Our Bar Association was named after Paul C. Perkins, a Howard University Law School graduate, who served as co-counsel to Thurgood Marshall and Jack Greenberg of the NAACP who jointly defended Sammy Shepherd and Walter Irvin, two African American individuals accused of raping Norma Padgett, a white female citizen of Groveland, Florida. At first, defendants were found guilty, but after they appealed to The United States Supreme Court, the justices overturned the guilty verdict in April of 1951, two years after the original trial.

In 1965, mayor Bob Carr of Orlando appointed Paul C. Perkins to the position of City Prosecutor. Assuming this position, Perkins became the first African American in the state to hold such high position. Paul's belief was that it was very important for all African Americans to participate in the justice system, and therefore achieve equality during the trials.