ORLANDO – Each year, the Orange County Bar Association (OCBA) singles out one attorney who best exemplifies professionalism in the practice of law. The 2010 William E. Trickel, Jr. Professionalism Award was presented to Leon Handley, an attorney with RumbergerKirk.

Handley accepted the award at the March OCBA luncheon. In his acceptance speech, Handley reflected on his first days as a lawyer, “There existed no interstate highways, no Xerox machines, no public law libraries, no cell phones, no electric typewriters, and, of course, no fax machines, no laptops, no electronic devices whatever. All cases were required to be conducted in the seat of county government: in Volusia, Deland; in Brevard, Titusville; in Polk, Bartow; in Pinellas, Clearwater. The only air conditioned buildings were movie theatres and an occasional department store.” 

And, while much has changed in Central Florida – and in the practice of law, Handley asserted one thing remains constant, “What constituted professional conduct in the past does so today.”

While he didn’t set out to become a lawyer, Handley quickly grew to love the profession. He began his legal career in the offices of McGuire Voorhis and Wells in 1951 and joined RumbergerKirk in 2005. His practice focuses on civil trial defense work and has tried a variety a cases ranging from small claims disputes to homicide over his forty year career.

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RumbergerKirk provides litigation and counseling services in a wide range of civil practice areas including product liability, commercial litigation, construction, intellectual property litigation, environmental, labor and employment law, insurance coverage, professional liability and administrative law. Offices are located in Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Tallahassee and Birmingham, Alabama. For more information, please visit www.rumberger.com.