2024-2025 SECTION COMMITTEES

Awards
The Awards Committee seeks nominees for the Section’s highest award, given annually to a Florida Bar member for displaying the talents and compassion possessed by Selig Goldin.

Budget
Oversees the allocation of financial resources for the Section, coordinates the annual budgeting process with the Section Treasurer and The Florida Bar Program Administrator, maintains rules and guidelines for the budgeting process.

Ad Hoc Bylaws
Responsible for maintaining the Section’s bylaws, recommending edits and amendments based on substantive changes needed, overseeing proper notification for Section members and the public, and ensuring adherence to the amendments process for section bylaws in accordance with the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar. 

  • Angélica D. Zayas, Chair
  • Hon. Hunter Davis
  • Mark Dobson
  • David Rothman
  • Stacy Salmons
  • John Owen Schmidt
  • Ken Swartz
  • Paul Zacks
Capital Cases
This committee was created to keep the Executive Council aware of any changes to the status of capital litigation in Florida. It is intentionally constituted with members who give it a philosophical balance on the issues relating to capital crimes; so that parochial or ideological views do not sway the full committee.

The group concentrates on the changes in case law, legislative changes, and new Bar rules or procedures which might influence how capital cases, which are unique, would be prosecuted. For example, the question of requiring unanimous penalty phase verdicts is presently being addressed in the courts and by the legislature. If there are any modifications, this committee would advise the Executive Council; allowing it to respond as the voice of the Criminal Law practitioners in Florida.

  • Hon. London Kite, Chair
  • Nick Cox
  • Tonya Johnson
  • Abraham Laeser
  • Hon. Thomas Palermo
  • Hon. Tatiana Salvador
  • Hon. Samantha Ward
  • Karen Gottlieb
  • Hon. George Odom
Ad Hoc Comments
The Ad Hoc Comments Committee addresses specific issues or proposes changes related to criminal law rules, policies, or procedures. Its purpose is to review and provide feedback on matters such as proposed legislation, amendments to the rules of criminal procedure, or other legal developments that impact criminal law practitioners. Its comments or recommendations may be considered by The Florida Bar, the courts, or legislative bodies when making decisions that affect the practice of criminal law in Florida.
  • Jude Faccidomo, Chair
  • Jason Blank
  • Benedict Kuehne
  • Warren Lindsey
  • Richard Polin
  • Harvey Sepler
  • Michael Ufferman
Communications
The Communications Committee is charged with ensuring that section members and the community at large are aware of the goings-on with the Section, criminal justice law, and other issues that affect our practice. To that end, the Committee distributes regular newsletter communications to its members and publishes updates and informational articles to The Florida Bar News from time to time. For more information on the Committee, or to suggest a topic to be shared with our peers, contact the Committee Chair.
  • Michael Ufferman, Chair
  • Mark Dobson
  • Alexa Cline
  • Elisabeth Rodriquez
  • Richard Polin
  • Hon. Jeffrey Levenson
  • Jason Blank
  • Lisa Tipton
Continuing Legal Education
Reflecting the unique and diverse nature of the Criminal Law Section’s membership, the CLE Committee is responsible for organizing and presenting quality continuing legal education programs of interest to all criminal law practitioners. For more information on the Committee, or to suggest topics and speakers, please contact the Committee Chair.

Diversity and Inclusion (Formerly Implicit Bias)
The Diversity and Inclusion Committee focuses on helping to establish a supportive and welcoming environment in which Criminal Law Section members of all backgrounds and demographic characteristics can work together. The Committee also works to further the goals of The Florida Bar’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee:   To increase diversity and inclusion in The Florida Bar so that the Bar will reflect the demographics of the state, to develop opportunities for community involvement, and to make leadership roles within the profession and The Florida Bar accessible to all attorneys, including those who are racially, ethnically and culturally diverse, women, members of the LGBTQ community and persons with disabilities.

