Coleman begins his adventure as Bar president: 'My focus is going to be on identifying technological tools for our members to enhance and improve their practice'.

Years ago, Jay White and Greg Coleman took their boat to the Bahamas to fish and lobster when a storm whipped up 12-foot waves.

There was no getting back home to West Palm Beach by boat. And they didn't want to ride out the storm. Coleman went to the dock, found someone with a satellite phone, and came back to announce: "Be ready in an hour. I've got a plane coming."

As White, a former Florida Bar president, tells the story, they were on the plane preparing for take-off, when White looked out the window and noticed the plane's wheels were in the seawater. He tapped the shoulders of Coleman, wearing headphones and sitting in the co-pilot's seat, to tell him. Coleman nonchalantly said, "Yeah, this plane has never taken off on a runway this short and we're not sure we can do it."

"Excuse me?!" an incredulous White exclaimed.

As the pilot had his foot on the brake and revved the engine, Coleman explained over the roar that once they get going, they'll bounce the plane so they will clear the treetops.

"I'm like, 'What? What if we don't make it?'" White asked.

"We'll hit the tree at the top of the runway," Coleman replied.

The plane took off, they bounced the plane, White held his breath, and they missed the tree by what seemed like mere inches.

White shared that story at the General Assembly at the Bar's Annual Convention on June 27, in introducing his longtime friend and colleague, as a fearless, adventurous, problem-solver.

Coleman's next adventure that will test his problem-solving skills is serving as the new president of The Florida Bar. The 51-year-old partner at Critton, Luttier & Coleman in West Palm Beach, detailed some of his main goals during his year leading nearly 100,000 lawyers, involving technology, and trying to solve the huge gap in access to justice for Florida's poor and middle-class citizens.

Technology

"Technology has already changed the way we practice law. It will continue to change the way we practice law. It will continue to change the way we live and there are both positives and negatives to these changes," Coleman said.

"My focus is going to be on identifying technological tools for our members to enhance and improve their practice. Tools that can make their office more efficient; tools that can make them better lawyers. Hopefully, if a lawyer is more efficient, then he or she can spend more time with their family."

An educational program that goes beyond the practice of law is what Coleman calls E-Etiquette.

"Years...