Suskauer to be a champion for Florida lawyers: 'I know what it's like to bring in business and deal with increased competition'.

Michelle Suskauer, an intensely driven and reform-minded criminal defense attorney from West Palm Beach, was sworn in as president June 15 at The Florida Bar's 68th Annual Convention at the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek.

Surrounded by her daughters, Talia and Becca, and her husband, 15th Circuit Judge Scott Suskauer, the eight-year Board of Governors veteran waved her kindergarten report card and, in a flash of self-deprecating humor, poked fun at her take-charge reputation and outsized personality.

"Michelle is an enthusiastic, happy child. Michelle is especially verbal," Suskauer quoted her teacher. "Michelle has a tendency to be a bit bossy. Michelle finds it difficult to share attention with others."

Smiling broadly and pausing for effect, Suskauer deadpanned, "Well, I've changed quite a bit since then."

A skilled debater with a quick wit and iron resolve, the 52-year-old is known mostly outside of Bar circles for her work as a legal analyst for NBC, FOX, MSNBC, and CNN.

But in an emotional tribute before her swearing in, Scott Suskauer recounted how his wife is better known locally for her work as president of the board of directors of the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County.

Each year, the judge said, his wife emcees a legal aid society ball that raises as much as $250,000 for charity. When she noticed some of her jailed clients were illiterate or poor readers, she began a "Breakfast and Books," literacy program that matches local attorneys with inmates struggling to improve themselves, Judge Suskauer said.

That same energy and determination sustained them in the early years, the judge said.

"Relentless, passionate, selfless, that's Michelle Suskauer," he said. "Her path to president has been quite different ... She chose to represent and fight for the indigent accused, the most unpopular underdog in a mom-and-pop small business together, just like the majority of our Bar."

Fighting for the underdog became a central theme of Michelle Suskauer's subsequent remarks.

She vowed to continue promoting equality for women, pledging that this year the Bar will begin implementing the recommendations from a special committee on gender equity--including a "blue ribbon" designation for firms that meet hiring, promotion, and retention targets.

And in an acknowledgement of the "#MeToo" movement, Suskauer promised to beef up reporting mechanisms for lawyers and judges who witness bias and discrimination, and to better communicate existing...