Free CLE for all members of The Florida Bar. Wednesday Wisdom Zoom webinar. Course number 4671. Approved for 1.0 General CLE credit. REGISTER

“Managing Up: A Primer on Interfacing with Young Attorneys” is a research-based discussion for legal leaders seeking to enhance and engage young attorneys.  Hear from new practitioners in a variety of industries and legal educators on cultivating, retaining, and maximizing the potential of the young attorneys in your workforce.  After several major shifts in the law practice landscape in light of COVID-19, join this insightful panel discussion as the Solo & Small Firm Section re-examines traditional best practices on how to on-board and enhance new attorneys, and hear candid advice on how to innovate your law model.

Moderator:  Diriki Geuka, Associate, Townsend & Lockett, LLC (Atlanta)

Panelists:
1) Professor Alicia Jackson, Stetson University College of Law, Gulfport, will discuss her research on how law entities can better engage new attorneys.
2) Brijesh Patel, Seminole County Attorney’s Office, Sanford, former in-house attorney, transactional attorney, government practice.
3) Zoila Lahera, Associate, Macfarlane Ferguson & McMullen, Tampa, second-year litigation and appellate attorney, private practice.
4) Ian Dankelman, Associate, Freeborn & Peters LLP, Tampa, former federal judicial law clerk.

Diriki T. Geuka, Moderator

Diriki Geuka is an Associate in Townsend & Lockett, LLC’s transactional practice group, where he works on a team focusing on mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and venture capital agreements.  Diriki was previously a Pinellas Assistant County Attorney where he represented County agencies and elected and appointed officials. Diriki began his career as a federal staff attorney for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, where he served for a year and was an intern for the Honorable Julie S. Sneed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida while in law school. Diriki was president of Stetson University College of Law’s Student Bar Association before graduating in 2017 with the Dean Richard Dillon Excellence in Real Property and Marc L. Levine Awards.  Diriki is a frequent mentor, community volunteer, and currently serves as a member of Morris Brown’s President’s Advisory Board.

Professor Alicia R. Jackson, Panelist

Professor Alicia Jackson is a member of the law faculty and the Director of Academic Success and Bar Preparation Services at Stetson University College of Law. Before joining Stetson, she was the Associate Dean for Student Learning and Assessment at her previous institution. Professor Jackson’s presentations, publications, and scholarship interests include racial equity and bias in education, cultural competency, generational learning, and educational psychology. Professor Jackson also served on the research team that published, in 2020, Building a Better Bar: The Twelve Building Blocks of Minimum Competence, sponsored by the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System.  She also co-authored Contemporary Teaching Strategies: Effectively Engaging Millennials Across the Curriculum.

Brijesh Patel, Panelist

Brijesh Patel is a Seminole Assistant County Attorney and graduated from Florida A&M University College of Law in 2012. He is a transactional attorney in city, county, and local government law providing counsel to multiple departments in Seminole County. He has prior experience in the private sector in the legal departments of Universal Orlando and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy and in the public sector with the Office of Regional Conflict Counsel and the Pinellas County Attorney’s Office. Mr. Patel also currently serves as Chair of the Student Education/Admissions to the Bar Committee of the Florida Bar and is actively involved in the Diversity and Inclusion Committee and the Social Media Committee of the city, county, and local government section of the Florida Bar.

Zoila Lahera, Panelist

Zoila Lahera is a third-year associate in MacFarlane Ferguson & McMullen’s litigation group, where she represents clients in a variety of complex civil, professional, insurance, and business matters in state and federal courts.  Additionally, Zoila’s litigation practice emphasizes issues of fraud and malfeasance, in which Zoila provides representation to clients in whistleblower actions from detection, through fact-gathering, drafting complaints, litigation and appeals, all of which allow her to work cooperatively with governmental agencies to protect whistleblowers.  Zoila graduated from Stetson University College of Law in 2018, cum laude, in the top 15% of her class.  Born in Cuba, Zoila and her family were granted political asylum in the United States, for opposing the Castro regime, in 1996, and she speaks fluent English and Spanish.

