by Nancy Kinnally
July 2012

ORLANDO, Fla. — As Florida Bar president-elect, Fort Lauderdale attorney Eugene K. Pettis will serve as a designated director on the board of The Florida Bar Foundation, a statewide charitable organization that works to expand access to justice on behalf of Florida’s legal profession.

Pettis, who earned his bachelor’s and juris doctorate degrees at University of Florida, has a trial practice in the areas of medical malpractice, personal injury, employment law, professional liability and commercial litigation. He also represents clients in administrative hearings and other alternative dispute resolution forums.
A member of The Florida Bar Board of Governors since 2005, Pettis currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors and co-chairs the Commission on Review of the Discipline System, which is comprehensively reviewing the Bar’s discipline system. For three years, he chaired the Bar’s committee that fights to preserve the independence of Florida’s judiciary and led the committee as it launched its Benchmarks program for attorneys to teach civics education to adults.

He also serves on the Board of Trustees at UF’s Levin College of Law and on several university advisory committees. In 2009, Pettis was admitted by The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, an academy recognizing lawyers who are regarded by their peers as leaders in the community who have contributed significantly to the legal profession.

Pettis, who is a Florida Bar Foundation Fellow, began his term July 1.