Three vie for Florida Bar presidency.

It's been 26 years since The Florida Bar held a contested three-way race for president. (In 1984, eventual winner Patrick Emmanuel of Pensacola ended up in a runoff with William Trickel, Jr., of Orlando, with Michael Plunkett, of Berkely, CA, coming in a distant third.)

The current three-way race for Bar president for 2012-13 offers three seasoned lawyers, all members of the Board of Governors, vying to lead more than 90,000 Florida lawyers:

* Walter "Skip" Campbell, Jr., a 62-year-old former Florida senator who is certified in civil trial law and is a partner at Krupnick, Campbell, Malone, Buser, Slama, Hancock, Liberman & McKee in Ft. Lauderdale;

* John "Jake" Schickel, a 62-year-old former prosecutor and a founding partner of Coker, Schickel, Sorenson & Posgay in Jacksonville, where his law practice areas are medical malpractice, personal injury, professional liability, civil trial, workers' compensation, and mediation;

* Gwynne Alice Young, a 60-year-old former prosecutor, shareholder at Carlton Fields, and leader of the Tampa Business Litigation and Trade Regulation Practice Group, practicing commercial, real estate, probate, and insurance litigation.

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Here's a look at the trio of lawyers hoping to be sworn in as president of the Bar in June 2012, following President-elect Scott Hawkins' 2011-12 term.

Walter "Skip" Campbell, Jr.

Skip Campbell is the first to admit he's been criticized for "breaking ranks and cutting in on two other people" in the race to be Bar president in 2012.

But this experienced politician, who served a decade as state senator and unsuccessfully ran for attorney general in 2006, thinks elections are a good thing--including the way lawyers choose their Bar president.

"I never cut in on anybody. If I'm not the person for the job, I'm not going to win. Life will go on. And if the constituency of Florida lawyers thinks I'm the best candidate and I win, I'll do the best job I can," he said.

"We have not had enough democratic elections for the Bar presidency in years. I think it's good to have three quality people put their credentials on the table, and have the lawyers of the state of Florida choose who they think will do the best job as a member of the legal profession," Campbell said, adding he has "nothing but the highest praise for Gwynne and Jake."

"It's always been a passion of mine to stay active with the Bar and help lawyers of the state of Florida," said Campbell, who first served on the Board of Governors from 1988-96 and was going to run for Bar president in 1996, but withdrew to run for a Senate seat.

"I think elections make everybody a little bit sharper. You'll get the opportunity to hear what people are saying about the profession."

What "a lot of people" have told him, Campbell said, is that his experience as a legislator would come in handy walking the halls of the Capitol as Bar president, seeking a fair shake for lawyers. He said he would lobby for funding not only for the judiciary, but state attorneys, public defenders, and other government lawyers "who don't make a lot of money and still have [law school] debts that you can't believe: $150,000!"

Saying the executive and legislative branches "have taken pot shots at us," Campbell said: "We are at a crossroads of government dealing with the third branch of government, our judiciary....

"A lot of people have said my experience as a legislator would be wise at this period of time to try to see if we can do the best we can with our second and first branches, the legislative and executive....

"We have to make sure people understand that the entire third branch of government has to be properly funded; also, to make sure the civil side of the picture is not paying for everybody else. We have to find ways of actually coming through with the funding."

When it comes to a goal of fostering respect for the profession, Campbell speaks about countering the embarrassment caused by Ft. Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein's $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme that "gave us a real black eye, or an additional black eye."

Wanting to "make sure...