WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Sia Baker-Barnes remembers weekends spent with her father watching the NFL Draft, imagining what it would be like to hear her name called.
She heard it last weekend. That's when she learned she had been elected without opposition as the president-elect designate of the Florida Bar – the third-largest mandatory bar in the United States.
"I didn't get to walk across the stage or hold up a jersey, but, you know, it sort of felt like that draft moment," she told WPTV on Wednesday. "It was really special. I was with my parents, my kids, my husband. It was really nice."
It's not just special. It's also historic.
That distinction means she'll become the first Black female president in the Florida Bar's history.
Baker-Barnes called it "a great honor."
Although the Florida Bar was officially established in 1950, its origins are more than 100 years old, dating to 1889, Baker-Barnes said.
"So, it's been a long time," she said.
The Florida Bar is the umbrella organization that regulates the practice of law in the state, as well as providing training and continuing legal education, "all designed to help us deliver better services to our clients and to the citizens of the state."
Under the staggered election rollout, Baker-Barnes would assume the role of president-elect in June 2024 and become president in 2025.
She follows a long history of Palm Beach County attorneys who have represented the Florida Bar at the highest level, most recently Gary Lesser in 2022.
In all, there have been nine presidents from Palm Beach County since Horner C. Fisher first led the Florida Bar in 1953. WPTV legal analyst Michelle Suskauer became the first woman from Palm Beach County to serve in that role in 2018.
"I'm really proud that Palm Beach County has such a long legacy of presidents of the Florida Bar," Baker-Barnes said. "I'm lucky to know all of them, really, and be mentored by all of them. I think it's a great testament to our legal community here in Palm Beach County. We're a large county, but our legal community is really close-knit."
As a shareholder at Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, Baker-Barnes chairs the firm's diversity, equity and inclusion committee. She is a board-certified civil trial lawyer who has spent her entire 23-year career practicing at the same law firm.
Although born in Tampa, Baker-Barnes has called Palm Beach County home since she was 3 years old, when her father took a job with the state attorney's office.
"I grew up here," Baker-Barnes said. "I went to elementary, middle, high school here in Palm Beach County, and then when I came back from law school, I started my career here and I've been here ever since."
Her connection to the Palm Beach County legal community predates her time as a lawyer.
Baker-Barnes is the daughter of retired Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Moses Baker Jr., who was appointed by then-Gov. Lawton Chiles in 1994. He replaced Judge Daniel Hurley, for whom the main Palm Beach County Courthouse in downtown West Palm Beach is named.
"He's very humble" and "quietly powerful," Baker-Barnes said of her father.
Her mother also served as the head of the Florida Department of Corrections in Palm Beach County.
"They both are just phenomenal examples for me and my siblings here," Baker-Barnes said. "They taught us, growing up, the importance of not only, you know, education, but also the importance of giving back. And they were living examples of it."
She said they were both "deeply involved in the community and giving back."
"People often ask, like, 'How did you end up doing this?' And I just say this has, like, been engrained in me from day one, like, you must, you know, do this," Baker-Barnes said. "And you may not understand it when you're young why it's so important, but as you live through it, you really understand that it's not about you. You know, as honored as I am to be in this role and as great of an opportunity as it is, it's not about me. It's about creating that opportunity and being an asset to the next person."
Baker-Barnes has dual degrees from Florida State University, where she studied communications as an undergraduate before attending law school there. Don't get her started on Florida State's exclusion from the College Football Playoff.
"I'm not happy about it," she said. "I mean, we're 13-0. I'm a die-hard Seminole. I'm a graduate – undergrad of Florida State, law school at Florida State. I met my husband at Florida State. Like, great things happened in Tallahassee."
After returning to Palm Beach County, she made sure to stay active in the community, serving on the boards of the Palm Beach County Bar Association and the Florida Justice Association Young Lawyers Section, among others. She became the first Black woman elected president of the Palm Beach County Bar Association in 2017 and has served on the board of the Florida Bar since 2018.
"I feel like I'm still taking it all in, honestly," Baker-Barnes said of her most recent distinction. "You know, it's a great honor and an amazing opportunity."
She's reminded of a saying from former tennis star Billie Jean King: "Pressure's a privilege."
"Yes, it does come with a great deal of pressure and a great deal, I think, of responsibility, but it's also a great privilege to be able to serve in this role and, hopefully, continue to open doors for the next one, you know, to walk through," she said.
It's something Palm Beach County's last female Florida Bar president knows Baker-Barnes is prepared to handle.
"Having known Sia for 15 years, she is a highly skilled advocate, a generous and selfless friend, and will be an incredible and inspirational leader for our profession," Suskauer said.
Baker-Barnes said she's appreciative of her employer for allowing her the opportunity to serve in the role and hopes to serve as an inspiration for other women in the legal community.
"I'm a mom of three. I'm a trial lawyer. I'm married. I have a family and, you know, a lot of times, I think, especially women lawyers, they feel like, 'You can't do this. I've got to give something up,'" she said. "And, so, if I were to be able to say anything from this, I would say, 'Don't give up, you know, that you can do it. It's not easy and there are going to be tough and difficult times.' But I've been really blessed to have a supportive family, a supportive law firm, a supportive community that continue to lift me up and encourage me, and, you know, I hope that it's an inspiration to other women that they can do this too."
