Shareholder, Gunster
Joe Jacquot is a business litigation shareholder at Gunster who focuses his practice on representing clients in complex state matters involving litigation and appellate work, as well as counseling companies on various regulatory issues. Having served in high-level public sector positions, Joe is dedicated to bringing his insight and experience with judicial and government systems to help clients navigate the same.
Joe served as the general counsel to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, from the Governor’s inauguration in January 2019 through October 2020. In this capacity, Joe was responsible for all litigation and legal matters of the Governor and state executive agencies. Joe handled cases on behalf of the Governor and his administration before federal and state courts, including five matters before the Florida Supreme Court on matters of statewide significance.
Joe led the Governor’s legal team through the COVID-19 pandemic, including drafting and implementing the Governor’s executive orders including the reopening plan. Joe served as the chief ethics officer for the Governor including advising on Florida’s public records and public meeting laws. He also oversaw the Governor’s judicial appointment process which resulted in seating five justices to the Florida Supreme Court and more than 100 judges to lower courts.
From 2007-2010, Joe served as Florida’s chief deputy attorney general, during which he successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in the Miranda rights case, Florida v. Powell. After this public service, and prior to his general counsel role with the Governor, he was a litigation partner at a national law firm, leading the firm’s State Attorneys General practice handling antitrust, consumer protection and other enforcement actions and worked as a senior vice president and counsel to a publicly traded mortgage-industry company in Jacksonville.
Earlier in his career, he served as the deputy chief counsel for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, managing the confirmations of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. Joe earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia and his law degree at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. He also served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy.
Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships, First Liberty Institute
Lisa Budzynski Ezell is the former Vice President and Director of the Federalist Society’s Lawyers Chapters. In this role, she managed a growing network of over 90 lawyers chapters nationwide, including oversight of leadership recruitment, chapter programming, state conferences, civics education outreach, and young lawyers activities. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Saint Mary’s College in Political Science and History and a Master of Public Policy from George Mason University.
Shareholder, Gunster
Joe Jacquot is a business litigation shareholder at Gunster who focuses his practice on representing clients in complex state matters involving litigation and appellate work, as well as counseling companies on various regulatory issues. Having served in high-level public sector positions, Joe is dedicated to bringing his insight and experience with judicial and government systems to help clients navigate the same.
Joe served as the general counsel to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, from the Governor’s inauguration in January 2019 through October 2020. In this capacity, Joe was responsible for all litigation and legal matters of the Governor and state executive agencies. Joe handled cases on behalf of the Governor and his administration before federal and state courts, including five matters before the Florida Supreme Court on matters of statewide significance.
Joe led the Governor’s legal team through the COVID-19 pandemic, including drafting and implementing the Governor’s executive orders including the reopening plan. Joe served as the chief ethics officer for the Governor including advising on Florida’s public records and public meeting laws. He also oversaw the Governor’s judicial appointment process which resulted in seating five justices to the Florida Supreme Court and more than 100 judges to lower courts.
From 2007-2010, Joe served as Florida’s chief deputy attorney general, during which he successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in the Miranda rights case, Florida v. Powell. After this public service, and prior to his general counsel role with the Governor, he was a litigation partner at a national law firm, leading the firm’s State Attorneys General practice handling antitrust, consumer protection and other enforcement actions and worked as a senior vice president and counsel to a publicly traded mortgage-industry company in Jacksonville.
Earlier in his career, he served as the deputy chief counsel for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, managing the confirmations of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. Joe earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia and his law degree at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. He also served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy.
Secretary, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice
Simone Marstiller is the secretary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. Prior to being appointed secretary in January 2019 by Governor Ron DeSantis, Simone was Of Counsel with Gunster, Yoakley, Stewart, P.A., in the firm’s Tallahassee and Tampa offices, where her practice areas included appellate consulting and litigation, government affairs, procurement, and ethics and elections. She joined Gunster in 2017 after retiring from the First District Court of Appeal, where she served as a judge for six years.
In 2001, Simone served as Assistant General Counsel to Governor Jeb Bush. In that position, she assisted the Governor’s General Counsel in overseeing the legal operations of the Governor’s agencies and advising the Governor on a wide variety of legal and policy issues.
Simone was selected in 2002 to serve as General Counsel for the Department of Management Services (DMS), the administrative agency for state government. There, she managed all legal affairs for the agency, including matters related to government procurement, outsourcing, state facility management, and collective bargaining. While serving in this capacity, Governor Bush appointed her Interim Secretary of the agency.
From DMS, Simone returned to the Governor’s Office in 2003 to serve as Deputy Chief of Staff. In 2004, Governor Bush appointed her State Chief Information Officer to head state government’s central technology planning and policy organization, and in 2005 she became Secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the state’s largest regulatory agency.
In 2007, Attorney General Bill McCollum appointed Simone Associate Deputy Attorney General for the State of Florida. In addition to serving on the executive management team for the Office of the Attorney General, she was the agency’s General Counsel and was responsible for overseeing four agency divisions, including the Civil Rights and Opinions Divisions. When appointed to the appellate court in 2010, Simone was serving as Executive Director for the Florida Elections Commission.
