Shareholder Carter Andersen is 2018 Candidate for The Florida Bar Board of Governors 13th Circuit, Seat 4

Shareholder Carter Andersen is running for The Florida Bar Board of Governors 13th Circuit, Seat 4.  Mr. Andersen is among eighteen candidates running for seven seats, on each of seven different circuits. Ballots will be mailed around March 1 and must be returned to the Bar’s election company before midnight March 21.

Carter Andersen's Platform Statement:

I am running for The Florida Bar Board of Governors to represent the 13th Circuit in Seat 4. The seat is being vacated by Mike Hooker, who is not seeking re-election. There are many important issues facing our third branch of government in Florida, and I want to help solve the challenges and problems we face.

I believe that The Florida Bar Board of Governors should have the following among its highest priorities:

• Protecting a strong, independent judiciary.
• Serving the members of The Florida Bar.
• Safeguarding the legal needs of the citizens of Florida.
• Ensuring access to justice in Florida.
• Demanding integrity, professionalism, and civility in the profession.
• Promoting diversity and inclusion.

If elected, the focus of my service will be listening, learning, working hard, and finding solutions.

I graduated with honors from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 1998, where I served on the Florida Law Review and in Florida Blue Key. And I received my B.S. in economics from the University of Florida Warrington College of Business Administration in 1991.

I began my legal career at Jones Day in D.C., from 1998 to 2002, and I am now a shareholder at Bush Ross, P.A., in Tampa, where I have practiced for 14 years. I understand the issues facing lawyers in small and large firms. I specialize in commercial litigation, but also have spent considerable time early in my career as a transactional lawyer.

Practicing in Tampa since 2002, I served on the HCBA Board of Directors for nine years, culminating as president in 2015-2016. That year, we focused on important issues facing the Bar, and brought wonderful speakers, including four-star Gen. Ann Dunwoody and Lightning owner Jeff Vinik, to our members. We also hosted Judge Steve Leifman who taught us about the Criminal Mental Health Project that he initiated to serve the mentally ill in the 11th Circuit.

I have served in a Florida Bar seat on the 13th Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission for seven years, and I currently serve on The Florida Bar Judicial Nominating Procedures Committee. I also served on Florida Bar Grievance Committee 13D from 2012 to 2015. Since 2004, I have served on the UF Law Alumni Council (2004-2011) and as its president in 2010, then on the UF Law Board of Trustees since 2012, and currently as its secretary. Since 2013, I have served on the Board of Directors of the University of Florida Alumni Association.

I am a proud graduate and active alumnus of both Leadership Tampa (2006) and Leadership Florida (Class XXXIII, 2015). These organizations taught me so much about the 13th Circuit and our state, and those lessons will help me serve our circuit and The Florida Bar.

I would be honored and humbled to represent the 13th Circuit on the Board of Governors. If elected, I commit to give my highest effort to represent our circuit. I would greatly appreciate your vote and your support.

Thank you for your consideration.