About
Named after the first black full-time lawyer in Pinellas County, Florida, the Fred G. Minnis, Sr. Bar Association was founded in 2000 and is the only predominately African-American voluntary bar association in Pinellas.
Following Fred G. Minnis, Sr.’s pioneering efforts in the legal profession, the Minnis Bar Association was founded to promote and provide a support system for talented minority lawyers in Pinellas County and to promote justice and education in the surrounding communities. Over the years, we have awarded scholarships to deserving youth, mentored high school and law school students, provided free legal advice to the community and worked diligently to fulfill the mission of the organization.
As stated in our By-Laws, the mission of Minnis is to protect the civil rights of the historically disadvantaged in the community; to improve the administration of justice; to strengthen the honor and integrity of the legal profession; to mentor minority lawyers; and to promote scholarship of minority and disadvantaged youth.
The only predominately African-American voluntary bar association in Pinellas.
Meet our President
Attorney Karmika V. Rubin, Esq
Attorney Karmika V. Rubin has been in law since 1996 and is licensed to practice in the State of Florida and in the Federal U.S. Tax Court. She is a member of the Florida Bar, the American Bar Association, Fred G, Minnis Bar, St. Pete Business League, Revealing Truth Ministries, Truth of Life Ministries and Church Law Today.
Fred G. Minnis
The Fred G. Minnis Sr. Bar Association is named after the first African-American full-time lawyer in Pinellas County, Florida. Born in 1912, Fred G. Minnis, Sr. began practicing law in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1956 and was often known as the “grandfather” of African-American lawyers in Pinellas County. Throughout his years as a pioneering attorney and community advocate, Mr. Minnis mentored and provided opportunities for clerkships to lawyers such as Frank Peterman, Sr. and James B. Sanderlin, Pinellas County’s first African-American judge. Mr. Minnis headed the law firm that represented the Citizens Cooperative Committee, the NAACP and the NAACP Youth Council in their many legal actions in the 1950s and 1960s. They persevered for equal job opportunity and equal access to the judicial system for African Americans. A graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., he passionately supported his alma mater. Howard University awarded him an honorary doctor of Laws degree for his enduring support of the school and his work to improve life for African Americans in St. Petersburg.