Simone was born in Monrovia, Liberia, and grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1988 from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida and her Juris Doctor, cum laude, in 1996 from Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida.
Chief of Staff and Acting Associate Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice
Chad R. Mizelle is the Chief of Staff and Acting Associate Attorney General of the Department of Justice. Previously, Chad was the Chief Legal Officer at Affinity Partners, a global private equity firm with more than $4B under management. Before that Chad worked at Jones Day, where his practice focused on government regulation and national security issues. Previously, Chad served as the Acting General Counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, where he managed more than 2,200 lawyers. As the top lawyer at DHS, Chad directed all legal activities related to the Agency’s broad mission. Prior to serving as Acting General Counsel, Chad served as the Chief of Staff at DHS. He also served at the White House as Associate Counsel to the President and at the Department of Justice as Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General. Chad clerked for the Honorable David B. Sentelle of the D.C. Circuit. He received his J.D. from Cornell Law School and his B.A. from the University of Florida. Chad and his wife Kat reside in Tampa, Florida with their two kids.
Member, Florida House of Representatives
Rep. Paul Renner (R-Palm Coast) serves as State Representative to District 24 in the Florida House of Representatives and is slated to become House Speaker in 2022. He is currently Chair of the Rules Committee and also serves on the Appropriations Committee. Rep. Renner is a military veteran, former prosecutor, and business attorney. He began his legal career as an Assistant State Attorney, during which he prosecuted serious felony offenses. Since 1998, he has represented individuals and businesses as their advocate in a broad range of commercial settings.
In addition to his legal practice, Rep. Renner has served as a naval officer, both on active duty and in the reserves. Earlier in his career, he served in Operation Desert Storm during combat operations onboard the USS McInerney (FFG-8) and later during combat operations in Afghanistan in 2011.
Rep. Renner was raised in Northeast Florida, where he attended public school. He earned his Juris Doctorate at the University of Florida, Levin College of Law, and his Bachelor of Arts in history at Davidson College in North Carolina. He lives in Palm Coast with his wife and daughter.
Attorney General, Florida
James Uthmeier is the Attorney General of the State of Florida. Before this, he served as Chief of Staff to Governor Ron DeSantis. Previously, he was General Counsel to the Governor, overseeing litigation and judicial nominations. He also served as a senior advisor at the U.S. Department of Commerce. A Georgetown Law graduate, Uthmeier is an adjunct professor at Florida State University College of Law and co-teaches religious education in Tallahassee.
Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court
The Honorable Amy Coney Barrett is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Donald Trump and was confirmed on October 27, 2020. She is the fifth woman to serve on the Court.
Justice Barrett earned her J.D., summa cum laude, from Notre Dame, where she was a Kiley Fellow, earned the Hoynes Prize, the Law School’s highest honor, and served as executive editor of the Notre Dame Law Review. She clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court. As an associate at Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin in Washington, D.C., she litigated constitutional, criminal, and commercial cases in both trial and appellate courts.
In 2002, Justice Barrett joined the faculty of Notre Dame Law School. She continued to teach following her appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in November 2017. Justice Barrett also served by appointment of the Chief Justice on the Advisory Committee for the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure from 2010 to 2016.
Justice Barrett has published widely in the areas of federal courts, constitutional law, and statutory interpretation. Her scholarship in these fields has been published in leading journals, including the Columbia, Virginia, and Texas Law Reviews.
United States District Judge, Middle District of Florida
Judge Berger was raised in Jacksonville, Florida. She received her undergraduate degree from The Florida State University in 1990 and her law degree from The Florida State University College of Law in 1992, where she was a member of Law Review. Judge Berger served as an Assistant State Attorney in the Seventh Judicial Circuit from 1993 – 2000. In January 2001, Judge Berger left the State Attorney’s Office to serve as an Assistant General Counsel to Governor Jeb Bush. Judge Berger served in Governor Bush’s administration from January 2001 until May 2005, when she was appointed by the governor to serve as a Circuit Judge in the Seventh Judicial Circuit. During her service on the circuit court, Judge Berger presided over the civil and probate divisions (2005-2006) and adult felony division (2006-2012) in St. Augustine. She was also the presiding judge of the St. Johns County Adult Drug Court Program (2005-2012).
Judge Berger is currently a member of the St. Johns County Bar Association, the Orange County Bar Association, The Florida Supreme Court Committee on Civil Jury Instructions, the Florida Bar Criminal Procedure Rules Committee, the Florida Bar Appellate Practice Section’s Executive Council, the Dunn Blount Inn of Court, and the Federalist Society. She has prior service on the Florida Bar’s Judicial Administration and Evaluation Committee (2008 – 2013), the Judicial Administration Selection and Tenure Committee (2001-2004), the Florida Supreme Court Subcommittee on Postconviction Relief (2010-2011), the Statewide Diversity Team (2009-2012), and has been a member of both the National Association of Drug Court Professionals and the Florida Association of Drug Court Professionals.
Judge Berger has lectured on a wide range of topics including practicing with professionalism, judicial diversity, the judicial appointment process, effective oral arguments, fundamentals of extradition, capital cases, gender bias in the media, drug court, and drug and alcohol prevention.