Ian J. Dankelman, Panelist

Ian Dankelman is an Associate in the Litigation Practice Group at Freeborn & Peters, LLP.  Ian focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation. Ian graduated from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2014.  Before joining Freeborn, Ian counseled large commercial clients at a nationwide law firm that specialized in first-party property cases.  For nearly two years, Ian served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Elizabeth Kovachevich in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. He began his legal career as an Assistant State Attorney in Florida’s Fourth Judicial Circuit, where he tried over a dozen jury trials to verdict.

Live GoToWebinar presented by Kristin Tyler of LAWCLERK™. Course number 5104. Approved for 1.0 General CLE credit, all of which may be applied toward Ethics. Section members register for only $50. REGISTER

Want to grow your firm? Historically, you could charge more or hire. But what if there was a third way? Technology facilitates access to high-quality legal expertise at a surprisingly reasonable cost. Using freelance and contract legal help, you can do more work, grow your firm, and help more clients. But, as is the case with everything for a lawyer, it’s important to be mindful of the business and, of course, the ethical implications of working with freelance attorneys.

This session is about getting out of your head long enough to stop thinking and start embracing what technology and new billing models have to offer before you show up as a T-Rex in the years ahead.

This course offers an informative, frank, and even fun discussion about how to apply the freelance legal ecosystem to up-level your legal practice.  It will explore the business and ethical groundwork to help growth-driven attorneys understand how they can use freelance legal help to achieve their law firm business goals.

Kristin Tyler is Co-Founder of LAWCLERK, where attorneys go to hire freelance lawyers.  She is also a trusts and estates lawyer, busy mom and firm believer that the practice of law can be rewarding despite its daily demands.

Jacina Parson

August 4 Wednesday Wisdom Zoom webinar open to all members of The Florida Bar. Course number 5404. Approved for 1.0 General; 1.0 Professionalism CLE credit. REGISTER

Moderator: 2021-22 Solo & Small Firm Section Chair Jacina Parson, Senior Assistant County Attorney, Pinellas County Attorney’s Office; former director of The Florida Bar Henry Latimer Center for Professionalism

Panelists:
General Magistrate Jennifer Kuyrkendall Griffin, Third Judicial Circuit, Live Oak
County Judge Daryl Manning, Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, Hillsborough County, Tampa
Circuit Judge Barbara Leach, Ninth Judicial Circuit Court, Orlando

Jennifer Kuyrkendall Griffin is the General Magistrate for the Third Judicial Circuit in North Central Florida and presides over probate, guardianship, domestic relations and foreclosure matters. She is a former chair of The Florida Bar Solo & Small Firm Section. Jennifer’s past Bar experience includes service as President of the Third Judicial Circuit Bar Association and on various committees of The Florida Bar Family Law Section. As the Third Judicial Circuit Young Lawyer’s Board of Governor’s Representative, she oversaw the development and launch of the YLD’s  “Mentoring With the Masters” video program. Jennifer also is the author of “Deadly Escape,” a crime thriller novel that has been used as a course textbook for Stetson Law School’s Criminal Procedure class.

Daryl Manning

Daryl Manning, originally from Queens, NY, has been a Hillsborough County Judge in Tampa, Florida since 2015. He presides over a drug court division and a unified family court division. He was a practicing and supervising attorney in the Tampa Office of the Florida Attorney General for sixteen years, where he appeared in state and federal trial and appellate courts.

Judge Manning obtained his Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the Army Judge Advocate Legal Center and School at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA, his Juris Doctorate (J.D.) from St. John’s University School of Law in Queens, N.Y. and his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from the University of South Carolina, in Columbia, S.C.

Judge Manning was a Judge Advocate (JAG) in the United States Army and served several tours in support of the Global War on Terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait before retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2015 after 30 years on active duty and in the reserves. Among his numerous positions, he served as a prosecutor, a criminal defense attorney and led a counter terrorism team consisting of law enforcement, SWAT and Intelligence agencies. Prior to becoming a JAG, Judge Manning was an Artillery Officer and fought in Operation Desert Storm. Before attending college, he was an enlisted soldier working as a mechanic. He was awarded two Bronze Star Medals for his meritorious service.

