< PreviousAt a Glance COBB AND GONZALEZ PA 4651 Salisbury Road, Suite 400 Jacksonville, FL 32256 (904) 440-2520 www.cobbgonzalez.com CHRISTOPHER M. COBB PRACTICE AREAS Construction Law Community Association Law Business Litigation Real Estate Litigation EDUCATION Juris Doctor, Florida Coastal School of Law 2001 Bachelor of Arts, Literature, University of North Florida, 1997 HOBBIES Inshore Fishing & Hunting Hiking Golf Swimming Time With His Family Around a Nice Fire FAMILY Wife, Joy Daughters, Charlotte and Madison JAMES M. GONZALEZ PRACTICE AREAS Construction Litigation Business Litigation Business Transactions Government Contracts Estate Planning EDUCATION Juris Doctor, Villanova University, School of Law, 2007 MBA, Villanova University, School of Business, 2007 Bachelor of Science, Finance, University of South Florida, 2003 HOBBIES Building Jeeps Inshore Fishing Woodworking Cooking Golfing Time With Family FAMILY Wife, Kristin Son, Andrés Daughter, Isabel in with the big “ah-ha” reveal. For these two seasoned ballplayers, who had, as previously mentioned, always held one another in high esteem, that moment came not as one might expect in a courtroom or in the quiet seclusion of a law office conference room. It came on a ballfield. Not with a grand-slam or awesome triple play, but instead with an unfortunate injury. “We could bore you with stories of our individual years of play- ing ball, but really the most competitive ball Chris or I played was in the JBA softball league,” Gonzalez pauses, as he and Cobb exchange wry smiles. “I was the sports commissioner at the time,” he continues, “and I revamped the softball league that dwindled for about seven years. I think it was the first season after I’d put it back together. Chris had his team and I had mine, and we were playing against each other.” “When you play softball,” Cobb interjects, “after a game or two you know who can play and who can’t. So, around 2012 I was play- ing leftfield for my team and a ball came back and I stepped in a hole in the outfield and tore my calf muscle. I went down like a sack of potatoes. At that time, I’d known James for a few years. When he saw me go down, he came running. I was staring at my leg and when I looked up James was standing there and actually helped carry me off the field because I couldn’t walk.” “That’s when Chris officially retired from softball,” Gonzalez jok- ingly adds, while they share a good-natured laugh over the mem- ory. “I guess the moral of the story is, when you’re down, you always remember the people who help you back up,” says Cobb. PLAYERS AND COACHES As Cobb and Gonzalez celebrate their first year as partners in the vibrant firm they co-founded, they have taken a hard look at what they’ve accomplished and what they still look forward to. Applying their years of experience, they now find themselves not only play- ers in the game, but also coaches, responsible for every member of the team. “I realize many firms utilize technology, but we’ve done our re- search and are doing everything we can to leverage technology,” says Cobb. “We’ve done our best to ensure our attorneys and staff have access to truly, cutting-edge technology. We’re as close to a pa- perless firm as possible, which I know scares some attorneys with whom I’ve worked in the past, but we’re doing our best to help ev- eryone put their best foot forward.” “My dad used to say, ‘You never want to be able to blame your tools.’ I guess, we’re striving to provide the best, most up-to-date and effective tools we can, so that everyone in this firm can provide the very best for our clients and ultimately there’s no excuse for anything but the best work,” says Gonzalez. “Working on or being part of a sports team, you learn how to work in a team environment,” notes Cobb, “but more importantly, you learn to identify good coaching and bad coaching. And there’s another thing, that I think is always in the back of the mind of every athlete, and that is while you may have succeeded and may have done things right, there’s always a way to do things better. Communicating that it in a positive manner is a game-changer.”JUDICIAL PR OFILE Even as a young lawyer, Judge Karen K. Cole of the Fourth Judicial Circuit was commit- ted to community and professional service, the latter including a term as the president of the Jacksonville Bar Association. Now in her 25th year on the bench, Judge Cole’s active participation in civic and professional endeavors continues unabated. What drew her from her successful private practice to the bench was the opportunity to apply legal and equitable concepts to the art of judicial decision-making. “Where the law permits a judge a measure of discretion — and it doesn’t always — I wanted to exercise that discre- tion in a manner that I believed to be just and fair,” Cole said, adding that she is also committed to improving the legal system. That includes taking the time to explain to jurors what to expect and what they can and cannot do and ensuring they complete their service “believing firmly in the worth of the jury system.” And for that she also counts on the lawyers who come before her. “Show jurors that you respect the process and their participation in it,” is her advice to attorneys. “Be prepared, including with case law on issues that you anticipate will arise.” When it comes to preparation, state trial judges them- selves have their work cut out for them. Like her col- leagues, Cole has no assigned staff attorney, although for 20 years she’s had the same judicial assistant, Kristy Bend, whom she describes as “intelligent, sensible, and efficient.” “It generally falls to the judge not merely to prepare for and preside over hearings and trials and to read memo- randa of law prepared by attorneys, but also to indepen- dently research, draft, revise, and issue judgments and sig- nificant orders,” Cole said. Added to that, judges have to be versatile, as they ro- tate division assignments among felony, civil, family, ju- venile delinquency, juvenile dependency, and probate and guardianship. The Honorable Karen K. Cole: Committed to Community Service BY NANCY KINNALLY ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · FIRST COAST · VOL. 5 NO. 1 12AT A GLANCE MENTORS Former Florida Chief Justice Major B. Harding, Jr. Carl K. Staas LEGAL HEROES Former Chief Justice Harding Former First District Court