Dancers

Team name: Heather Telfer’s Fundraising Team

Heather Savage Telfer is Assistant Ethics Counsel with The Florida Bar. In addition to reviewing lawyer advertising, Heather answers The Florida Bar’s Ethics Hotline to guide lawyers through the minefields of conflict dilemmas, confidentiality questions, communication concerns, trust accounting problems, and other ethics difficulties unique to the profession. Prior to moving to the Ethics Department, Heather managed multiple rules of court procedure committees and jury instructions committees. Over the years, she has volunteered as a member of boards of directors for local arts organizations and is currently on the board of KEYS (“Keys to Exceptional Youth Success”).

Team name: Suzanne Van Wyk: Team Foxtrot

Suzanne Van Wyk joined the Division of Administrative Hearings as an Administrative Law Judge in August 2012. She presides in all types of administrative litigation but specializes in growth management challenges and local government development order appeals. Suzanne believes there is no higher calling for lawyers than to represent the needs of the underserved! She has served on the Board of the Florida Bar Foundation for seven years and is currently the Second Vice President. She is a founding member of the Tallahassee Legal Aid Foundation “League of Justice” and an LSNF Partner in Service. Suzanne and her husband, Roy, have three daughters. They enjoy boating, fishing, and traveling in their RV.

Kristin is currently serving her third term as a Leon County Commissioner representing District 5. She holds an Associate’s degree from Tallahassee Community College, a Bachelor’s degree in Religion and a Master’s degree in Religious Ethics and Philosophy, both from Florida State University. She completed coursework in a Ph.D. program focused on Comparative Religious Ethics, Catholic Moral Theology, and Human Rights Ethics. She continued this passion for three and a half years when she taught a course in Religious Ethics at FSU

In 2013, she was selected by her fellow Commissioners to serve as Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners for 2013-14.

Prior to her election, Kristin spent eleven years at Mad Dog Construction holding numerous positions including Green Building Advisor and Vice President.

Tom is a member of Baker Donelson‘s Government Enforcement and Investigations Group, with more than 20 years of experience in handling white collar criminal cases, including complex cases involving allegations of health care fraud, bank fraud, corporate fraud, public corruption, criminal tax matters and a variety of other white-collar matters.

Before he began private practice, Mr. Findley was a law clerk for the Honorable Joseph Hatchett on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Later, Mr. Findley served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Major Crimes Division of the Middle District of Florida. He tried approximately 20 jury trials and handled more than 100 grand jury investigations.

Mutaqee Akbar is a Tallahassee native, with a passion for helping others and giving back to the community. Akbar earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Morehouse College in 2001. He then went on to graduate cum laude in 2004 from the University of Miami’s College of Law. Attorney Akbar didn’t always have an interest in law. He pursued a career in engineering but realized that was not where his passion truly lied. As the son of notable psychologist, Na’im Akbar, the attorney has always been drawn to working directly with others in need of help.

Akbar founded the Akbar Law Firm in Frenchtown, because for decades his family has sown into this community. He wanted to continue to carry that torch. Akbar has influence so many around him. He is greatly respected among his colleagues and profoundly admired by his peers, Akbar is considered as one of the best in his field in Tallahassee.

Rocky Bevis was raised in Tallahassee and is a graduate of Leon High School and Miami-Dade College. Rocky worked side by side with his father, Russell Bevis, before taking over ownership of Bevis Funeral Home in 1998. He is very active in the Tallahassee community where he is a member of the Hospice Board of Directors, Tallahassee Lions Club, Capital Tiger Bay Club, Knight Foundation, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Tallahassee Memorial Hospital Foundation, and Chairman of the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation. He and his wife Patti are also members of Faith Presbyterian Church where he serves as an Elder.

Christian is a shareholder in the Tallahassee office of Vezina, Lawrence & Piscitelli.  Christian’s practice is largely comprised of representing prime contractors on public works projects throughout Florida. In addition, Christian specializes in contract drafting and negotiation for traditional, design-build, and P-3 contracts.

Christian is the immediate Past President of the Tallahassee Women Lawyers, and has been honored with the Florida Association of Women Lawyers 2019 Leader in the Law Award.  She has been named by Florida Trend as a Legal Elite Up & Comer, and has been recently published in the 2019 Construction Law Update.

Christian originally hails from Orange City, Florida. She and her husband, Dr. Matthew Cutillo, are Florida State University alumni and enjoy cheering on the Seminoles with their son, Alexander Fox.

Jasmyne N. Henderson leads Pittman Law Group’s Government Affairs Practice. A graduate of the Florida State University College of Law, Jasmyne brings to the Government Affairs team not only her legal education but also her experience in public administration and community sciences.

Jasmyne began her academic career in public administration at the University of Florida, earning a degree in Family, Youth, and Community Sciences. Jasmyne continued her education by earning a master’s degree from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU). Jasmyne joined Pittman Law Group in 2010, assisting the firm’s campaign efforts for State Representative Alan Williams and City of Tallahassee Mayor John Marks. Jasmyne culminated her campaign experience as Director of Field Operations for the Geraldine Thompson for Senate Campaign.

Jasmyne leads the firm’s substantive legislation efforts including amendment drafting and processing. Jasmyne is proficient in statutory interpretation, well versed in public policy, and works within the firms administrative and rulemaking practices.

Mia L. McKown is a partner in Holland & Knight‘s Tallahassee office where she practices in the firm’s Litigation Section. McKown is a member of the firm’s Healthcare & Life Sciences Team and Florida Government Advocacy Team. She practices in the area of commercial litigation, with an emphasis in the areas of health law and administrative law.

Ms. McKown has served as general counsel for a state agency in Florida, and has extensive experience representing businesses and licensed professionals that interact with the state government. In most instances, she successfully resolves the review process by providing an informative and properly drawn response to the fact-finding inquiry.

McKown has always been active in her community. She most recently helped raise money to support an early literacy initiative and homelessness-to-health project for the United Way of the Big Bend. She also serves as the Holland & Knight Women’s Initiative chairman for the Tallahassee office.

Carrie Roane is in her 20th year of practicing law as a civil litigator. She received her J.D., summa cum laude, after attending Georgetown University Law Center and University of Miami School of Law, where she served as a member of the prestigious University of Miami Law Review.

Until joining Fasig Brooks in 2016, Roane was a partner in an esteemed civil defense firm, where she gained invaluable trial experience representing defendants, corporations, and insurance companies throughout the state. Carrie now uniquely positioned as a partner at Fasig Brooks to use that experience to provide her clients the results they deserve when fighting against the very defendants and insurance carriers that she used to represent. Carrie Roane is compassionate, communicative, and treats her clients the way she would want her family treated by an attorney.