Active in her community, Judge Berger served as a member of the St. Johns County Consortium on Substance Abuse as well as the St. Johns County Public Safety Committee. She is a member of the St. Augustine Rotary Club (Paul Harris Fellow) and is a steering committee member of The Marketplace Christian Professional Resources. She volunteers in the schools, has served as a reading mentor, and participates in the PACT Prevention Coalition’s Safe Prom Event. Judge Berger is also an active member of Trinity Episcopal Parish.
Judge Berger and her husband, Larry, live in St. Augustine with their two children.
Judge, The 15th Judicial Circuit of Florida
The Honorable Paige Gillman is a Palm Beach County Court Judge appointed by now Senator Rick Scott in 2018. She currently presides in and is the Administrative Judge for the County Civil Division. Additionally, she serves as the Administrative Judge for the Civil Traffic Division of the Circuit. In June of 2020, Governor Ron Desantis appointed Judge Gillman to the Palm Beach Circuit Court. She will transition to the Circuit bench in January 2021.
Judge Gillman received both her undergraduate and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Florida. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Gillman served as an Assistant State Attorney in the 19th Judicial Circuit, as a complex commercial and intellectual property litigator with Mracheck Law and finally as Staff Counsel for Allstate, Esurance and Encompass handling a broad range of auto and property matters.
Judge Gillman currently serves on the Florida Bar Small Claims Rules Committee and the Florida Supreme Court Civil Jury Instruction Committee.
General Counsel & Wealth Advisor, Ullmann Wealth Partners
Patrick Kilbane is the General Counsel and a Wealth Advisor for Ullmann Wealth Partners headquartered in Jacksonville Beach, FL. Ullmann Wealth Partners is an independent wealth management firm that manages half a billion dollars of client assets in custody at Fidelity. Before joining Ullmann Wealth Partners, Pat was a Shareholder at Gray Robinson, P.A. where he had a thriving specialty litigation practice. Pat was recognized multiple times by Florida Trend and Super Lawyers Magazine for his skills and professionalism.
Pat serves the Northeast Florida Region in several roles. He’s received five gubernatorial appointments to the Judicial Nominating Commission for Florida’s Fourth Judicial Circuit and the Jacksonville Aviation Authority Board of Directors. His fellow board members elected him Chairman of both boards. Further, Pat is the President of the Jacksonville Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society. In 2014-2015, Pat was elected President of the Young Lawyers Section of the Jacksonville Bar Association.
In 2005, Pat received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Notre Dame. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree, summa cum laude, from Adrian College, where he earned the full-ride, merit-based Dawson Scholarship and was named the Outstanding Graduate by faculty vote for the Class of 2002.
Chamberlin Law Firm
Hunter H. Chamberlin, Esq. is a member of The Florida Bar and is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for Northern, Middle and Southern Districts, as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He received his B.A. from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, and his J.D. from the University of Miami School of law, where he graduated cum laude, and also served on the Business Law Review.
He was admitted into the Florida Bar in 2001, and began his career as an associate at Steel Hector & Davis (now part of Squire Sanders), a global law firm with offices in over 20 countries. There, he worked as a legislative consultant for business and industry. From Steel Hector, Mr. Chamberlin joined the Miami-Dade State Attorneys’ Office, where he spent four years as a prosecutor developing and honing his trial skills. He has tried over 100 bench trials and approximately 30 jury trials for offenses ranging from petit theft and DUI to armed narcotics trafficking, armed home invasion, homicide, and armed robbery, including many cases with multiple co-defendants.
During his last year at the State Attorneys’ Office, Mr. Chamberlin was selected by his supervisors to serve in the specialized Career Criminal and Robbery unit where he handled cases involving repeat violent offenders. After Mr. Chamberlin left the State Attorneys’ Office, he formed Chamberlin Crowe, PA where he applied the skills he learned as a prosecutor to practice in the field of criminal defense, handling everything from simple traffic infractions to serious felony offenses.
Chairman, 13th Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission
Thomas Newcomb Hyde earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from the Seminary of St. Vincent De Paul in Boynton Beach, Florida. He received his Masters of Education from South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, South Carolina. He was a teacher on the elementary and secondary level for four years. He also taught at Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida.
Mr. Hyde received his Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law, where he completed an internship as a prosecutor in the Miami Dade County State Attorney's office. He worked for Liberty Mutual Insurance Company as a Trial Lawyer, Managing Attorney, Division General Attorney and the National Director of Legal Training.
Mr. Hyde has been responsible for the design, development and implementation of Liberty Mutual’s award winning Attorney Development Program. He presented training conferences in trial advocacy, expert witness testimony, deposition and discovery, negotiations and mediation, and legal ethics to lawyers and paralegals throughout the United States.
Mr. Hyde has served as an Arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association, the Better Business Bureau, and the Florida Attorney General’s Office. He was member of the Ethics Committee of Liberty Mutual's Legal Department from 2003 to 2013. He currently serves on the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit's Professionalism Committee. Mr. Hyde has also served as the Chairman of he Hillsborough County Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Committee and is currently the Chairman of the Senior Counsel Section.