  • Hon. Lisa Campbell, Co-Chair
  • Nick Cox, Co-Chair
  • Tonya Johnson
  • Lee Lockett
  • Owen Schmidt
  • Hon. Julie Sercus
  • Harry Wallace
  • Monique Worrell
  • Aisha Nash
Ad Hoc Federal Practice
The Federal Practice Committee focuses on unique aspects of federal criminal practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and Florida’s three federal district courts. The Committee works to provide members benefits such as federally focused CLE opportunities, updates and information essential to federal practice, and opportunities to engage with federal criminal practitioners, the judiciary and other federal stakeholders. The Committee also serves to address the needs of federal criminal practitioners and the courts related to the Florida Bar, and elsewhere as appropriate.
Legislative
The Legislative Committee is tasked with tracking all of the bills filed before the Florida Legislature each year that may impact issues important to our membership. On an ad hoc basis, the Committee meets by telephone, discusses pertinent legislation and recommends to the Executive Council any formal position that they believe the section should take with respect to particular legislation. Additionally, the Committee is assigned by the Executive Council Chair to address correspondence from other sections requesting that the Criminal Law Section take a particular position with regard to filed or proposed legislation. Finally, the Committee drafts a memorandum annually for distribution to all members of the Executive Council that summarizes any new laws passed during the term that impact issues relating to the Criminal Law Section. Any member of the Criminal Law Section may request an appointment to the Committee by contacting the current Chair of the Executive Council.
  • Richard Greenberg, Chair
  • Patricia Dawson
  • Jude Faccidomo
  • Suzanne Hugentugler
  • Benedict Kuehne
  • Warren Lindsey
  • Marty McDonell
  • Krissia E. Mendez
  • Hon. David Oberliessen
  • Stacy Salmons
  • Joe Spataro
  • Michael Ufferman
  • Natalie Kato
  • Aaron Wayt
Long-Range Planning
The Long-Range Planning Committee is led by the Section’s Chair-Elect and is comprised of experienced Executive Council members. The Committee’s purpose is to consider the Criminal Law Section’s future in all areas, including CLE, membership, legislative priorities, and interaction with the Bar as a whole.
  • Hon. Tatiana Salvador, Chair
  • Ryan Vescio, Co-Chair
  • Hon. Hunter Davis
  • Mark Dobson
  • Hon. Laura Lambert
  • Joel Silvershein

Membership
The Membership Committee is responsible for attracting new members and retaining current members. We do that by educating prospective members and reminding current members of the benefits of membership.

What makes the Criminal Law Section unique—and the reason you should be a member—is that it is the only organization whose members are judges, law professors, and criminal lawyers (state and federal, prosecution and defense, public and private). We advise the courts, including the Supreme Court, the legislature, and the Bar on issues ranging from processes and procedures to substantive law. Learn more about the benefits of membership.

  • Elisabeth Rodriguez, Chair
  • Larry Basford
  • Alexa Cline
  • Mark Dobson
  • Hon. David Oberliessen
  • Monique Worrell
  • Hon. Jessica Yeary
  • Calianne Lantz
  • Zi Jin Peter Chan

Nominating
According to the Bylaws of the Criminal Law Section, “The chair will appoint 5 members to the nominating committee for the purpose of presenting to the membership in attendance at the annual section meeting the names of not less than 10 nominees for the vacancies to be filled by the membership.”

  • Ryan Vescio – Chair
  • David Barksdale
  • Patricia Dawson
  • Richard Greenberg
  • Jeff Harris
  • Hon. Laura Lambert
  • Warren Lindsey
  • Joel Silvershein
  • Joe Spataro
  • Angélica D. Zayas

Sponsorship
The Sponsorship Committee endeavors to recruit sponsors at various levels to assist the Section in providing membership scholarships to government lawyers, young lawyers, and others who would benefit from section membership.

P/PD Trial Advocacy Program
The P/PD Committee oversees the administration of the CLS/UF Law Gerald T. Bennett Public Defender Prosecutor Trial Training Program. This program is now over the 40-year mark and trains young prosecutors and public defenders to strengthen and develop more sophisticated trial skills. The Committee coordinates lodging, food, room scheduling, and other logistics. Committee members are responsible for faculty invitations/appointments and recruit expert speakers for ethics and forensic science lectures. P/PD faculty are selected from the prosecution, the defense, and the judiciary, and represent different demographics and geographical areas of the state. Each year, a Queen’s Counsel from the United Kingdom is among the faculty members and four junior barristers are among the students. Because of the great emphasis placed on courtroom advocacy in the British system, the barristers bring a fresh perspective to the program. The P/PD Program emphasizes courtesy, professionalism, and empathy between the two sides of criminal practice.

Section Liaisons

 

Appellate Court Rules Committee

  • Michael Ufferman

Board of Governors

  • Tad Yates

Continuing Legal Education Committee

  • Hon. Julie Sercus

Code & Rules of Evidence Committee

  • H. Scott Fingerhut / Jeffrey Harris

Criminal Procedure Rules Committee

  • Jude Faccidomo

Juvenile Court Rules Committee

  • Joel Silvershein

Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

  • Jason Blank

Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association

  • Harold Pryor

Florida Public Defender Association

  • Jessica Yeary

Professional Ethics Committee

  • H. Scott Fingerhut

Rules of Judicial Administration Committee

  • Jude Faccidomo

Young Lawyers Division

  • Alexa Cline
Young Lawyers Committee
The Young Lawyers Committee was established in 2024 as a Section liaison to Florida Bar members who have been in practice for 10 years or fewer. The goal is to recruit active new members and focus on practice resources to benefit them.
  • Alexa Cline, Chair
  • Zi Jin Peter Chan
  • Christian Katchuk
  • Madeline McClaran
  • Diego Merino
  • Ashlin Morgan
  • Sarah Morris
  • Gabriel Mueller
  • Ernst Pirre-Louis
  • Elizabeth Viejo
  • Brian Zack