Judge Manning was a member of both the National Conference of Bar Examiners and the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, where he served as chair from 2013 – 2015. He was a member of a Florida Bar Grievance Committee in Hillsborough and is a certified Guardian ad Litem. Judge Manning has been a mentor in the Big Brother Big Sister program for many years to a now teenager and serves on several boards in Tampa. As an adjunct law professor, he teaches Criminal Procedure, Alternate Dispute Resolution and Military Law.

Barbara Leach

Circuit Judge Barbara Leach serves in the Orange County Domestic Violence division.

Education

• Juris Doctor: Florida State University
• Bachelor of Arts: Rollins College

Professional Activities

• Member, The Florida Bar 2007-Present
  • Grievance Committee 2015-2017
  • Ninth Circuit Professionalism Panel 2015-2018
  • Leadership Academy Committee 2014-2018
  • Annual Planning Convention Committee 2014-2018
• The Florida Bar Solo & Small Firm Sections
  • Executive Council 2015-2018
  • Chair, Solo & Small Firm Technology Conference 2017
• Member, Central Florida Association for Women Lawyers 2008-present
  • President 2013-2014
• Member, Orange County Bar Association 2007-present
  • Coordinator, New Lawyer Training Program 2018-2019
  • Chair, Technology Committee 2017-2018
  • Co-Chair, Technology Committee 2018-2020
  • Planning Committee, Bench Bar Conference 2018 & 2020
• American Bar Association, TECHSHOW Planning Board 2016-2017
• Member, Central Florida Family Law Inns of Court 2016-present

Joint CLE program by The Florida Bar Alternative Dispute Resolution and Solo & Small Firm sections.

Live GoToWebinar presented by Christina Magee and Glenn Waldman, ADR Section members. Moderated by Jake Schickel, ADR and SSF Section member. Course number 5227. Approved for 1.0 General CLE credit, 0.5 of which may be applied toward Ethics. Section members register for only $45. Available for purchase through Florida Bar InReach.

Looking for a way to speed up your case even as post-COVID court dockets present obstacles to resolution?  Is your case bogged down as court dockets are too big to advance?  Are your motions and litigation strategies delayed or ineffective due to competition for the court’s time with unprecedented and unresolved civil matters and hearings in only virtual formats?  The Alternative Dispute Resolution and Solo & Small Firm Sections invite you to spend an hour to learn from an expert-moderated panel including a mediator and arbitrator about inventive ways arbitration and mediation are being used to move cases forward even in post-pandemic times.

Topics covered will include:

1. When is the best time to invoke mediation or arbitration in a case that is not progressing?
2. Should you arbitrate or mediate discovery disputes – what are the strategic advantages to each approach?
3. Are there ethical issues with the order of the selection of processes?
4. Are ethical issues involved if you mediate to a predetermined set of outcomes based on a court’s dispositive ruling on a pending motion?
5. Can you utilize “Baseball” arbitration – where the parties provide the arbitrator with a limited number of outcomes?

Christina Magee, Esq. of Satellite Beach is a mediator and arbitrator with a 100% neutral-oriented practice.  She is a public arbitrator on the FINRA panel.  She is a former Chair of The Florida Bar ADR Section, former Chair of The Florida Bar Small Claims Rules Committee, a Florida Supreme Court Certified Mediator for Circuit Civil, Appellate and County, and is a designated Primary Trainer for Circuit Civil.  She has been practicing law for more than 30 years.

Photo by Chris Salata/CAPEHART
Taken on Tuesday, November 3, 2020.
Copyright Capehart Photography 2020

Glenn J. Waldman, Esq. of Fort Lauderdale has been practicing law primarily in Florida’s state and federal courts (including appellate courts) for nearly four decades.

Glenn holds the maximum rating “AV” (pre-eminent) by the Martindale-Hubbell® Law Directory and is similarly rated the maximum 10.0 (“Superb”) by the AVVO ratings guide.

In addition to his complex commercial litigation practice, Glenn is a long-standing certified mediator (state and federal court) and arbitrator (certified by the American Arbitration Association, American Health Lawyers Association, AIDA Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society, International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority).

