide. Partner, Carlton Fields Jorden Burt.

    Reece Smith Biography:

    A life of service and excellence

    W. Reece Smith was born Sept. 19, 1925, in Athens, Tenn., and at age 3 his parents relocated to Florida, where he grew up among the rich agricultural fields and tight-knit community of Plant City. Smith worked as a bag boy at the A&P grocery for 12 cents an hour and delivered copies of the Tampa Bay Times on his bike. Later, he played quarterback for Plant City High School’s football team.

    During his senior year, Smith and his male classmates were required to fill out yellow or white cards to offer their services for World War II. The recruiter had run out of yellow Army cards by the time he got to Smith, so he filled out a white card for the Navy – a coincidence he credits with saving his life as a young man.

    His Army-enrolled classmates were sent almost directly into combat. But the Navy sent Smith to enroll at the University of South Carolina, where he completed Navy ROTC, earned a bachelor’s in Naval Science and lettered as the Gamecock’s starting quarterback.

    He served a stint overseas, was honorably discharged and enrolled at UF Law. Following service as editor-in-chief of the Florida Law Review, Smith received his degree with high honors in 1949. Valedictorian of his class, Smith was selected for membership in Phi Kappa Phi, the prestigious Florida Blue Key fraternity and the University Hall of Fame. In his 3L year, he was selected as a Rhodes Scholar. So after law school graduation and a few months in private practice, Smith moved to Oxford University to complete post-graduate work. He didn’t only excel academically: He received varsity letters on Oxford’s lacrosse and basketball teams.

    Upon returning from Oxford, Smith taught at UF Law for two years. He left for the firm where he would work for the next six decades, Mabry, Reaves, Carlton, Fields & Ward. Smith rose to partner of the firm now known as Carlton Fields Jorden Burt.

    Smith would go on to argue cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and he rose to leadership at every level of his profession. He is the first American to serve as president of the bars of his county (Hillsborough County Bar Association), state (The Florida Bar), nation (The American Bar Association) and world (the International Bar Association).

    A socially conscious lawyer, Smith strived to help the less fortunate. During his term as ABA president, he led opposition to a proposal to eliminate the Legal Services Corporation, which provides legal services to the poor across the country. He was an influential advocate of pro bono work, establishing the ABA Pro Bono Center, which helped increase voluntary projects from 50 to 1,000 over a 10-year period. He played a key role in establishing Florida Legal Services, Inc. – a non-profit that provides civil legal assistance to those who would not otherwise be able to afford legal representation.

    Shortly before his death, he was honored with the Florida Supreme Court’s Lifetime Achievement Award. A biography of his life and career was published in 2010’s A Consummate Lawyer by Michael Swygert, emeritus professor at Stetson University College of Law.

    Besides his family, Smith is survived by millions of people in this country and across the world who have benefitted from the pro bono services they received as a result of his efforts.

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    The Florida Constitutional Law Endowment in memory of Justice Ben F. Overton was created by Judge Karen Miller in 2013. This fund supports lectures and presentations by Justices of the Florida Supreme Court at the Fredric G. Levin College of Law.

    HISTORY

    Justice Overton, who earned his B.S. in 1951 and his Juris Doctor in 1952 from the University of Florida, was the first merit appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Throughout his career he was active in legal education and served as an Adjunct Professor at the Levin College of Law through December 2012, the month of his death. Although he resided at Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, a continuing care retirement community developed in cooperation with UF, he also considered the Florida Supreme Court “home.” Among the high points of his later years was hosting Justices of the Florida Supreme Court in Gainesville and taking his class to Tallahassee to hear oral arguments at the Florida Supreme Court.
    Judge Miller, who earned her B.S. cum laude from New York University in 1974 and her Juris Doctor from New York Law School in 1977, served as Chief Administrative Law Judge of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, New York City’s business regulatory agency, before she retired to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida. Having accompanied Justice Overton on his excursions to Tallahassee and joined him in welcoming guests to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, she created the endowment in memory of Justice Overton to ensure that the Levin College of Law continues to have the funding necessary to continue and enhance the interaction between its students and the Florida Supreme Court.

     

    Judge Miller remembered the event that motivated the endowment.

     

    Prior to a dinner at the home of Dean Robert Jerry and Lisa Jerry shortly after Justice Overton’s death, Justice Barbara Pariente and I were discussing a suitable memorial. Justice Pariente, who had been Justice Overton’s colleague on the Florida Supreme Court and who understood the importance to him of the interaction between his students and the Court, suggested the outline of what has become the Overton lectures. Dean Jerry, who has since retired, as has Dean Emeritus Jon Mills, who assumed responsibility for implementing the Overton lectures, were very supportive from the beginning. Since Dean Mills’ retirement, Professor Timothy McClendon, who assisted both Justice Overton and Dean Mills teaching Florida Constitutional Law and who co-authored the recent Florida Constitutional Law casebook, has continued the Overton lectures with the support of Interim Dean Merritt McAlister and CGR director, Professor Danaya Wright.

    Justice Overton was a devoted jurist, educator, and ethical leader of the Florida legal profession. The Overton Lecture Series brings Florida Supreme Court Justices to the University of Florida, Levin College of Law, and serves to introduce students to the inner workings of the Court. CGR and the students of the College of Law extend our deepest gratitude to Judge Karen Miller for making the Overton Lectures possible in perpetuity.

    You can watch an interview for the Florida Historical Society by Mary Adkins, professor emeritus of the UF Levin College of Law, with Justice Overton here.

    Justice Overton was also interviewed for the Samuel Proctor Oral History Project and a transcript of his interview is available at the Smathers Library, and here.
    Justice Overton sat on the Constitution Revision Commission of 1977-78 that proposed a right to privacy in the Florida Constitution. Although it failed as part of the Constitution Revision Commission recommendations, it passed in 1980 when proposed by the legislature. The bill was co-sponsored by our very own Jon Mills. The privacy provision prevailed by greater than 60%. Justice Overton then wrote a concurrence in a critical reproductive rights case in 1989 affirming that the privacy provision of the Florida Constitution included the right to obtain an abortion. That decision was overruled in Planned Parenthood of SW and Central Florida v. Florida. You can read about the role of Justice Overton, Jon Mills – director emeritus of CGR, and the history of the 1989 case here.