More About Me ....

Unlike most attorneys, in the formative years of my career, I served as a judicial staff attorney working behind the bench with judges where we considered arguments from all parties in an adversarial environment to reach a just and proper outcome as the law required. As a result, my approach to law and conflict resolution has been fundamentally guided by an attempt to come together as adults, have a rational conversation founded upon and guided by the truth and honest intentions, and reach an outcome that is mutually acceptable to all parties as fairness dictates. While at the court, I witnessed countless trials and hearings in which adverse parties would spend days arguing over disputed facts that left me wondering how so many people had such an awkward challenge in recollecting the truth. Trials are a curious thing because as Mark Twain noted, "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything."  At a time when court resources are stretched to the limit, courts must be reserved for genuine disputes that are serious and demand the court's proper attention. But aside from that point, I find that when a case makes it to court, an attorney's ability to negotiate a solution becomes more constrained as potential liabilities for both parties increase. As once famously noted, it is better to have a lean compromise than a fat lawsuit. Many attorneys will vehemently disagree with me, and they may be correct; however, having a marketplace of ideas and different jurisprudential philosophies allows clients to research prospective attorneys to find those most compatible with their own values and constitutions. 

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During my tenure with the court, I became an expert at legal research and finding answers to the most obscure issues, so I spent a little over a decade with Westlaw, now Thomson Reuters, serving as an attorney representative of the company in the enormous effort to migrate a profession that was print-oriented to a paperless work environment. I specifically worked in the government segment where I focused on ensuring Florida's federal and state judiciaries and government attorneys were proficient at the complicated legal research tasks. During this period, I had the honor of serving as a faculty member at the Florida College of Advanced Judicial Studies as one of a few faculty members who were not currently or formerly a judge. 

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Throughout this time, I served on the board of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council for nearly two decades during which we passed countless nondiscrimination ordinances and policies making Palm Beach County one of the safest places in the world for members of the LGBTQ community. 

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Other interesting facts about me: 

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• While working as a staff attorney, I was also a stringer for the Judge Judy and Judge Joe Brown shows where many of my submissions made it on air. 

• The pandemic-induced slowdown allowed me to follow my passion for food and work as a sous chef at Rhythm Cafe in West Palm Beach, FL alongside its two Culinary Institute of America chef-owners. I also began designing furniture and actually sold a few pieces. 

• I am an Eagle Scout, was born in Pensacola, FL, raised in DeFuniak Springs, FL, got both my undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Florida where I was inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame (1993), and served as the  General Chairman of Homecoming in 1996 during our first football national championship year.