He is a Member of the Executive Council of The Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of The Florida Bar.

He devotes a substantial amount of his practice to serve as a Mediator and Arbitrator in a broad range of commercial disputes, including general contract and business matters, large payer/provider health care disputes, intellectual property claims, shareholder and employment disputes (including restrictive covenants), real estate and construction, and probate and estate disputes.

Glenn also serves as an expert witness on issues concerning the standard of care for attorneys in Florida in matters of professional liability.

Jake Schickel’s decorated career could be considered the benchmark for success in the legal community. In addition to multiple professional leadership positions, he has been highly active in supporting legal professionalism and the cause of justice. He has been named a Florida Super Lawyer every year since the program’s inception and was honored by The Florida Bar in 2006 with the Justice Harry Lee Anstead Board-Certified Lawyer of the Year. In 2017, the E. Robert Williams American Inn of Court even named their chapter’s professionalism award in his honor.

Mr. Jake Schickel’s passion for justice is matched only by his long-term commitment to his community. He has served the Jacksonville community on several executive, strategic, economic and planning committees, including leadership positions with nonprofit and civic organizations. Prior to becoming a founding partner of Coker Law, Mr. Jake Schickel worked as an Assistant State Attorney and Chief Assistant Attorney for the 4^th Judicial Circuit.

Jake can be reached at his email address: jjs@cokerlaw.com.

August 25, 12 – 1 PM, free Wednesday Wisdom Zoom webinar for Solo & Small Firm Section members.* Presented by Karen Lapekas, Principal, Lapekas Law. Course number 5386. Approved for1.0 General; 1.0 Mental Health CLE credit. *Registration will be approved when section membership is confirmed. REGISTER

The practice of law can be stressful, especially when balancing life, family and the events of this past year. Join Karen Lapekas to hear about strategies for fighting depression and how using these techniques helps her to find happiness as a busy tax lawyer.

Karen J. Lapekas, Esq. is board-certified in tax law by the Florida Bar. She grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan and attended Michigan Technological University (coursework: Civil Engineering), Western Michigan University (Bachelor’s: Psychology, Minor: Mathematics), and Thomas M. Cooley Law School (Juris Doctor: Litigation), before earning a Master’s in Tax Law (LLM) from the University of Florida

Levin College of Law.  As a former senior attorney with the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, she was the lead attorney on over 170 cases in U.S. Tax Court.  She also teaches Federal Tax Practice & Procedure at the University of Miami School of Law as an Adjunct Professor.

September 21 Live GoToWebinar presented by Mindi Wells of Wells Law in Columbus, Ohio, and moderated by Paige Greenlee of Greenlee Law in Tampa. Course number 5109. Approved for 1.0 General CLE credit. Section members register for only $50. REGISTER

Many law firms, more especially solo and smaller firms, do not have a succession plan in place for the continued operation or wind-down of their law firms. Lack of planning for what happens next—whether the change is from the loss of a partner, sale by founding attorneys, retirement or other unanticipated events—can throw a firm, its clients, employees, and business colleagues into a nosedive.  Join us for this workshop on the fundamentals of succession planning for law firms of all sizes.

In this session, you will learn:

• Why you need to start planning for your exit now—even if it is years away
• What to consider in your succession plan
• How to get started now
• Who you need to get involved

Mindi Wells is the Founder and Managing Attorney of Wells Law, a boutique firm offering legal counsel, investigations, and training to businesses.  An attorney for over two decades, Mindi comes from a family of small business owners and spent much of her career on the business side of organizations. Her commitment to assisting growing businesses in proactively addressing workplace legal issues led her to develop a unique concierge legal service package that includes “house calls” to the C-suite.  Mindi’s clients appreciate her practical approach in simplifying legal complexities developed from years as a business professional herself.  Her no-nonsense style and humorous stories come from over 20 years’ experience in human resources, financial and organizational leadership, operations management, and higher education. Mindi splits her time between Columbus, Ohio, and Sarasota, Florida and serves clients throughout both states.