In 2014, Florida Governor Rick Scott appointed Mr. Hyde to the Judicial Nominating Commission for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County, Florida for a term beginning September 10, 2014 and ending July 1, 2018 and reappointed for a term beginning July 18, 2018 and ending July 1, 2022. He was elected Chairman of the Commission in July 2019.
Shareholder, Carlton Fields
A former federal and state prosecutor with over 37 years of legal experience, Ed Page has tried more than 100 jury trials in state and federal courts and more than 250 bench trials. In 1987, he became Tampa’s first Florida Bar Board Certified Criminal Trial Lawyer. Ed handles federal and state criminal and civil matters, including white collar criminal, aviation, product liability, personal injury, family law, and complex commercial litigation matters. His white collar criminal representation covers both individuals and corporate clients, health care fraud (including False Claims Act matters), criminal tax, environmental crimes, asset forfeiture, attorneys general investigations, and regulatory enforcement. In 2016, 2017 and 2018, The Best Lawyers in America named Ed as its Tampa Qui Tam Law "Lawyer of the Year." Ed is also the recipient of the Hillsborough County Bar Association's James H. Kynes Memorial In The Trenches Award for excellence in criminal litigation.
He is an instrument-rated, commercial pilot and flight instructor, and provides legal representation to pilots, mechanics, drone operators, and others involved in aviation matters, including FAA enforcement actions, TSA matters, airport matters, civil disputes, insurance, taxes, aircraft ownership, and U.S. Customs matters.
Ed is a Florida Supreme Court certified Circuit Civil Mediator. He focuses his mediation work on False Claims Act cases, aviation matters, and general civil cases. Ed has held numerous positions of bar leadership, including serving as Chair of the Second District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission and The Florida Bar's Criminal Law Certification Committee.
General Counsel & Wealth Advisor, Ullmann Wealth Partners
Patrick Kilbane is the General Counsel and a Wealth Advisor for Ullmann Wealth Partners headquartered in Jacksonville Beach, FL. Ullmann Wealth Partners is an independent wealth management firm that manages half a billion dollars of client assets in custody at Fidelity. Before joining Ullmann Wealth Partners, Pat was a Shareholder at Gray Robinson, P.A. where he had a thriving specialty litigation practice. Pat was recognized multiple times by Florida Trend and Super Lawyers Magazine for his skills and professionalism.
Pat serves the Northeast Florida Region in several roles. He’s received five gubernatorial appointments to the Judicial Nominating Commission for Florida’s Fourth Judicial Circuit and the Jacksonville Aviation Authority Board of Directors. His fellow board members elected him Chairman of both boards. Further, Pat is the President of the Jacksonville Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society. In 2014-2015, Pat was elected President of the Young Lawyers Section of the Jacksonville Bar Association.
In 2005, Pat received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Notre Dame. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree, summa cum laude, from Adrian College, where he earned the full-ride, merit-based Dawson Scholarship and was named the Outstanding Graduate by faculty vote for the Class of 2002.
Shareholder, Lawson Huck Gonzalez, PLLC
Jason Gonzalez is an experienced appellate and litigation attorney and regularly consults on executive branch government affairs. He represents businesses and state agencies in state and federal courts in contracts, government procurements, insurance disputes, class actions, tort defense, banking, finance, professional licenses, and elections matters.
Recently, Jason advocated for business association clients in two amicus briefs filed before the Florida Supreme Court, supporting the adoption of the federal summary judgment standard, a development widely viewed as the most significant Florida civil justice system reform in the modern era. In 2019, Florida Politics reported that Jason was representing parties in more pending civil cases at the Florida Supreme Court than any other attorney in the State.
Over the course of his career, Jason has been at the forefront of emerging legal developments, helping to shape Florida’s justice system.
Jason has served on the Florida Supreme Court Nominating Commission, as Chairman of the First District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission and Chairman of the Second Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission, as well as two terms as General Counsel and former Executive Board Member of the Republican Party of Florida. Prior to co-founding Lawson Huck Gonzalez, Jason served as General Counsel to the Florida Governor.
In 2010, Jason served as lead counsel for Transocean Ltd. in its Florida Panhandle litigation and regulatory matters immediately following the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon. Over a two-year period, Jason successfully obtained orders dismissing or removing every one of the more than 70 individual and class action lawsuits filed against Transocean in Florida.
Secretary, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice
Simone Marstiller is the secretary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. Prior to being appointed secretary in January 2019 by Governor Ron DeSantis, Simone was Of Counsel with Gunster, Yoakley, Stewart, P.A., in the firm’s Tallahassee and Tampa offices, where her practice areas included appellate consulting and litigation, government affairs, procurement, and ethics and elections. She joined Gunster in 2017 after retiring from the First District Court of Appeal, where she served as a judge for six years.
In 2001, Simone served as Assistant General Counsel to Governor Jeb Bush. In that position, she assisted the Governor’s General Counsel in overseeing the legal operations of the Governor’s agencies and advising the Governor on a wide variety of legal and policy issues.
Simone was selected in 2002 to serve as General Counsel for the Department of Management Services (DMS), the administrative agency for state government. There, she managed all legal affairs for the agency, including matters related to government procurement, outsourcing, state facility management, and collective bargaining. While serving in this capacity, Governor Bush appointed her Interim Secretary of the agency.
