Dive Bar Provides Attorneys With Underwater Fellowship

Deborah C. Espana - 

Bob Kelley, a founding partner of Kelley/Uustal, loves the water, being a lawyer and scuba diving. Combining his favorite interests, he came up with the Underwater Bar Association for scuba-diving lawyers. That's the Dive Bar for short.

"It was one of things that you wake up in the middle of the night with an idea," the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., personal injury attorney said. "I know that other divers are always looking for people to dive with; I thought it would be a good opportunity for the legal community to come together and have fellowship and fun underwater."

Kelley owns four boats and has been diving since he was 15. He docks the 30-foot Island Dance in Fort Lauderdale and the 26-foot Solmate in Duck Key.

"The underwater world is the best part of Florida," he said. "Over time the reefs have been diminished, but they are still the most beautiful part of Florida. It's a different world down there, and people that learn about it love it."

Kelley and 10 other attorneys went diving in June to explore the 150-foot Hog Heaven barge, which sank in 1986. The dive team saw a 300-pound grouper and hundreds of fish.

So far, he has rounded up 25 members and organized a diver's refresher course, a certification course and a dive trip to Key Largo, Fla., for new and potential members. Membership is $100.

"Most people have a group of dive buddies that they regularly dive with," Kelley said. "You're not supposed to go down without a dive buddy. With this diving bar, they can go on to our website and say, 'I'm going diving. Who wants to go?' "

Unlike other legal groups, the group prefers heading out to sea over banquets.

"Most bar associations are boring, and a lot of people go out of obligation," Kelley said. "I want to create a bar that's fun and give people an opportunity to network and do some good in the community."

The bar also is gearing up to do pro bono work with Diveheart, which takes disabled people diving, he said.

Kelley also wants the group to address ocean-related legal issues such as the planned oil drilling off the coast of Cuba.

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