Today is a proud and momentous day in Broward County.
It has been several years ago that the Workers' Compensation Institute founded the Florida Workers' Compensation Hall of Fame. That has been outlined and discussed in Florida Hall of Fame (August 2019), and A Reminiscence and a Challenge (February 2016). Suffice it to say that our Florida workers' compensation community is replete with so many long-serving and dedicated professionals. We are indeed fortunate for their presence and contribution. Since that Florida effort began in 2012, other states have worked toward such recognition. Kentucky leaps to mind.
This week, however, a local Florida bar association enters the recognition process. The Broward Bar Association tomorrow will "commemorate some of the greatest contributors to our organization and the practice of Workers Compensation in our state," according to Diana Castrillon, a member of that organization's board. It will present the inaugural "Broward County Bar Association’s Hall of Fame Award." This is a recognition of contribution to the community and the practice of workers' compensation.
Ms. Castrillon noted that the recipient is "one of the founding members of the Broward Bar’s Workers Compensation Section," as well as one of its original board members. This legend of workers' compensation is moving into retirement and is remembered in the community for his efforts contributing to the annual Broward Section educational conferences, establishing and fostering primacy of professionalism in that community, and focusing the practitioners on the community and contributory aspects of this profession.
Ms. Castillon says that his efforts are recognized as promoting education, and the discussion of "professionalism and ethics" to create "a stronger, better Bar." She credits this honoree's efforts with building a sound foundation of the Broward Section; "the group that we are today started with his hard work as well as that of other key members of our local community of practitioners." In addition, she noted he is "a consummate professional," known for his attitude of "utmost respect" with all the members of the Broward Bar workers' compensation community.
Thus, on February 27, 2020, the Broward Bar Workers' Compensation Section will honor Mal Steinberg as the inaugural Hall of Fame inductee. It has been my pleasure to know Mr. Steinberg for about twenty years. I have had numerous opportunities to interact with him both in conjunction with the Broward Bar activities and elsewhere. It is my pleasure, upon his retirement from practice, to congratulate him on this honor.
Mr.. Steinberg was most recently "the senior partner in the Law Offices of Steinberg & Brown in Fort Lauderdale." He is what we colloquially refer to as a "double gator," having earned both his Bachelor of Science in Psychology and his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida. He has been practicing law in Florida since 1973 and is approaching the fifty-year mark as he retires. For 46 years he has specialized and focused on "primarily representing the interests of employer/carriers throughout the state."
In addition to his service on the Board of Directors for the Workers' Compensation Section of the Broward County Bar, he has served the American Arbitration Association, the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, and the Friends of 440 Scholarship Fund, Inc. His service to the Friends of 440 has been notably long and outstanding. He is the recipient of numerous recognitions including the Friends of 440 Outstanding Achievement Award (2006) and the Friends of 440 Richard Sadow Award in 2012 (as depicted in the picture at the end of this post, courtesy of the Friends of 440, and presented by Cory Schnepper).
Mr. Steinberg has lectured before the Workers' Compensation Claims Professional Association (WCCP), the Florida Bar Workers' Compensation Section Winter Meeting and Seminar (multiple times). the Broward County Bar Workers' Compensation Section Seminar (multiple times), and more. His dedication to the education and development of the Bar and its members is well-known and praiseworthy. He has also been a long-serving member of the 17th Judicial Circuit Grievance Committee for the Florida Bar.
I am proud of the achievements and contributions Mr. Steinberg has made to his local community and the Florida workers' compensation community. I am as proud of the Broward County Bar Association Workers' Compensation Section for pausing to recognize his achievements and contributions. Its action marks a recognition of Mr. Steinberg certainly. But, as important, its chosen vehicle of a Hall of Fame recognizes that there are many in that community that are worthy of recognition. This presentation is a present action that foretells future recognition of others.
I am pleased and grateful for the Bar's decision to institute this process. I am honored to be able to write about this inaugural induction and recognition. I only wish I were in the audience today. It is my fervent hope that the action today is a harbinger of many recognitions to come in the future. I hope you will join me in congratulating both the Bar and Mr. Steinberg.
