THE LEDGER — Author and law professor Mary E. Adkins will speak Thursday at Florida Southern College in the Florida Lecture Series. Adkins, a professor at the University of Florida’s Fredric G. Levin College of Law, is the author of “Making Modern Florida: How the Spirit of Reform Shaped a New State Constitution,” and “Chesterfield Smith, America’s Lawyer.” Chesterfield Smith started a law firm in Bartow that expanded into Holland & Knight, which now has an international presence. Adkins’ book about Smith earned the Florida Historical Society’s Rembert Patrick Award.