Eddie Stephens’ 20th Anniversary of Admittance to Florida Bar

On September 24, 1997 I took the oath of admission to the Florida Bar.

The above picture is my Uncle, John Christiansen, swearing me in twenty years ago.  I would like to thank Uncle John, attorney Robert M.W. Shalhoub and Judge John Phillips for mentoring me.  John taught me the basics of every aspect of family law during the first five years of my career when I worked as his associate.  Bob taught my the act of balancing zealous advocacy with civility and professionalism.  Judge Phillips taught me to look at the big picture and choose my battles wisely.

Their guidance has been invaluable to my development as an attorney.  I believe the mentor / mentee relationship is a very important part of being an attorney.  I am paying back my dues and currently mentor several up and coming attorneys.  If you are interested in being a mentor or mentee check out the Palm Beach County Bar’s mentorship Program.

I will be making a tax deductible donation in the name of my mentors to a very important cause.  I believe that developing ethical professional business leaders is one way to improve our society.  I think our current system is broken and we need to invest in our youth to fix it.

For these reasons, I have endowed the EDDIE STEPHENS SOUTH FLORIDA LEADERSHIP FUND.  The is an endowed scholarship stewarded by the Delta Sigma Pi Leadership Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable entity.  All income from the fund (currently valued at around 25k) goes to pay for leadership training for business students at the University of Miami, Florida Atlantic University, University of Central Florida and Florida Southern College.  Currently the fund pays out several hundred dollars a year to subsidize the educational and leadership training for these students.

I think we can do better.

If you enjoy this blog, I would ask you to make a tax deductible donation of at least $20 to this cause.  If you do, and email me your donation receipt, I will send you this cool pin:

INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE A TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO THE EDDIE STEPHENS SOUTH FLORIDA LEADERSHIP FUND:

1.  Go to https://www.deltasigmapi.org/foundation/donate

2.  Click “designate my gift for special purpose”

3.  Click “Funds benefiting Chapters/Regions/Provinces”

4. Under investing in choose “Eddie Stephens South Florida Leadership Fund”.