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.

“Malpractice & Ethical Perils for Law Firms to Avoid,” will be presented by Florida Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company’s Cathy M. Sargent, Esq., Executive Vice President & COO, and Margaret “Peggy” Hewitt, Esq., Resources and Services Manager, and moderated by Renée E. Thompson, Upchurch Watson White & Max. Live GoToWebinar. Course number 5406. Approved for 1.0 General; 1.0 Ethics CLE credit. Section members register for only $50. REGISTER

Even the best lawyers can be sued for malpractice, and in our litigious environment, lawyers can face a number of risks from clients due to real or perceived errors.  No one single error accounts for the majority of claims against attorneys from a myriad of possibilities: substantive law error, administrative mistakes, client relations faux pas, and intentional wrongs are at the top.  Join Florida Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company’s Executive Vice President & COO Cathy M. Sargent and Resources and Services Manager Peggy Hewitt to understand from where and why claims happen to help you take proactive steps to reduce the likelihood a claim will be successfully made against you.

Cathy M. Sargent is Executive Vice President & COO of Florida Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company, responsible for overseeing the Company’s day-to-day operations.

Prior to joining FLMIC, Ms. Sargent led for 34 years at Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company of California, serving as Vice President of Development and Outreach, Vice President of Underwriting & Marketing, and General Counsel for Claims. She was a founding member of the California Lawyers Association Lawyer Well-Being Committee, reflecting a personal passion for lawyer well-being and personal and professional happiness — a passion she brings to FLMIC in furtherance of our commitment to serving our member lawyers.

Additionally, Ms. Sargent served as a guest speaker at the international 2019 NABRICO conference. She is currently a nominee for the ABA Standing Committee on professional liability insurance.

Ms. Sargent is a graduate of the Loyola Law School, where she worked in the Domestic Violence Clinic and served as Certified Student District Attorney, a trial advocate, and as a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals extern. After graduating with a Juris Doctorate, she served as defense counsel in a California law firm handling legal malpractice claims and coverage disputes. Prior to entering law school, Ms. Sargent graduated Magna Cum Laude from Loyola Marymount, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and was recognized as part of the University Honors Program during each of her four years. While enrolled at Loyola Marymount, she served as Vice President of Tri Sigma and was a member of distinguished scholarship society Alpha Sigma Nu.

Before coming to Florida Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company, Margaret “Peggy” Hewitt, Esq. was a 20-year partner of Jones, Hurley & Hand, P.A.  Before joining a law firm, Ms. Hewitt was in-house counsel for the Walt Disney Company; before Disney, she was Counsel to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and an Assistant State Attorney.  Her practice experience included over 120 jury trials, and countless administrative hearings and appeals in the areas of Insurance Defense, Employment and Labor Law, and Workers’ Compensation.  She has been designated an “AV” Peer Review Rated Lawyer by Martindale Hubbell.

Ms. Hewitt has an extensive library of articles and advisories for legal and risk management publications, including the National Retail and Restaurant Defense Association News and LinkedIn.  Her Florida Bar CLE manuals and presentations include “Trying a Difficult Liability Case in Florida.”  She has been an accredited CEU presenter for the Florida Department of Finance since 2002, has created and presented dozens of Power Point assisted seminars both for the CEU Institute and for her self-insured and self-administering clients, and has presented at the ABA Annual Conference and the NRRDA National Conference.

Ms. Hewitt was raised in Florida.   She received her BA in History and Music from the University of Florida in 1980, while working full time and participating in the UF Band.  She also earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Florida in 1983.  She was recently nominated by the City of Winter Park Chamber of Commerce for Volunteer of the Year, for her years on the Winter Park Autumn Art Festival Committee as their Entertainment Committee Director.

