Jack Harkness

Former Florida Bar executive director John F. “Jack” Harkness Jr. has been appointed to a three-year term on the board of The Florida Bar Foundation, a statewide charitable organization whose mission is to provide greater access to justice. His term begins July 1, 2018.

After serving as the State Courts Administrator for six years, Harkness became executive director of The Florida Bar in 1980. He eventually oversaw a staff of 360 – with 284 working at the Tallahassee headquarters complex named in his honor – and a budget of $44.2 million for an organization with more than 105,000 members. He retired last year as the longest-serving bar executive director in the nation.

Harkness is recognized for establishing the Bar’s ethics hotline, Attorney Consumer Assistance Program and multiple professionalism committees and programs of The Florida Bar. He has been a strong advocate of pro bono service, legal services funding and a fair and impartial judiciary.

Harkness received both his bachelor’s and juris doctor from the University of Florida. He is a Florida Bar Foundation Fellow and a member of the Foundation’s Bronze Society for lifetime giving.