Florida Government Bar Fellowship

The FGBA was founded in 1964 to promote and unite government attorneys. It is consistent with our mission to encourage government attorneys to assume leadership roles within the Florida Bar. We are proud to announce the launch of our Florida Government Bar Fellowship which will reimburse travel expenses that Florida government attorneys face while serving on The Florida Bar’s Board of Governors. It is widely known that serving on the Board of Governors is expensive and can cost up to $12,000 annually. Most private firms will reimburse those travel expenses. Most state agencies will not. Serving on the Board of Governors has been cost-prohibitive to government attorneys and because of this, we are in a crisis where we are not proportionately represented within Bar leadership and our voices are not being heard. The FGBA wants to correct this. Any person or firm can contribute to an account that will be maintained by the FGBA.

You can donate to the Florida Government Bar Fellowship here.

To apply for the fellowship, an applicant must be:

• A current FGBA member;

• A full-time employee of a branch of Florida (State) government; and

• Elected or appointed to serve as a Governor on The Florida Bar Board of Governors.

Further, the applicant must certify that he or she has a financial need and that reimbursement will assist in meeting that need. Travel reimbursements will be distributed quarterly to follows, up to $750 per meeting, as funds allow. In the case that funding is not sufficient to cover $750 per meeting, funds will be distributed evenly to fellows on a pro-rata basis so that a fellow who attends two BOG meetings will receive twice the amount as a fellow who attends one BOG meeting in that same quarter. To receive reimbursement, a fellow must be present during roll call at the BOG meeting.Travel reimbursement may be sought for a single hotel room, registration costs, the costs of any special meals directly related to the Board of Governors meeting, airfare or mileage, parking fees, and tolls. A fellow may request reimbursement of up to $750 per meeting attended. Each request should be submitted to President@flagovbar.org as soon as possible and no later than 30 days after the expense has been incurred. Scanned and emailed requests are required. All supporting receipts, such as airline tickets, hotel bills, and credit card receipts must be submitted. If you have lost any of the receipts which should accompany your reimbursement request, please include a short memo with the amount and nature of the expense. No reimbursement will be made in excess of the amounts reflected on receipts.