321-663-9017
peggyh@FLMIC.com

Nov. 17, 12 – 1 PM, free Wednesday Wisdom Zoom webinar for Solo & Small Firm Section members.* Presented by Patrick Russell, Salmon & Dulberg Dispute Resolution and Meaningful Mediation. 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 and 1.0 General; 1.0 Ethics CLE credit pending. *Registration will be approved when section membership is confirmed. REGISTER

Learn the mediation approach that rests on the powerful foundation of tactical thinking, ethics, and diplomacy from ADR Section Chair, Mediator, and former Florida Bar Ethics counsel and trial lawyer, Patrick Russell. His mediation goal is to unleash peace to have less conflict and more resolution. When parties mindfully listen, speak and act during mediation, they can better understand one another, trust one another, and are in a better position to resolve their differences.

Many litigators leave behind a legacy of conflict. Throughout his entire career, Patrick has maintained mutual respect with opposing counsel, many of whom are and remain friends. With courtesy, honesty, and respect as his guiding principles, Patrick prides himself on having a reputation as a relationship-builder who looks to the lessons of history to guide solutions for the future.
Patrick Russell has been a Florida Supreme Court Certified Civil Circuit Court Mediator since 2009 and has been practicing law since 1994. Before joining Salmon & Dulberg, he was a Trial Partner at Lydecker | Diaz, where he also created and led the firm’s first statewide Mediation Division. Before Lydecker | Diaz, Patrick managed his own law firm for almost twenty years and then worked with The Florida Bar. Patrick’s diverse legal experience includes insurance law and first-party property claims, high-exposure personal injury claims and premises liability matters, ethics and professional responsibility issues, and commercial litigation.

EDUCATION:

University of Miami School of Law, Juris Doctor, 1993
Marquette University, Bachelor of Arts, Cum Laude, 1990

PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS:

• Member, The Florida Bar
• Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil Mediator
• Chair: The Florida Bar Alternative Dispute Resolution Section (2021)
• Secretary: The Florida Bar Alternative Dispute Resolution Section (2019)
• Executive Council: The Florida Bar Alternative Dispute Resolution Section (2019 – present)
• Chair of the Health & Wellness Committee: The Florida Bar Alternative Dispute Resolution Section (2018 – present)
• Member, The Florida Bar Trial Lawyers Section
• Member, Miami-Dade County Bar Association
• Member, Broward County Bar Association
• Florida Academy of Professional Mediators
• Director for the Making History Project, a non-profit oral history project that preserves the experiences of combat veterans and studies the impact that combat trauma can have on military service members.
• Member, Windstorm Insurance Network
• Former Member, Florida Grievance Committee, 11th Circuit
• Former Partner, Lydecker | Diaz
• Former Ethics Trial Lawyer, The Florida Bar
• Founding Lawyer, Russell | Law

Live GoToWebinar presented by General Magistrate Jennifer Kuyrkendall Griffin and moderated by Theresa Jean-Pierre Coy. Course number 5673 is approved for 1 General; 1 Technology CLE credit. Section members register for only $50. REGISTER

Learn pro tips that let you skip trial-and-error tutorials and find out how to fully integrate Microsoft Word into your law practice. Magistrate Jennifer Kuyrkendall Griffin will teach you exactly what you need to make your practice more efficient and will walk you through, step-by-step, how to set up and use Microsoft Word effectively. Practice with your PC or laptop while you listen. Learn Word features that can make formatting nightmares go away—and master shortcuts that will take your efficiency in Word to new levels.

Jennifer Kuyrkendall Griffin has presided over more than 20,000 hearings and trials since 2010. First as the Third Judicial Circuit Child Support Enforcement Hearing Officer and now as the General Magistrate. Jennifer currently presides over domestic relations, probate, guardianship and foreclosure cases.

Jennifer obtained her J.D. from the University of Florida, where she graduated Cum Laude. Jennifer received her B.S. from the University of South Florida, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude.

Jennifer’s extensive service within The Florida Bar includes: Past Chair of the Solo and Small Firm Section; Executive Council member of the Solo and Small Firm Section (past secretary, treasurer); Chair of the Solo and Small Firm Technology Conference 2015, 2016, 2017; Family Law Section of The Florida Bar – Magistrate and Hearing Officer Committee Chair 2014-15, 2015-16; Third Judicial Circuit Young Lawyer’s Division Board of Governor’s Representative 2009-2015; Vision 2016; Statewide Advertising Grievance Committee; and The Florida Bar Ad Hoc Committee to Study SCOPE Program.