From DMS, Simone returned to the Governor’s Office in 2003 to serve as Deputy Chief of Staff. In 2004, Governor Bush appointed her State Chief Information Officer to head state government’s central technology planning and policy organization, and in 2005 she became Secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the state’s largest regulatory agency.
In 2007, Attorney General Bill McCollum appointed Simone Associate Deputy Attorney General for the State of Florida. In addition to serving on the executive management team for the Office of the Attorney General, she was the agency’s General Counsel and was responsible for overseeing four agency divisions, including the Civil Rights and Opinions Divisions. When appointed to the appellate court in 2010, Simone was serving as Executive Director for the Florida Elections Commission.
Simone was born in Monrovia, Liberia, and grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1988 from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida and her Juris Doctor, cum laude, in 1996 from Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida.
Chief of Staff and Acting Associate Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice
Chad R. Mizelle is the Chief of Staff and Acting Associate Attorney General of the Department of Justice. Previously, Chad was the Chief Legal Officer at Affinity Partners, a global private equity firm with more than $4B under management. Before that Chad worked at Jones Day, where his practice focused on government regulation and national security issues. Previously, Chad served as the Acting General Counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, where he managed more than 2,200 lawyers. As the top lawyer at DHS, Chad directed all legal activities related to the Agency’s broad mission. Prior to serving as Acting General Counsel, Chad served as the Chief of Staff at DHS. He also served at the White House as Associate Counsel to the President and at the Department of Justice as Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General. Chad clerked for the Honorable David B. Sentelle of the D.C. Circuit. He received his J.D. from Cornell Law School and his B.A. from the University of Florida. Chad and his wife Kat reside in Tampa, Florida with their two kids.
Member, Florida House of Representatives
Rep. Paul Renner (R-Palm Coast) serves as State Representative to District 24 in the Florida House of Representatives and is slated to become House Speaker in 2022. He is currently Chair of the Rules Committee and also serves on the Appropriations Committee. Rep. Renner is a military veteran, former prosecutor, and business attorney. He began his legal career as an Assistant State Attorney, during which he prosecuted serious felony offenses. Since 1998, he has represented individuals and businesses as their advocate in a broad range of commercial settings.
In addition to his legal practice, Rep. Renner has served as a naval officer, both on active duty and in the reserves. Earlier in his career, he served in Operation Desert Storm during combat operations onboard the USS McInerney (FFG-8) and later during combat operations in Afghanistan in 2011.
Rep. Renner was raised in Northeast Florida, where he attended public school. He earned his Juris Doctorate at the University of Florida, Levin College of Law, and his Bachelor of Arts in history at Davidson College in North Carolina. He lives in Palm Coast with his wife and daughter.
Attorney General, Florida
James Uthmeier is the Attorney General of the State of Florida. Before this, he served as Chief of Staff to Governor Ron DeSantis. Previously, he was General Counsel to the Governor, overseeing litigation and judicial nominations. He also served as a senior advisor at the U.S. Department of Commerce. A Georgetown Law graduate, Uthmeier is an adjunct professor at Florida State University College of Law and co-teaches religious education in Tallahassee.
Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships, First Liberty Institute
Lisa Budzynski Ezell is the former Vice President and Director of the Federalist Society’s Lawyers Chapters. In this role, she managed a growing network of over 90 lawyers chapters nationwide, including oversight of leadership recruitment, chapter programming, state conferences, civics education outreach, and young lawyers activities. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Saint Mary’s College in Political Science and History and a Master of Public Policy from George Mason University.
Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships, First Liberty Institute
Lisa Budzynski Ezell is the former Vice President and Director of the Federalist Society’s Lawyers Chapters. In this role, she managed a growing network of over 90 lawyers chapters nationwide, including oversight of leadership recruitment, chapter programming, state conferences, civics education outreach, and young lawyers activities. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Saint Mary’s College in Political Science and History and a Master of Public Policy from George Mason University.
Secretary, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice
Simone Marstiller is the secretary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. Prior to being appointed secretary in January 2019 by Governor Ron DeSantis, Simone was Of Counsel with Gunster, Yoakley, Stewart, P.A., in the firm’s Tallahassee and Tampa offices, where her practice areas included appellate consulting and litigation, government affairs, procurement, and ethics and elections. She joined Gunster in 2017 after retiring from the First District Court of Appeal, where she served as a judge for six years.
In 2001, Simone served as Assistant General Counsel to Governor Jeb Bush. In that position, she assisted the Governor’s General Counsel in overseeing the legal operations of the Governor’s agencies and advising the Governor on a wide variety of legal and policy issues.
Simone was selected in 2002 to serve as General Counsel for the Department of Management Services (DMS), the administrative agency for state government. There, she managed all legal affairs for the agency, including matters related to government procurement, outsourcing, state facility management, and collective bargaining. While serving in this capacity, Governor Bush appointed her Interim Secretary of the agency.
From DMS, Simone returned to the Governor’s Office in 2003 to serve as Deputy Chief of Staff. In 2004, Governor Bush appointed her State Chief Information Officer to head state government’s central technology planning and policy organization, and in 2005 she became Secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the state’s largest regulatory agency.
