Mentoring picnic celebrates diversity.

More than a fun picnic with finger-licking-good barbecue ribs and jerk chicken, the inaugural Minority Mentoring Picnic was a chance to celebrate and encourage diversity in the legal profession.

The 400 or so judges, lawyers, law students, law school faculty, and Bar leaders who gathered at C.B. Smith Park in Pembroke Pines on October 2 were as diverse as the ethnic side dishes served.

"It was just amazing to see Judge Fred Seraphin, the state's only Haitian-American judge, flipping burgers and almost every student leaving with a smile and a mentor," said Miami lawyer John Kozyak, credited as the catalyst for organizing the picnic.

"Helping black law school students at the University of Miami has been my passion for several years."

As Kozyak describes it, the whole event to connect minority law school students with judges and lawyers willing to serve as mentors mushroomed from a UM event into a great success with participants coming from all around the state, including Florida Bar President-elect Alan Bookman who traveled from Pensacola.

"The entire Bar leadership is committed to diversity, and it will be an ongoing goal in years to come to welcome more minorities into the profession and Bar leadership positions," said Bar President Kelly Overstreet Johnson. "I applaud efforts such as this Minority Mentoring Picnic that provide opportunities to forge positive relationships with current and future minority members of the Bar."

Last year, St. Thomas University and Florida International University asked to be included, Kozyak said. The Florida Bar Equal Opportunities Law Section supported using this minority mentoring program for all minorities at all Florida law schools. Soon, the University of Florida, Florida State University, Nova Southeastern University, and Florida A&M University joined in, as well.

"This picnic just took on a life of its own as numerous voluntary bar associations and bar leaders came forward," Kozyak said.

Local bar associations represented at the picnic included the Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter of the National Bar Association, the Miami-Dade County Bar...