Sept. 22, 12 – 1 PM, free Wednesday Wisdom Zoom webinar for Solo & Small Firm Section members.* Presented by Janelle Esposito, Managing Partner of the Bradenton firm, Esposito Law Firm. Moderated by Solo & Small Firm Section Executive Council member Joshua Hertz of Law Office of Joshua J. Hertz, P.A. and Business and Professional Development Coach Paula Black.

Course number 5395. Approved for 1.0 General; 1.0 Technology CLE credit. *Registration will be approved when section membership is confirmed. REGISTER

As large numbers of people turn to technology and video-teleconferencing platforms to stay connected; it is more important than ever that lawyers use best practices not only in communicating with clients but with the Court. Learn more about how to properly utilize technology to advance your practice while at the same time ensure your client’s confidential information is protected.

Janelle Esposito is President and Managing Shareholder of Esposito Law Group.  She represents multiple large financial institutions on a variety of matters, including compliance, administration, personnel, operations and credit. Janelle has documented loans and assisted in various loan modifications, workouts and closings, served as title agent as requested, assisted in correcting title defects and documentation deficiencies and generally provided advice on other banking and credit issues. She has represented creditors in simple and complicated litigation and commercial foreclosure matters in both state and federal court. She is well versed in areas relating to debt restructure, forbearance and/or settlement, documentation, lender liability issues and creditor’s rights in bankruptcy including a creditor’s right to relief from the automatic stay and proceedings to value assets. Janelle has represented clients in both federal and state court in commercial litigation matters, corporate matters, contract disputes, landlord/tenant issues, trust and estate litigation and governmental law.

Live GoToWebinar presented by the Chair of the Cannabis & Controlled Substances Group for Lowndes Law, Tara Tedrow, will focus on the quickly evolving legal and ethical issues in Florida with representing medical marijuana and/or hemp growers, distributors and sellers. Tara also teaches “Marijuana Law and Policy” as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. General Magistrate Jennifer Kuyrkendall Griffin will moderate. Course number 5309. Approved for 1.0 General; 1.0 Ethics CLE credit. Section members register for only $50. REGISTER

Tara Tedrow is a shareholder at Lowndes Law and the Chair of the Cannabis & Controlled Substances Group.  In addition to working with clients statewide on land use, zoning and development issues, Tara handles complex regulated industries such as alcoholic beverage and marijuana and hemp licensing.  Tara is a regular presenter and speaker at industry seminars and conferences and advises a variety of clients on the impacts of cannabis regulations.  Tara is also an adjunct professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where she was the first to teach a course on Marijuana Law and Policy and continues to teach today. Tara is the only person in the state to be appointed by the Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services to serve on both the Industrial Hemp Advisory Board the state Hemp Advisory Committee, which she chairs. Tara serves on many community and philanthropic boards, and is most proud of founding an educational non-profit called the Florida Debate Initiative, where she helps establish competitive speech and debate programs statewide.

Oct. 27, 12 – 1 PM, free Wednesday Wisdom Zoom webinar for Solo & Small Firm Section members. Presented by Diana Abril. Moderated by Solo & Small Firm Section Executive Council member Joshua Hertz of Law Office of Joshua J. Hertz, P.A. and Business and Professional Development Coach Paula Black. Course number 5400 is approved for 1.0 General CLE credit. Registration will be approved when section membership is confirmed. REGISTER

Diana Abril is an executive with 17 years of legal and business experience having worked in the Corporate and M&A department of an AMLAW 200 law firm and for 12 years as General Counsel to two medium-sized companies, one of which was publicly traded. She is a proud graduate of the Florida Developmental Disability Council’s Florida Partners in Policymaking program, a leadership and advocacy training program for individuals with developmental disabilities and caregivers focusing on becoming community leaders and catalysts for systems change, and a member of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA).

During 2020, Abril founded ABRIL LAW, PLLC to focus on child advocacy and special education law. As the mom to a neurodiverse child, Diana has been focusing on disability rights advocacy for the past four years—and this is her passion project. Learn the art of disability rights advocacy from a corporate lawyer-mom with first-hand experience.