City Attorney James R. English
James R. English graduated in 1968 from Florida State University with a B.A. (with honors) in government. He served four years in the United States Navy on the Staff of the Commander of the Fleet Air Wings of the United States Pacific Fleet and the Staff of the Commander of the Chief of the Naval Air Training. He graduated from law school with a J.D. (with honors) in 1974 having served as president of the Student Bar Association and also having served on the Board of Student Advisors and in Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity. In 1975 he was admitted to the Florida Bar, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, and the United States Court of Appeal for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits.
He served as Assistant City Attorney for the City of Tallahassee from 1975 to 1983 and in 1983 became the first full time City Attorney for the City of Tallahassee. He has been an active participant in a number of organizations involved with state and local government activities including having served as President of the Florida Municipal Attorneys Association. He is also a member of the National Institute of Municipal Law Officers, the Florida Planning and Zoning Association, and the Local Government, Environmental and Land Use, and Urban Law sections of the American and Florida Bar Associations.
In 1992 Mr. English was given the Paul S. Buchman Award as Florida's Outstanding Municipal Attorney of the Year.