In 2007, Attorney General Bill McCollum appointed Simone Associate Deputy Attorney General for the State of Florida. In addition to serving on the executive management team for the Office of the Attorney General, she was the agency’s General Counsel and was responsible for overseeing four agency divisions, including the Civil Rights and Opinions Divisions. When appointed to the appellate court in 2010, Simone was serving as Executive Director for the Florida Elections Commission.
Simone was born in Monrovia, Liberia, and grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1988 from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida and her Juris Doctor, cum laude, in 1996 from Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida.
Chief of Staff and Acting Associate Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice
Chad R. Mizelle is the Chief of Staff and Acting Associate Attorney General of the Department of Justice. Previously, Chad was the Chief Legal Officer at Affinity Partners, a global private equity firm with more than $4B under management. Before that Chad worked at Jones Day, where his practice focused on government regulation and national security issues. Previously, Chad served as the Acting General Counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, where he managed more than 2,200 lawyers. As the top lawyer at DHS, Chad directed all legal activities related to the Agency’s broad mission. Prior to serving as Acting General Counsel, Chad served as the Chief of Staff at DHS. He also served at the White House as Associate Counsel to the President and at the Department of Justice as Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General. Chad clerked for the Honorable David B. Sentelle of the D.C. Circuit. He received his J.D. from Cornell Law School and his B.A. from the University of Florida. Chad and his wife Kat reside in Tampa, Florida with their two kids.
Member, Florida House of Representatives
Rep. Paul Renner (R-Palm Coast) serves as State Representative to District 24 in the Florida House of Representatives and is slated to become House Speaker in 2022. He is currently Chair of the Rules Committee and also serves on the Appropriations Committee. Rep. Renner is a military veteran, former prosecutor, and business attorney. He began his legal career as an Assistant State Attorney, during which he prosecuted serious felony offenses. Since 1998, he has represented individuals and businesses as their advocate in a broad range of commercial settings.
In addition to his legal practice, Rep. Renner has served as a naval officer, both on active duty and in the reserves. Earlier in his career, he served in Operation Desert Storm during combat operations onboard the USS McInerney (FFG-8) and later during combat operations in Afghanistan in 2011.
Rep. Renner was raised in Northeast Florida, where he attended public school. He earned his Juris Doctorate at the University of Florida, Levin College of Law, and his Bachelor of Arts in history at Davidson College in North Carolina. He lives in Palm Coast with his wife and daughter.
Attorney General, Florida
James Uthmeier is the Attorney General of the State of Florida. Before this, he served as Chief of Staff to Governor Ron DeSantis. Previously, he was General Counsel to the Governor, overseeing litigation and judicial nominations. He also served as a senior advisor at the U.S. Department of Commerce. A Georgetown Law graduate, Uthmeier is an adjunct professor at Florida State University College of Law and co-teaches religious education in Tallahassee.
Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court
The Honorable Amy Coney Barrett is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Donald Trump and was confirmed on October 27, 2020. She is the fifth woman to serve on the Court.
Justice Barrett earned her J.D., summa cum laude, from Notre Dame, where she was a Kiley Fellow, earned the Hoynes Prize, the Law School’s highest honor, and served as executive editor of the Notre Dame Law Review. She clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court. As an associate at Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin in Washington, D.C., she litigated constitutional, criminal, and commercial cases in both trial and appellate courts.
In 2002, Justice Barrett joined the faculty of Notre Dame Law School. She continued to teach following her appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in November 2017. Justice Barrett also served by appointment of the Chief Justice on the Advisory Committee for the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure from 2010 to 2016.
Justice Barrett has published widely in the areas of federal courts, constitutional law, and statutory interpretation. Her scholarship in these fields has been published in leading journals, including the Columbia, Virginia, and Texas Law Reviews.
United States District Judge, Middle District of Florida
Judge Berger was raised in Jacksonville, Florida. She received her undergraduate degree from The Florida State University in 1990 and her law degree from The Florida State University College of Law in 1992, where she was a member of Law Review. Judge Berger served as an Assistant State Attorney in the Seventh Judicial Circuit from 1993 – 2000. In January 2001, Judge Berger left the State Attorney’s Office to serve as an Assistant General Counsel to Governor Jeb Bush. Judge Berger served in Governor Bush’s administration from January 2001 until May 2005, when she was appointed by the governor to serve as a Circuit Judge in the Seventh Judicial Circuit. During her service on the circuit court, Judge Berger presided over the civil and probate divisions (2005-2006) and adult felony division (2006-2012) in St. Augustine. She was also the presiding judge of the St. Johns County Adult Drug Court Program (2005-2012).
Judge Berger is currently a member of the St. Johns County Bar Association, the Orange County Bar Association, The Florida Supreme Court Committee on Civil Jury Instructions, the Florida Bar Criminal Procedure Rules Committee, the Florida Bar Appellate Practice Section’s Executive Council, the Dunn Blount Inn of Court, and the Federalist Society. She has prior service on the Florida Bar’s Judicial Administration and Evaluation Committee (2008 – 2013), the Judicial Administration Selection and Tenure Committee (2001-2004), the Florida Supreme Court Subcommittee on Postconviction Relief (2010-2011), the Statewide Diversity Team (2009-2012), and has been a member of both the National Association of Drug Court Professionals and the Florida Association of Drug Court Professionals.
