Scott Carruthers Executive Director		Crossing the Finish Line A Look Back on the Presidency of Tom Edwards May 19, 2009
The “utility player” on a professional baseball team is key to the team’s success. This player is versatile and talented enough to play numerous positions whenever he is needed to step in and help out the team. His ability to effectively play at a moment’s notice and contribute his diverse skills on a day-to-day basis makes him a much sought-after player and an invaluable asset. Tom Edwards has been the FJA’s go-to-guy for all of our most difficult missions for nearly ten years now. He has been an essential part of FJA leadership during some of the toughest years we have ever faced. They say that timing is everything in life, and unfortunately for Tom, his timing could not have come at a more difficult and trying time for the FJA. For the past eight years, Tom Edwards has provided the strong leadership we needed to combat the most complex and demanding issues of recent memory. From being in the middle of our battle on nursing home legislation in 2001, to joining the FJA Executive Committee in 2003 during our notorious fights on med-mal, to the Amendment 3 campaign in 2004, to heading up numerous negotiations with various business and insurance groups, Tom has always found a way to get involved and truly make a difference for Floridians. And, he made countless sacrifices along the way in doing so. From leaving behind his much-loved family, to taking time away from his duties and outside obligations as a father, husband, friend, and attorney, Tom’s countless sacrifices and service to the FJA are immeasurable. The time and energy our president must dedicate to the FJA traveling back and forth to Tallahassee and around the state is immense. In the midst of his presidency, Tom even managed to somehow find the time to start a new law firm with partner Eric Ragatz. Tom’s endless passion and dedication to justice are unmatched and his service to the FJA and to protecting Florida’s civil justice system will be missed in the years ahead. Tom is a nonstop kind of guy, constantly working on various tasks and projects, and always with the beads of sweat on his face to prove it! Through the sweat, however, it doesn’t take much to notice just how dedicated Tom is to the FJA and to protecting the rights of Florida’s consumers. Tom’s devotion to the civil justice system is surpassed only by his devotion to his family. The pride and joy he feels for them radiates from him in everything he does. As intense and all consuming as a legislative session is, Tom always found time for his family every day. Tom even brought his kids to Tallahassee this Session, where they got to spend their Spring Breaks inside Florida’s Capitol as pages. His wife, Julie, says that when it comes to work, Tom is all business. He feels that attorneys have an obligation to make things better for the future of our children and works intensely towards that goal. That same goal is shared by FJA Past President and fellow Jacksonville attorney, Howard Coker, who got Tom involved and engaged with the FJA many years ago. Since becoming an attorney, Howard has served as Tom’s mentor and close friend, helping him learn the ropes of our organization and showing him what a good leader should be. The two share many similarities including their love of hunting and fishing, their “leave no stone unturned” character, and their aggressive personality in seeking out their goals. They drink the same Jacksonville “water,” and maintain the same pride and dedication to Florida’s consumers. Together with men like Howard Coker, W.C. Gentry, Bill Harrell, Wayne Hogan, Gary Pajcic, and Robert Spohrer, Tom Edwards has helped to develop a culture of commitment to the FJA in Duval County, elevating the percentage of EAGLE memberships to an elite category at the upper echelon of the state. Tom has served as an exemplary EAGLE throughout his time as a leader, exhibiting the kind of commitment, dedication, and sacrifice that all FJA members should strive to achieve. When he allows himself the opportunity for time away from work, Tom is an avid fisherman, hunter, and lover of the outdoors. He is very serious, intense and loves competition, whether at battle in the courtroom, one-upping colleagues with practical jokes, catching fish on a boat, or hunting deep in the savannahs of Africa. Julie has confirmed that Tom prides himself on “shooting anything bigger than Howard Coker shoots.” Tom’s tenure as President is the culmination of some ten years of unwavering commitment and service to the FJA. He has been our ultimate “utility player,” fulfilling an incredibly important role and position of leadership. He has probably traveled around the state for all sorts of meetings more than anyone I know. From various membership appreciation receptions to editorial board visits to FJ PAC meetings, Tom has always been a steady and consistent force. He is capable of synthesizing complex issues and getting to the root of them with ease. Tom has always had a knack for understanding a multitude of topics like budgeting, politics and legislative issues, as well as the fine art of micro-management. Everyone that has worked with him can attest to Tom’s “heightened level of involvement” in ALL matters, though he always has a very articulate way of taking part in the action. Tom’s involvement, focus, and unrelenting determination, however, was often needed in meeting the many big and daunting challenges we faced during his year as President. His leadership by example and indefatigable energy will be missed by everyone at the FJA. It’s been one year now since the sunglasses-on-croakies around his neck, blue-tooth-in-his-ear, attorney from Jacksonville took over the reigns of the presidency. Through a tumultuous 2009 Session, Tom’s leadership brought many victories including killing a child safety waivers bill that would have greatly endangered the lives of Florida’s children, killing a bill that capped contingency fees in contracts between attorneys and the Attorney General, helping to establish a stable source of court funding, ensuring that no bad faith insurance bills were heard in committees, and establishing compromises in bills concerning surplus lines insurance and tobacco supersedeas bonds. Tom began his term as President wanting to elevate FJA to a new level. One year later, the FJA continues to soar and serve as a vital voice for Florida’s consumers inside the Legislature. Through both victories and setbacks, Tom’s tenure as both President and as a leader in our organization will be missed. His focused and determined voice, knowledge, and extreme passion for justice have been crucial to our success. It is true that timing is everything in life and, though Tom presided over some of the toughest years we have faced as an organization, his leadership was vital to our ability to navigate through some very difficult times and emerge as steady and strong as ever. He now joins the elite ranks of FJA Past Presidents and his legacy with the FJA will remain forever. There’s a quote I read recently from the book Outliers that describes what legacies are: "… Legacies are powerful forces. They have deep roots and long lives. They persist, generation after generation, virtually intact, even as the economic and social and demographic conditions that spawned them have vanished, and they play such a role in directing attitudes and behavior that we cannot make sense of our world without them." Tom once remarked that “we would be nowhere without teamwork.” The legacy he leaves behind will be of the ultimate utility-player, the steady example of dedication and service to our cause, and that of a strong leader of our committed team of justice.