Reno V. Pierre chose his words on Juneteenth. Standing before the General Assembly at the 2026 Florida Bar Convention in Orlando, he did not begin with the title he was about to hold. He began with the house from which he came.
“I thought about the people whose sacrifices made that moment possible, especially my parents, who migrated from Haiti and raised five children with an unwavering belief in faith, education, hard work, and perseverance,” he said.
On June 19, Pierre was sworn in as president of the Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division—the first Black male and first Haitian American to lead it. The date was not incidental. Neither was the household that shaped him. He grew up in a Haitian immigrant family in Broward County, and he has never treated that origin as background.
“Looking into the audience, I did not see the moment as mine alone,” he shared. “I saw it as a reflection of every person who encouraged me, opened a door, offered guidance, or believed in me before I fully believed in myself.”
The division he now leads has long been called the workhorse of The Florida Bar, and Pierre wears the label comfortably. His own career reflects that same spirit of service.
Pierre began as a Broward County prosecutor, working misdemeanors and then serious felonies. He moved to the county Attorney’s Office, advising agencies on real estate, public finance, and litigation.
Today he is an associate at Greenberg Traurig, structuring the municipal bond deals that quietly build the public works most people never think about—the infrastructure that outlasts the lawyers who financed it.
A graduate of the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law who later earned an LL.M. from the University of Miami, Pierre is quick to move past credentials and back to mentorship.
“We come from different circuits, practice areas, and backgrounds,” he told the YLD Board of Governors, “but we stand united in the mission to serve young lawyers and strengthen the profession.”
He sits on the board of the Haitian Lawyers Association and co-chairs the inaugural Summer Scholars Program for the Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter of the National Bar Association—a pipeline aimed squarely at the students who look like the kid he once was.
His agenda for the year ahead centers on education and lawyer competency, on making sure the next class arrives prepared and stays.
Expressing language of a man who has measured that distance himself and decided the job is to hold the door for whoever comes next, Pierre told the room: “Standing before you today as president of the YLD is one of the greatest honors of my life. This moment is humbling because it’s not just about a title, a position, or one person. It’s about the dedicated service to our profession and the over 23,000 young lawyers that we serve.”