Jennifer has served her local bar as the President of the Third Judicial Bar Association, as the Vice Chair of the Third Circuit Grievance Committee and as the President and founder of the Young Lawyer’s Section.

Jennifer holds the maximum rating, AV Preeminent® by the Martindale-Hubbell® Law Directory. Jennifer’s pride and joy is her four-year-old daughter, Kendall.

Live GoToWebinar presented by Debra J. Davis, CPA, Esq. and moderated by Bill Curphey. Course number 5705 is approved by The Florida Bar for 1.0 General CLE credit, all of which may be applied toward Ethics. REGISTER

Debra Davis, a CPA and former Florida Bar Auditor and Lawyer Regulation Department Assistant Staff Counsel before joining Smith, Tozian, Daniel & Davis, P.A., will discuss the ethics of lawyer trust accounts and provide practical tips to establish, manage and maintain a compliant trust account to avoid fearing a Bar Audit.

Debra J. Davis (“Debbie”), a Florida attorney and Certified Public Accountant, graduated from the University of Tampa with honors and then studied at the Australian Graduate School of Management in Sydney, Australia.  After working years in public accounting and as accounting manager for a large OEM company, Debbie earned her law degree with honors from the University of Florida College of Law.  From 1996 to 2005, Debbie worked in the Tampa Office of The Florida Bar’s Lawyer Regulation Department, first as Branch Auditor conducting compliance examinations of attorney trust accounts, then as Bar Counsel on several high-profile cases.  Debbie has taught Ethics School and Practicing with Professionalism programs for The Florida Bar and lectured on a variety of ethics topics, including trust accounts and advertising, at local bar associations and law schools.  Debbie is a member of the American Bar Association, Center for Professional Responsibility, the Hillsborough County Bar Association, and the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers.  In 2005, Debbie became associated with the law firm now known as Smith, Tozian, Daniel and Davis, P.A. where she practices with her partners in the areas of legal ethics, Bar defense and Bar admissions.

Contact Information

109 N. Brush Street, Suite 200
Tampa, Florida 33602
813-273-0063
813-221-8832 (fax)
DDavis@smithtozian.com

Free Wednesday Wisdom Zoom CLE open to all Florida Bar members. Presented by Jay Kim of Kim Vaughan Lerner LLP and Kevin Johnson of Johnson Jackson PLLC. Course number 5712; CLE credit pending approval. REGISTER

This webinar will identify ways to enhance your leadership skills and develop professionally by getting more involved in The Florida Bar, local voluntary bars, providing pro bono service or obtaining Florida Bar Certification. You will hear from two highly active and successful smaller-firm attorneys about the benefits of making time and the different ways to get involved through committees, sections, programs, local bar associations and pro bono service.

A Florida Bar Board of Governors member, former Solo & Small Firm Executive Council member, Leadership Academy inaugural class fellow, founding member of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of South Florida, and Florida Bar Pro Bono Award Recipient, Jay Kim, Managing Partner at Kim Vaughan Lerner LLP will share his path.

Florida Bar Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law and a Founding Partner in Johnson Jackson PLLC, Kevin Johnson, former chair of Solo & Small Firm Section and The Florida Bar Technology Committee, member of the Strategic Planning Committee, and Technology Committee, as well as a past President of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, will talk about his involvement and becoming Florida Bar Certified.

In consideration of the health of its members and staff, The Florida Bar Winter Meeting has changed to an all-virtual format. Solo & Small Firm Section Executive Council members will receive details about how to access the Executive Council meeting via Zoom.

“Pivoting Your Practice” was presented as a live GoToWebinar on Friday, February 11, 2022. Course number 5622 is available through The Florida Bar InReach catalog as an Online Seminar (on-demand) and Downloadable Audio (podcast) and will soon be available in CD and DVD formats.  It is approved for 1.0 Technology, 1.0 Mental Illness Awareness and 5.0 General CLE credits, 2.0 of which may be applied toward Ethics and 1.0 of which may be applied toward Professionalism. Visit the conference web page.

