Griffin, H. Terrell

Harmon Terrell Griffin was born on September 6, 1942, in Waycross, Georgia. He moved to Sanford, Florida in 1955 and graduated from Sanford's Seminole High School in 1960. Upon graduation he enlisted in the United States Army and served three years on active duty, stationed for most of that time in Europe. He was released from active duty in May of 1963 and after three years service in the U.S. Army Reserve was honorably discharged in June of 1966.

Mr. Griffin entered Mercer University in 1963 and received the Bachelor of Arts Degree from that institution in 1966. He received the Juris Doctor Degree from the Mercer University School of Law in June of 1968. He has partially completed the course work required for the Master of Arts Degree in History at the University of Central Florida. While at Mercer, in recognition of his outstanding scholarship, Mr. Griffin was appointed Executive Editor of the Mercer Law Review, was a member of the National Moot Court Team, and graduated in the top 10 percent of his law class. He was a member of Blue Key National Honor Fraternity and the Delta Theta Phi Law Fraternity. In 1968 he was the recipient of the Delta Theta Phi award for outstanding scholarship.

Mr. Griffin was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1968 and entered the practice of law in Orlando. He is a member of The Florida Bar, the Orange County Bar Association, the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and the American Board of Trial Advocates, an organization open to membership only by invitation to the most experienced trial lawyers in the United States. He was Vice President of the Central Florida Chapter on 1993 - 1994.

Mr. Griffin is admitted to practice before all courts of Florida, the United States District Court, Middle District of Florida, the United States Courts of Appeal for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits and the Supreme Court of the United States. He has been rated "AV" by the national publication Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, the highest rating given, since 1980. In 1983, after demonstrating extensive experience in trial law and passing a rigorous written examination, Mr. Griffin was among the first attorneys to be board certified as a civil trial lawyer by The Florida Bar. He was chosen in 1997 as a Leading Florida Attorney, recognizing approximately the top five percent of Florida attorneys. He has published articles in the Mercer Law Review and is the author of a chapter in the second edition of the Florida Civil Trial Practice Manual published by the Florida Bar. He authored the Florida section of the 1990 and 1992 issues of the Defense Research Institute's Summary of Aviation Law and has lectured at Continuing Legal Education Seminars sponsored by various bar associations.

Mr. Griffin's political involvement is extensive. He serves as chairman of the board of Jeanie Austin & Associates, Inc., an organization that represents private companies and governmental bodies on public policy issues before Congress and Federal agencies. Mr. Griffin joined the Orange County Young Republican Club in 1968 and served as its vice-president from 1969 until 1971. He served as a member of the Executive Board and General Counsel to the Florida Federation of Young Republicans from 1972 until 1975. From 1974 until 1976, Mr. Griffin was chairman of the Orange County Republican Executive Committee, a member of the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Florida and was elected by his fellow County Chairmen to serve as their representative on the Executive Board of the Republican Party of Florida. In 1974, he was the Young Republican National Federation Delegate to the American Soviet Youth Forum in Moscow, Leningrad and Baku, U.S.S.R. Mr. Griffin was a special Young Republican National Federation delegate to the 1972 Republican National Convention, a delegate to the 1976 and 1988 Republican National Conventions where he served on the Credentials Committee and as legal counsel to the Florida delegation. He was selected as delegate to the 1992 Republican National Convention.

Mr. Griffin served as a member of the Executive Board and General Counsel to the Republican Party of Florida from March 1984 until January of 1989. He served as Chairman of the Constitutional Revision Committee of The Republican Party of Florida from 1990 until 1991. From 1989 until 1995, Mr. Griffin served as Legal Counsel to the Co-Chairman of the Republican National Committee. He served on the Council of Legal Advisors to the Republican National Committee and, from 1985 until 1997, as a member and chairman of Congressman Bill McCollum's Service Academy Selection Board. Mr. Griffin is the founder, past president and treasurer of the Orlando Republican Forum and is a member of the Republican Club of Orange County and the Florida Victory Committee. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Tiger Bay Club of Orlando, Inc., a bi-partisan political, civic, educational and charitable organization.

In addition to legal and political activism, Mr. Griffin has devoted considerable time and resources to his community. He was a member of the Executive Committee of troop 205, Boy Scouts of America from 1978 until 1984. He served as Scoutmaster of Troop 205 from 1981 until 1983. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Eagle Youth Sports, a Pop Warner football club, which fielded teams in all divisions, from 1983 until 1985.

Mr. Griffin served as president of the Central Florida Chapter of the Mercer University Alumni Association in 1972-1973, president of the Florida State Chapter of the Mercer University Law Alumni Association in 1973-1974, and was a member of the Executive Committee of the National Alumni Association of Mercer University from 1972 until 1977. He was a member of the Board of Visitors of the Mercer University School of Law from 1973 until 1979 and served as chairman in 1978-1979. Mr. Griffin was recipient of the Meritorious Service Award of Mercer University in 1975.

Mr. Griffin served on the Mayor of Orlando's Advisory Committee on Efficiency in Government from 1975 until 1976 and the Orange County Council of the East Central Florida Health Systems Agency from 1977 until 1980.

From 1987 until 1989 he was a member of the board of trustees of the Summit System of Schools and Colleges which oversees the operations of Tampa College and Orlando College. From 1989, until July 1996, he served as a member of the Board of Trustees of International College in Naples, Florida. He was elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees in 1992, and served in that capacity until July of 1996. He served on the board of Hamilton Holt School of Rollins College from 1995 until 1998.

Mr. Griffin's biographical sketch appears in Outstanding Young Men of America, Personalities of the South, and Who's Who in American Politics and Leading Florida Attorneys.

Mr. Griffin has been married to the former Jean Higgins of Macon, Georgia since June 6, 1964; they have three children, Gregory Terrell, Michael Alden, and Christopher David.