April 28, 12 – 1 PM Wednesday Wisdom Zoom webinar (free for Solo & Small Firm Section members)* presented by Rebecca Bandy, Director, The Henry Latimer Center for Professionalism at The Florida Bar. This interactive experience will explore mental health, wellness, and substance abuse issues facing legal professionals, particularly focused on solo and small firms; it will look at ways to minimize distractions and improve self-care; it will define emotional intelligence and its benefits; and it will give examples of mindfulness-based emotional intelligence practices that can be used personally and professionally to improve quality of life.” 1.0 General; 1.0 Professionalism; 1.0 Mental Illness CLE credit and course number pending. REGISTER

Rebecca J. Bandy serves as the Director of The Florida Bar’s Henry Latimer Center for Professionalism. She joined the Center as Assistant Director in March 2017.

Prior to joining The Florida Bar, Ms. Bandy was an associate attorney at the Law Offices of Thomas L. Powell, PA in Tallahassee, where she litigated in the areas of family and criminal law. She most recently taught college-level courses at Lawton Chiles High School, where she helped establish the school’s award-winning mock trial team along with The Honorable Mark Walker, The Honorable David Frank, and attorney David Grimes.

Ms. Bandy previously served as the Director of Alumni Relations at the Florida State University College of Business and as the Assistant Director of Alumni and Development at the Florida State University College of Law.

She earned her Juris Doctor from the Florida State University College of Law. A native of the tiny town of Hilliard in Nassau County, Florida, she earned her Bachelor’s in Communications with Honors from Jacksonville University and her teaching credentials at Georgia Southern University.

Since becoming director, Ms. Bandy has attended the National Legal Mentoring Symposium in Columbia, South Carolina; the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute at Georgetown University; the National Mindfulness Summit in Washington, DC; and has received a Mental Health First Aid certificate. She currently serves on the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Professionalism. She regularly speaks to legal professionals, law school students, and Florida Bar staff on general professionalism, mindfulness-based emotional intelligence, the impacts of loneliness, mentoring, networking, gratitude, resilience, interpersonal communications skills, active listening, implicit bias, and team building.

Ms. Bandy is active in her church, is a community volunteer at an area elementary school, and she has supported causes including the March of Dimes, Epilepsy Association of the Big Bend, the Holocaust Education Resource Council (HERC), The Kearney Center, and Honor Flight Tallahassee.

May 19, 12 – 1 PM, free Wednesday Wisdom Zoom webinar by Christine Phipps, Registered Professional Reporter, President of Phipps Reporting, Inc. of West Palm Beach. Free CLE for Solo & Small Firm Section members only. Registration will be approved when section membership is confirmed.

The court reporting profession, like the legal profession, has ethical issues and considerations to manage. This is especially relevant with the increase in use of technology, virtual depositions and hearings, and online notarization and swearing-in for the record. This CLE additionally will cover issues including gifting, confidentially, professionalism, methodologies and ethical challenges and how court reporters and office staff can maintain a professional and ethical setting. Course number 4441. Approved for 1.0 General; 1.0 Ethics; 1.0 Technology CLE credit. *Registration will be approved when section membership is confirmed. REGISTER

Christine Phipps is a Registered Professional Reporter, President of Phipps Reporting, Inc., and current President of the National Court Reporters Association.  She received her degree in court reporting from Broward State College.  She started out as an official court reporter for the first two years of her career and then spent the next 15 years working all over the world as a freelance court reporter. After building relationships all over the country, Christine opened her own court reporting and litigation support agency, Phipps Reporting.  In addition to reporting, Christine is also an Eclipse Trainer and has served as Chair of NCRA’s Technology and Freelance Committees and served on many other committees. Christine was awarded the 2014 Most Enterprising Woman of the Year, Gamechanger of the Year, and Small Business Woman-Owned Person of the Year.  Christine’s company, Phipps Reporting, made the Inc. 5000 list every year since 2014, making her the first Honorary member of the Inc. 5000 in our industry.  She currently resides in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida and has three children; Brandon, Jarrod and Skylar and her grandson, Forrest.

In addition to reporting, Christine is also an Eclipse Trainer and has served as Chair of NCRA’s Technology Freelance Committee, as well as other Committees within the NCRA.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Free Wednesday Wisdom CLE for Solo & Small Firm Section members* on Zoom. “Successfully Balancing Family, Life and Practicing Law” will be presented by Theresa Jean-Pierre Coy, Seffner; and Travis Coy, Assistant State Attorney, 13th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office, Tampa; Joshua Hertz will serve as moderator. Course number 5714 is approved for 1 General CLE credit. REGISTER

*Registration will be approved when section membership is confirmed.

A married criminal defense lawyer and prosecutor will share their experiences and perspectives on how they have balanced their marriage, being parents, and dealing with medical challenges, all while practicing law and serving as leaders in the legal community.

Theresa Jean-Pierre Coy is an experienced criminal defense and personal injury attorney who began her career as an Assistant Public Defender in Pinellas County, Florida. In that role, she relied on her own personal experience with the criminal justice system to help defend clients and empathize with their families and loved ones. She defended a full range of cases—from traffic citations to misdemeanors to felonies punishable by life. She has taken well over 50 cases to trial and has argued countless motions on behalf of her clients.

In 2010, she opened her own law firm to zealously represent individuals involved in the Family Unified Court and those hurt or injured in various types of automobile/motorcycle accidents.

She is fluent in Haitian-Creole and prides herself on being able to help the surrounding Haitian community with their legal needs in a language that they are comfortable and familiar with.

Additionally, she is extremely active in the legal community in Tampa Bay and holds numerous leadership roles in various organizations. Theresa was named the 2019 Candidate for Woman of the Year for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and raised $15K for cancer research.

Travis Coy is the Juvenile Division Chief & Assistant State Attorney for the  Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in Tampa (Criminal and Civil Litigation). He is a trial attorney with extensive criminal and civil litigation experience as well as a record of prosecuting a caseload of 1,000+ first, second, and third-degree felony cases with a track record of chairing over 75 jury trials. Prior large firm experience in a wide range of civil litigation matters (from inception through settlement), including insurance defense, commercial litigation, administrative, real property, and personal injury. Graduate of Stetson Law School and Florida State University.

Memberships & Community Involvement:

• President, George Edgecomb Bar Association
• Judicial Nominating Procedures Committee, The Florida Bar
• Member, Tampa Bay American Inn of Court
• Minister and Sunday School Superintendent, The Pentecostal Church of God of Jesus Christ, Inc.