Judge Berger has lectured on a wide range of topics including practicing with professionalism, judicial diversity, the judicial appointment process, effective oral arguments, fundamentals of extradition, capital cases, gender bias in the media, drug court, and drug and alcohol prevention.
Active in her community, Judge Berger served as a member of the St. Johns County Consortium on Substance Abuse as well as the St. Johns County Public Safety Committee. She is a member of the St. Augustine Rotary Club (Paul Harris Fellow) and is a steering committee member of The Marketplace Christian Professional Resources. She volunteers in the schools, has served as a reading mentor, and participates in the PACT Prevention Coalition’s Safe Prom Event. Judge Berger is also an active member of Trinity Episcopal Parish.
Judge Berger and her husband, Larry, live in St. Augustine with their two children.
Judge, The 15th Judicial Circuit of Florida
The Honorable Paige Gillman is a Palm Beach County Court Judge appointed by now Senator Rick Scott in 2018. She currently presides in and is the Administrative Judge for the County Civil Division. Additionally, she serves as the Administrative Judge for the Civil Traffic Division of the Circuit. In June of 2020, Governor Ron Desantis appointed Judge Gillman to the Palm Beach Circuit Court. She will transition to the Circuit bench in January 2021.
Judge Gillman received both her undergraduate and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Florida. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Gillman served as an Assistant State Attorney in the 19th Judicial Circuit, as a complex commercial and intellectual property litigator with Mracheck Law and finally as Staff Counsel for Allstate, Esurance and Encompass handling a broad range of auto and property matters.
Judge Gillman currently serves on the Florida Bar Small Claims Rules Committee and the Florida Supreme Court Civil Jury Instruction Committee.
General Counsel & Wealth Advisor, Ullmann Wealth Partners
Patrick Kilbane is the General Counsel and a Wealth Advisor for Ullmann Wealth Partners headquartered in Jacksonville Beach, FL. Ullmann Wealth Partners is an independent wealth management firm that manages half a billion dollars of client assets in custody at Fidelity. Before joining Ullmann Wealth Partners, Pat was a Shareholder at Gray Robinson, P.A. where he had a thriving specialty litigation practice. Pat was recognized multiple times by Florida Trend and Super Lawyers Magazine for his skills and professionalism.
Pat serves the Northeast Florida Region in several roles. He’s received five gubernatorial appointments to the Judicial Nominating Commission for Florida’s Fourth Judicial Circuit and the Jacksonville Aviation Authority Board of Directors. His fellow board members elected him Chairman of both boards. Further, Pat is the President of the Jacksonville Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society. In 2014-2015, Pat was elected President of the Young Lawyers Section of the Jacksonville Bar Association.
In 2005, Pat received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Notre Dame. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree, summa cum laude, from Adrian College, where he earned the full-ride, merit-based Dawson Scholarship and was named the Outstanding Graduate by faculty vote for the Class of 2002.
Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court
The Honorable Amy Coney Barrett is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Donald Trump and was confirmed on October 27, 2020. She is the fifth woman to serve on the Court.
Justice Barrett earned her J.D., summa cum laude, from Notre Dame, where she was a Kiley Fellow, earned the Hoynes Prize, the Law School’s highest honor, and served as executive editor of the Notre Dame Law Review. She clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court. As an associate at Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin in Washington, D.C., she litigated constitutional, criminal, and commercial cases in both trial and appellate courts.
In 2002, Justice Barrett joined the faculty of Notre Dame Law School. She continued to teach following her appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in November 2017. Justice Barrett also served by appointment of the Chief Justice on the Advisory Committee for the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure from 2010 to 2016.
Justice Barrett has published widely in the areas of federal courts, constitutional law, and statutory interpretation. Her scholarship in these fields has been published in leading journals, including the Columbia, Virginia, and Texas Law Reviews.
United States District Judge, Middle District of Florida
Judge Berger was raised in Jacksonville, Florida. She received her undergraduate degree from The Florida State University in 1990 and her law degree from The Florida State University College of Law in 1992, where she was a member of Law Review. Judge Berger served as an Assistant State Attorney in the Seventh Judicial Circuit from 1993 – 2000. In January 2001, Judge Berger left the State Attorney’s Office to serve as an Assistant General Counsel to Governor Jeb Bush. Judge Berger served in Governor Bush’s administration from January 2001 until May 2005, when she was appointed by the governor to serve as a Circuit Judge in the Seventh Judicial Circuit. During her service on the circuit court, Judge Berger presided over the civil and probate divisions (2005-2006) and adult felony division (2006-2012) in St. Augustine. She was also the presiding judge of the St. Johns County Adult Drug Court Program (2005-2012).
