It's Higer's turn at bat.

Introducing the new Florida Bar president as her "main man" she first met in an accounting class at the University of Florida, Bobbie Higer thanked "all of the amazing people who helped me to transform an immature, basketball-playing, not-studying-very-much, 19-year-old frat boy college student into this incredible man: a very accomplished yet humble, caring yet competitive attorney, with a tremendous passion for the Los Angeles Dodgers!"

When 56-year-old Michael Higer stepped up to the mic, giving his wife a big hug, he wore a Dodgers cap, declaring the official language of the Bar will be baseball, and the official team will be--you guessed it--the Dodgers.

"There are lots of moments and people in my life that make up my narrative as to why I knew from a very early age that I wanted to be a lawyer," said Higer, a partner at Berger Singerman in Miami. "Some of those people include Clarence Darrow and Sandy Koufax and Jackie Robinson--all of whom were significant influences on my career path."

Another big influence, he said, was his late father, Aaron Higer, who had throat cancer as a young boy, and whose life was saved by removing most of his voice box--so he never spoke above a whisper.

While that condition kept his father from achieving his aspiration to become a Florida lawyer, Higer said, "It did not, however, affect him being the de facto legal counsel to our neighbors and our community. Over the years, I saw dozens of people visit with my dad in our kitchen, in our synagogue, and in their homes, as he counseled them on myriad business and personal issues that confronted them....

"Watching my dad do what good lawyers do every day, which is to give their clients good, practical, logical, and compassionate advice, struck a deep chord in why I do what I do each day and why I am here today," Higer said.

Higer then turned to the audience at the General Assembly at the Bar's Annual Convention in Boca Raton on June 23 and asked: "Why are you here? ... More importantly, why are each of us lawyers? And the answer isn't just because you couldn't hit a curve ball," Higer said, swinging an imaginary bat.

"Why is not only a critical question for each of us; why is also a critical question for The Florida Bar. We do lots of great things at the Bar, lots of great programs, lots of great initiatives. But for all the good we do, and we do lots of good, sometimes we forget, sometimes we lose touch with our why.

"So what is the Bar's why? If you asked...