As mentioned in the post below, thirty-four attorneys have applied for the new regional counsel positions. Interviews will be next week, on the 19th and 20th of July. Once the JNC chooses the finalist names for consideration by the governor, DependencyDefense.com will e-mail the finalists to see if they will respond to questions about how they intend to handle the dependency court portion of their duties.
In the meantime, I'll list some brief information about each candidate as available through simple web searches, grouped by district [any inaccuracies are unintentional]:
First District; 10 applicants:
1. Angela M. Ball of Perry. Admitted to Florida Bar in 1989. According to this unverified yahoo listing, specializes in bankruptcy, criminal defense, divorce, estates, personal injury, real estate and wills.
2. Jeffries H. Duvall of Tallahassee. Admitted to Florida Bar in 1975. According to FindLaw, has had a long career and specializes in criminal law. Fla Bar member search reflects that he currently works for AHCA (Agency for Health Care Administration). Is mentioned in a 1997 Florida Supreme Court decision as having been an assistant public defender.
3. Jeffrey E. Lewis of Pensacola. Admitted to Florida Bar in 1984. His phone number listed with the Bar suggests that he currently works in the Office of the Public Defender in the First Circuit.
4. Howard Lidsky (misspelled as "Lindsky" in the JNC press release) of Gainesville. Admitted to Florida Bar in 1993. Belongs to criminal law section. Also listed as specializing in elder law. Google search reflects someone active in his community.
5. AuBroncee Starlin Martin of Gainesville. Admitted to Florida Bar in 1998. Has a cool name. Sits on the Voluntary Bar Liason Committee of the Fla Bar. Is or was the president of the 8th judicial circuit bar association. Sits on 8th circuit bench/bar committee. One e-mail address suggests works for the public defenders office in Alachua County.
6. Edmund D. Quintana of Panama City. Admitted to Florida Bar in 1983. Board certified in civil trial. Admitted to Mississippi Bar, inactive there since 1980 . Is on rotation list for felonies in Calhoun County. Was in an article last month regarding one of his cases (look fast, the cache won't last forever).
7. Michael P. Reiter of Tallahassee. Admitted to Florida Bar in 1981. Self-reports as a sole-practicioner. Is on list to represent death row inmates in federal appeals. Has served as chief assistant capital collateral regional counsel.
8. George H. Stopp of Pensacola. Admitted to Florida Bar in 2000. No other reliable information easily found.
9. David J. Tarbert of Tallahassee. Admitted to Florida Bar in 1988. Seems to work for the State of Florida at the Department of Environmental Protection. FindLaw says he's got juvenile law experience, as well.
10. John A. Tomasino of Tallahassee. Admitted to Florida Bar in 1997. Is employed by the public defender in the 2d circuit as "technology director". Appears to have handled death penalty cases.
Second District; 7 applicants:
1. Richard L. Fetterer of Naples. Admitted to Florida Bar in 1989. Best guess is he works in his local PDs office. This ancient news article reflects that he has experience on the prosecution side as well.
2. Jackson S. Flyte of Winter Haven (Bar page says Bartow). Admitted to Florida Bar in 1992. Is a member of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Self-lists his areas as criminal, family, and public interest law.
3. James R. Jessell, of Fort Myers. Admitted to Florida Bar either in 1963 and specializes in real property, probate and trust, or admitted in 1991, depending upon whether J.R. Senior or J.R. Jr. is the applicant. I'll wait to see if he is selected before tackling that mystery.
4. Edward J. Kelly of Naples. Admitted to Florida Bar in 1990. He is the first of these listed here to seem to live in the digital age with a website for his firm. Former cop, what seems like plenty of crim law experience. I'll let his web-bio speak for itself. No dependency experience listed, though, which is the trend so far.
5. Belinda Noah of Tampa. Admitted to Florida Bar in 1983. One-ups the above entry in the digital age department and has a blog [the authors of the dependencydefense.com blog suggest one approach such a thing with great caution]. This article (about Dr. Noah's former candidacy for US Senate) contains a bio that does not include mention of either criminal or dependency law, but does list time as dep. general counsel for DBPR. [ed. note: on another of the entries in this list, I stumbled on a list of political contributions made by one on the list. I did not mention that, because I do not mean to editorialize here or opine about who is a good or bad candidate for Regional Counsel based upon political leanings. I do list Dr. Noah's political activity because it is both public and notable]. Another article about Professor Noah is here (and also happens to mention numbers 6 and 7 below as well)
6. Eric C. Pinkard of St. Petersburg. Admitted to Florida Bar in 1987. Works at a big firm that covers a lot of ground. Mr. Pinkard was an asst. state attorney, has been a professor of international law, and now handles corporate litigation. Here's that article again from above.
7. Charles H. Scruggs of Tampa. Admitted to Florida Bar in 1964. He was both a municipal and circuit judge. Oh, and here's that article again. Hats off to the St. Pete Times for caring enough to highlight the applicants for the Regional Counsel. This link, though I can't say how accurate it is, reflects at least some interest in and experience with dependency and TPR (termination of parental rights). Lots of experience here with Judge Scruggs. This page, if you search for him, shows him in a very positive light.
Third District; 1 (count 'em) applicant:
1. Joseph P. George of Miami. Admitted to Florida Bar in 1994. Notable for being the only applicant in the third district. Is a sole practicioner. Past pro bono award recipient. Self-reports a broad range of practice areas. Family law is mentioned at his Bar profile, but not dependency specifically.
Fourth District; 8 applicants:
1. Mariza de Guzman Cobb of Hollywood. Admitted to Florida Bar in 1996. Works for the Office of the Attorney General, specifically, if I am correct, in Childrens' Legal Services. I don't know what "LAF" stands for, but the phone number listed is in the Attorney General's Children's Legal Services inFort Lauderdale, so it seems to fit. Member of the Childrens' Services Council of Broward. Is on the Bar's Juvenile Court Rules Committee. [ed: it will be interesting to see if Ms. Cobb gets recommended. As this blog focuses on dependency issues, her background is interesting, and has already been appointed by the current governor to her Services Council post].
2. Debra Gotlib of Jupiter. Admitted to Florida Bar in 2004. Works for the Florida Department of Children and Families, though not currently listed in Florida 411 (those listings are often unreliable). There is an attorney by the same name who once worked in the State of Maine as an assistant attorney general involved in child abuse issues, but I have no idea if it is the same attorney.
3. Jennifer Hixson of Vero Beach. Admited to Florida Bar in 1997. Her e-mail address reflects that she is a DCF lawyer, so there is another with direct dependency experience, presumably. As the only Florida lawyer by that name, this site may have (had) something to do with her. May also have practiced in Massachusetts. The Warm and Hixson site header states that the firm focused on misdemeanors, personal injury, and corporate law.
4. Clyde Killer of Fort Pierce. I will get to Mr. Killer tomorrow, as life is calling....stay tuned for the remainder of the list (we've got 13 more to go)
..This post is continued in the post above...
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