By: Celia Thacker Dorn
The Young Lawyers Division’s Summit on Young Government Lawyers occurred on November 1, 2019.
Panelists included: Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Nikki Fried, Secretary of the Department of Juvenile Justice Simone Marstiller, Deputy General Counsel to Governor Ron DeSantis Nicholas Primrose, City of Miami Beach City Manager Jimmy Morales, Eleventh Judicial Circuit Public Defender Carlos J. Martinez, Seventh Judicial Circuit State Attorney R.J. Larizza, Regional Counsel First District Court of Appeal Region Candice Brower, Chief Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Robert C. Finkbeiner, Former City of St. Petersburg Assistant City Attorney Sasha Lohn, Chief Judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Don Myers, Fifth District Court of Appeal Judge Meredith Sasso, DOAH Judge Yolonda Green, Former County Attorney for Osceola County Jo Thacker, Former General Counsel for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Amy Borman, General Counsel Florida International University Carlos Castillo, and Executive Director of The Florida Bar Joshua Doyle.
These panels, moderated by Celia Thacker Dorn, Randall Richardson, Iris Elijah, and Sarah Hodges, discussed the unique issues facing young government lawyers and unique ways that offices combat these issues. Also during the Summit all attendees participated in roundtables where they spoke about challenges in their offices, ability to participate in community and Bar activities, whether the attendees plan to transition to the private sector and if so the motivation for that transition, and whether the attendees feel stigmatized for practicing in the public sector.
After a very productive Summit, the Committee is transitioning into smaller regional summits that will take place throughout Florida in the spring of 2020. These regional summits will take place during lunch or after the workday for an hour and will be like the round table discussions that occurred at the Summit. If you are interested in serving as a point person for a County or Circuit please reach out to Celia Thacker Dorn chthacker@gmail.com