Judge Berger is currently a member of the St. Johns County Bar Association, the Orange County Bar Association, The Florida Supreme Court Committee on Civil Jury Instructions, the Florida Bar Criminal Procedure Rules Committee, the Florida Bar Appellate Practice Section’s Executive Council, the Dunn Blount Inn of Court, and the Federalist Society. She has prior service on the Florida Bar’s Judicial Administration and Evaluation Committee (2008 – 2013), the Judicial Administration Selection and Tenure Committee (2001-2004), the Florida Supreme Court Subcommittee on Postconviction Relief (2010-2011), the Statewide Diversity Team (2009-2012), and has been a member of both the National Association of Drug Court Professionals and the Florida Association of Drug Court Professionals.
Judge Berger has lectured on a wide range of topics including practicing with professionalism, judicial diversity, the judicial appointment process, effective oral arguments, fundamentals of extradition, capital cases, gender bias in the media, drug court, and drug and alcohol prevention.
Active in her community, Judge Berger served as a member of the St. Johns County Consortium on Substance Abuse as well as the St. Johns County Public Safety Committee. She is a member of the St. Augustine Rotary Club (Paul Harris Fellow) and is a steering committee member of The Marketplace Christian Professional Resources. She volunteers in the schools, has served as a reading mentor, and participates in the PACT Prevention Coalition’s Safe Prom Event. Judge Berger is also an active member of Trinity Episcopal Parish.
Judge Berger and her husband, Larry, live in St. Augustine with their two children.
Judge, The 15th Judicial Circuit of Florida
The Honorable Paige Gillman is a Palm Beach County Court Judge appointed by now Senator Rick Scott in 2018. She currently presides in and is the Administrative Judge for the County Civil Division. Additionally, she serves as the Administrative Judge for the Civil Traffic Division of the Circuit. In June of 2020, Governor Ron Desantis appointed Judge Gillman to the Palm Beach Circuit Court. She will transition to the Circuit bench in January 2021.
Judge Gillman received both her undergraduate and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Florida. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Gillman served as an Assistant State Attorney in the 19th Judicial Circuit, as a complex commercial and intellectual property litigator with Mracheck Law and finally as Staff Counsel for Allstate, Esurance and Encompass handling a broad range of auto and property matters.
Judge Gillman currently serves on the Florida Bar Small Claims Rules Committee and the Florida Supreme Court Civil Jury Instruction Committee.
General Counsel & Wealth Advisor, Ullmann Wealth Partners
Patrick Kilbane is the General Counsel and a Wealth Advisor for Ullmann Wealth Partners headquartered in Jacksonville Beach, FL. Ullmann Wealth Partners is an independent wealth management firm that manages half a billion dollars of client assets in custody at Fidelity. Before joining Ullmann Wealth Partners, Pat was a Shareholder at Gray Robinson, P.A. where he had a thriving specialty litigation practice. Pat was recognized multiple times by Florida Trend and Super Lawyers Magazine for his skills and professionalism.
Pat serves the Northeast Florida Region in several roles. He’s received five gubernatorial appointments to the Judicial Nominating Commission for Florida’s Fourth Judicial Circuit and the Jacksonville Aviation Authority Board of Directors. His fellow board members elected him Chairman of both boards. Further, Pat is the President of the Jacksonville Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society. In 2014-2015, Pat was elected President of the Young Lawyers Section of the Jacksonville Bar Association.
In 2005, Pat received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Notre Dame. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree, summa cum laude, from Adrian College, where he earned the full-ride, merit-based Dawson Scholarship and was named the Outstanding Graduate by faculty vote for the Class of 2002.
Pathways to the Bench: The Judicial Appointment Process
Jacksonville Lawyers Chapter
Jacksonville, FLSession I: Covid and Separation of Powers
Simone Marstiller, Chad Mizelle, Paul Renner, James William Uthmeier, Lisa Ezell
On January 30, 2021, The Federalist Society's Florida lawyers chapters hosted their annual Florida Chapters...
Session I: Covid and Separation of Powers
Lisa Ezell, Simone Marstiller, Chad Mizelle, Paul Renner, James William Uthmeier
On January 30, 2021, The Federalist Society's Florida lawyers chapters hosted their annual Florida Chapters...
Session I: Covid and Separation of Powers
2021 Annual Florida Chapters Conference
Lake Buena Vista, FLWe’re All Textualists Now? Implementing a Sound Interpretive Approach on the Trial Court and Beyond
Amy Coney Barrett, Wendy Berger, Paige Kilbane, Patrick J. Kilbane
The Federalist Society's Jacksonville Lawyers Chapter held a virtual panel on August 12, 2020 to...
We’re All Textualists Now? Implementing a Sound Interpretive Approach on the Trial Court and Beyond
Amy Coney Barrett, Wendy Berger, Paige Kilbane, Patrick J. Kilbane
The Federalist Society's Jacksonville Lawyers Chapter held a virtual panel on August 12, 2020 to...
We’re All Textualists Now? Implementing a Sound Interpretive Approach on the Trial Court and Beyond
Jacksonville Lawyers Chapter - Online Event
An Inside Look at Judicial Appointments Under Governor Ron DeSantis
Tampa, FLAn Inside Look at Judicial Appointments Under Governor DeSantis
Jacksonville, FLFederalist Society Reception at the Florida Bar Association Annual Meeting
Florida Lawyers Chapters
Boca Raton, FL