TALLAHASSEE - Florida State University College of Law alumnus John W. Frost, II, a member of the law school’s charter class, will be the featured speaker at the Spring 2013 Commencement ceremony. The event will take place on Sunday, May 5, at 11 a.m. in the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center.

Frost is the founding partner of Frost Van den Boom & Smith, P.A., a statewide civil trial firm concentrating on personal injury, medical malpractice, commercial litigation and family law issues on both state and federal levels. Among his many accomplishments, Frost served as the College of Law’s first president of The Florida Bar and as a member of the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates. One of the law school’s most supportive alumni, Frost was the first alumnus to be a major donor to the school and has made four major gifts. Most recently, in 2013, Frost committed a $1,000,000 gift to the law school to supplement two existing endowments – the John W. Frost, II Moot Court Endowment and the John W. and Ashley E. Frost Endowed Professorship. In recognition of the gift, the former First District Court of Appeal courtroom in the law school’s Advocacy Center has been named the John W. Frost, II Courtroom, making Frost the first alum to sponsor a courtroom in the building. The courtroom in Frost’s Bartow office was a model the law school used to design the four trial courtrooms in the new Advocacy Center. Frost’s daughter, Ashley Frost Bedell, also is a 1994 graduate of the Florida State law school.

“John is one of our most engaged alums and we are delighted that he will be speaking to our 2013 graduates,” said Dean Don Weidner. “As an extremely successful litigator who has been a leader in the attorney professionalism movement, John is a wonderful role model for our new graduates as they begin their legal careers.”

Immediately following the ceremony, the law school will host a reception for graduates, their families and their friends on the College of Law green.