Local attorney Jennifer Shoaf Richardson lives, breaths, and works law.
This summer she will be sworn in as President of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers and is currently president of the Jacksonville chapter.
She works with the association to lobby legislation in Tallahassee, bring diversity to the benches of Florida, in an effort to ensure women have equal rights in the workplace. Most recently, she was appointed by Governor Rick Scott to join the Fourth Circuit Judicial Nominating Committee.
As a member of the Fourth Circuit JNC she will work with the committee to vet and interview potential judges for Clay, Nassau, and Duval County. At only 33 years old, she's on the younger spectrum of appointees.
The committees are comprised of lawyers from various areas of practice.
When a judge resigns, retires or has reached his or her constitutional age limit, it is the committee's job to replace the open position.
“My job is to select the most qualified applicant, and diversity is part of a complete package,” Richardson said.
The committee considers the applicant’s experience, temperament, knowledge of the law, communication skills and personality to gauge whether they would be a suitable judge to the Northeast Florida counties. As a member of the committee, Richardson said making sure gender plays no role in the selection of a judge is essential.
“I’ve been heavily invested in trying to make sure this process is fair and it means the world to me to actually have a say in that process as well,” Richardson said. “Particularly, we want to make sure our judges in Florida exhibit not only knowledge of the law, but humility and an ability to communicate effectively with the public that they serve.”
The importance, she said, is that the justice system is fair, and perceived as fair. “When people are being sentenced or receiving rulings from individuals that don’t look like them, they tend to perceive the system as not fair. We all bring our own individual experiences to the evaluation of a case or facts or a situation and it’s important that the individuals on the judicial nominating committee and members of our bench that are ultimately selected have those different backgrounds.”
This summer Richardson will be sworn in as the president of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers, becoming the first president from Jacksonville in over 20 years.
“We’re so excited to sort of shine a spotlight on all that Jacksonville is doing to ensure there is gender equality in the workplace,” Richardson said.
Gabrielle Garay can be reached at newsteam@wjct.org, 904-358-6317.