“Pivoting Your Law Practice: The Resilience & Grit You Need to Survive” is designed to meet the needs of lawyers who understand the importance of transforming their law practices to address the new demands of virtual and hybrid business models. Our diverse roster of experienced presenters will address topics such as technology transformations, working as outside counsel, managing stress with recovery, ethics of online payment systems and fee-sharing with nonlawyers and managing the ethics of law with second income streams.

Thank you to conference co-chairs Jacina Parson and Camara Williams.

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

8:00 AM – 8:10 AM
Welcome by Solo & Small Firm Section Chair & Conference Co-Chair Jacina Parson and Conference Co-Chair Camara Williams with a welcome by Florida Bar President Michael Tanner.

8:10 AM – 9:00 AM
“The Transformation of Technology Usage, Adoption, and Expectations” by Ari Kaplan, Ari Kaplan Advisors of New York

9:00 AM – 9:50 AM “Bidding on Billions: Pro Tips for Working as Outside Counsel on Corporate Client Files”
Panel discussion moderated by Diriki T. Geuka, Associate, Townsend Lockett, LLC, of Atlanta
Panelists: Jennifer Branham, Director & Corporate Counsel, L3Harris Technologies, Inc. of Melbourne, FL, Shannon Finucane, Director of Legal Business Affairs, Hornets Sports and Entertainment of Charlotte, NC, D. Tennell Lockett, Managing Partner, Townsend & Lockett, LLC, of Atlanta

9:50 AM – 10:40 AM “How to Be Your Best Professional Self by Managing Stress With Recovery” by Rebecca Bandy, Director of the Henry Latimer Center for Professionalism The Florida Bar, Tallahassee

10:40 AM – 10:55 AM Break

10:55 AM – 11:45 AM “Ethically Accepting Payments via Online Apps and Fee-Sharing with Nonlawyers” by D. Culver (Skip) Smith, III, Culver Smith, III, PA, of West Palm Beach

11:45 AM – 12:35 PM “Ethical Aspects of Combining Lawyering by Day with Second Streams of Income”
Panel discussion moderated by Camara Williams, Smith and Williams Trial Group, PLLC, of Orlando
Panelists: Jordan Ostroff, President of LegalEase Marketing, & Managing Partner of Jordan Law of Orlando, Fl, Shannon A. Ligon, Attorney, Ligon Law Group, LLC d.b.a. PrettySMART Law | PrettySMART, LLC | Legacy Entertainment & Arts Foundation Inc. (L.E.A.F. Inc.) of Miami, Jacina Parson, Chair Solo & Small Firm Section, Senior Assistant County Attorney, Pinellas County Attorney’s Office, and Realtor, Coldwell Banker of Clearwater

Live GoToWebinar presented by Stephanie Cagnet Myron of Cagnet Myron Law in Wellington, Florida, and moderated by Jennifer Kuyrkendall Griffin.

This CLE will provide lawyers with detailed information regarding Florida laws protecting victims of Stalking and Sexual Cyberharassment. We will also discuss important factors to consider when representing victims of trauma. Attendees will also be provided with information regarding the use of technology to harass victims and what evidence is helpful to support a case. Course number 5713 is approved for 1.0 General; 1.0 Technology CLE credit. REGISTER

Stephanie Cagnet Myron is a victim’s rights lawyer with her firm Cagnet Myron Law, where she represents victims of stalking, cyberstalking, revenge porn and sexual violence throughout Florida.

She has served for several years as an elected representative from Palm Beach County on the Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division Board of Governors. She served several times as a Florida Delegate for the ABA-YLD, where she helped draft and spoke in support of the Parental Leave Rule, which passed without opposition. She currently serves on the executive board of the Florida Bar Solo and Small Firm Section. She served on the board for FAWL-Florida Association for Women Lawyers, and has even served as the FAWL representative to NAWL – the National Association of Women Lawyers.