Leon County Attorney Receives Chip Rice Award for Mentoring
During the Florida Bar's 39th Annual Local Government Law in Florida conference held earlier this month, Leon County Attorney Herbert W.A. Thiele was honored by his peers when he was presented with the H. Hamilton "Chip" Rice, Jr., Award. The award is presented each year to recognize a distinguished lawyer who has served the Florida Bar's Local Government Law Section by mentoring and educating future lawyers in the field.
"Herb has vast legal experience on the international, national, state and local levels," said Leon County Commission Chairman Bill Proctor. "He's a dedicated advocate for enhanced legal education for our local communities. To have him as a mentor would set any law student on the right path."
For almost two decades, Mr. Thiele has participated in the Florida State University College of Law Externship Program. The Leon County Attorney's Office has hosted dozens of second- and third-year law students over those years, and the County Attorney has been instrumental in mentoring those students and introducing them to the substantive areas of local government law. Such areas include land use, environmental law, county governmental operations, labor law, contracts and eminent domain. In addition, Mr. Thiele has been actively involved with the Florida State University College of Law, teaching a course on local government for the past several years.
"To be recognized by the Local Government Section of The Florida Bar for mentoring and educating our new and soon-to-be lawyers is indeed an honor," said Leon County Attorney Herbert W.A. Thiele. "Over the years, through mentoring and teaching, I have had the opportunity to work with many different law students I now proudly call colleagues."
Mr. Thiele has served as in-house counsel for Leon County Government since 1990. After being elected President-Elect of the International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA) in 2014, Leon County Attorney Herbert W.A. Thiele now serves as the association’s President. Thiele is the first-ever county attorney to be President of IMLA. In addition to having served as the Florida Association of County Attorneys’ (FACA) President on four separate occasions, Thiele has received FACA’s Ethics in Government Award in 1998 and 2001, as well as the FACA President’s Award in 2004, in recognition of his outstanding service and dedication to the organization.
For more information, contact Mathieu Cavell, Director of Leon County Community and Media Relations, at (850) 606-5300 / cmr@LeonCountyFL.gov .
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LeonCountyAttorney_ChipRiceAward.jpg: County Attorney Herb Thiele receiving Chip Rice Award from Mark Moriarty, Chairman of the City, County and Local Government Section of the Florida Bar.
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