Stetson Law presents two Tampa attorneys with 2005 Wm. Reece Smith Jr. Public Service Award
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Executive Director of Communications
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Gulfport, Fla. – Stetson University College of Law announces the winners of the 2005 William Reece Smith Jr. Public Service Award: Tampa criminal defense attorney Rochelle Reback and Carlton Fields attorney Sylvia Walbolt. The awards were presented at the law school’s spring graduation Honors and Awards ceremony May 13.
Reback leads the law firm of Rochelle A. Reback Attorney and Associates at Law in Tampa, which specializes in criminal law; she is a founding member of Tampa Safe and Free, an organization devoted to educating the community about the USA Patriot Act and its impact on civil liberties. In 2004, Reback received a Human Rights Award from the Tampa-Hillsborough County Human Rights Council. She is an active member of many organizations such as the Practitioner’s Advisory Committee to the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Sylvia Walbolt is a shareholder in the Tampa office of Carlton Fields and serves as chair of the firm’s Board of Directors and its Appellate Practice Group. Walbolt is board certified in appellate law, and she has significant experience with state and federal appeals of torts, employment discrimination and product liability cases among other areas of the law.
Walbolt has a distinguished record of professional activity, including serving as past president of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, former chair of the Florida Bar Antitrust Committee, former vice chair of the Antitrust Section of the American Bar Association, and former chair of the Florida Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in Civil Cases. She also directed the firm’s significant pro bono program for many years.
Stetson established the William Reece Smith Jr. Award in 1990 to recognize and honor individuals who have demonstrated exemplary achievements in public service. William Reece Smith Jr., the award’s namesake and its first recipient, is the past president of the American, International and Florida bar associations.
Post date: May 24, 2005
Media contact: Kate Bradshaw
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