of Appeal Judge Peter D. Webster RETIREMENT PLANS Write Teach Travel RECOMMENDED DYSLEXIA RESOURCES International Dyslexia Association National Institutes of Health Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity Center for the Study of Learning at Georgetown University School of Medicine Cole is currently assigned to a family law division. “What I love about presiding over family law cases is that there is a myriad of resources available to families and that by judicious — no pun intended — use of those resources I have the opportunity to help a family leave court in a better place than it entered it,” Cole said. For that, it sometimes helps to have not only knowledge of the law but also insight into human nature. “When I was in college, I took a standardized psychological test de- signed to compare the interests of the test-taker with the interests of persons in various occupations,” Cole said. “My interests, I learned, were most like the interests of psychologists and lawyers. To this day, I find that the two fields have much in common, and many of my friends are mental health professionals.” Education is an area of focus for her, and her commitment extends well beyond the courtroom. She participates in school-focused initia- tives such as Justice Teaching and often organizes free seminars on topics ranging from domestic violence to dyslexia. One of her two sons is on the autism spectrum and the other has dyslexia and ADHD. Notwithstanding their challenges, both have ex- celled in college and beyond, the former earning a master’s degree and the latter a law degree. “Fortunately, a cadre of dedicated experts saved my son from cer- tain school failure,” she said of her son with dyslexia, who struggled mightily to learn how to read in grade school. “The scars from my son’s early academic failure did not fade quickly. They lingered until col- lege. Ultimately, however, he earned high honors in college; interned for a Member of Parliament in London; graduated from a respected national law school; was recently sworn in as a member of a state Bar; and is currently pursuing a two-year master’s degree from a top 20 national university.” As a result of her son’s experience with dyslexia, Cole became active with the nonprofit International Dyslexia Association. “One in five of us is affected to some degree by dyslexia,” Cole said, adding that the scientific and medical research about effective read- ing instruction for those with dyslexia is excellent but still not widely available in the United States. Now in her 25th year on the bench, Judge Cole’s active participation in civic and professional endeavors continues unabated. AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com 13In March 2019, WJCT news re- ported Jacksonville, Florida leads the state in opioid-relat- ed deaths, as stated by Dr. Christine Cauffield of LSF Health Systems. This crisis of addiction and overdose pres- ents a daunting challenge to Duval County medical and mental health practitioners, but Medication Assist- ed Treatment (MAT) is gaining rec- ognition as a viable option for clients who are ready to get control of their addictions. WHAT IS ADDICTION/SUBSTANCE ABUSE? The American Psychiatric Associa- tion defines addiction as a disease of the brain in which patients compul- sively use a substance even when they know it is harming them. Addictions can develop when people abuse any of the following substances: tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, stimulants like cocaine or methamphetamine, seda- tives such as sleeping pills or anxiety medications, hallucinogens, inhalants (paint thinner, glue), and the most re- cent plague of opiates which include codeine, oxycodone, fentanyl, opium, and heroin. The APA reports substance abuse causes long-term changes in the brain, distorting one’s thinking and nega- tively impacting judgment, behavior, memory, and learning. In addition to causing serious health problems or even death by overdose, addiction harms family and social relationships. Since addicts typically do not stop abusing drugs without support and treatment, substance use disorder of- ten results in addicts ending up on the wrong end of the law. THE CURRENT EPIDEMIC - OPIOIDS The CDC says in 2017, drug over- doses claimed 70,000 lives in the U.S. and almost 68% were due to prescrip- tion or illegal opioids. What are opioids? The term opi- oid (also called opiate) refers to any substance derived from opium. These descriptions of the common forms of opioids are excerpted from Jeff John- son’s article “What Drugs are Opi- oids?” Opium. Opium has the appearance of black or brown tar and is com- monly smoked. Made from the white liquid found in poppy plants, opium is one of the most expensive opiates in the world. Heroin. Processed from morphine, heroin can be snorted, smoked, or injected. While all three methods are dangerous, injection is by far the most dangerous because individuals who share dirty needles with other users after injecting heroin are at a high risk for contracting HIV/AIDS or hepati- tis. Hydrocodone. This opiate is a prescription narcotic used to relieve pain, sold as Vicodin, Lorcet, Lortab and other name brand prescription painkillers. Most people who use hydrocodone regularly will become physically dependent on it. OxyContin. OxyContin is a pre- scription painkiller like Vicodin, but the drug is a time-released medica- tion designed to distribute its active ingredients over time. When people begin snorting or injecting the addic- tive drug, they ingest all of the opiates at once, thus putting themselves at risk for overdose and illness. Fentanyl. The National Institute on Drug Abuse states fentanyl is a syn- thetic opioid and powerful prescrip- tion painkiller, 50 -100 times stron- ger than morphine. It is usually pre- scribed for post-surgical recovery and cancer patients to control severe pain. Dealers can make fentanyl to sell on the black market and often use it to cut other illegal substances they sell, increasing the danger of overdose. Codeine. According to the World Health Organization, codeine is the most widely used opiate in the world, with a reputation of being the safest of all the opioid analgesics. Still, many become physically dependent on the drug after extended and repeated use. Most prescription cough syrups in the United States contain codeine. Morphine. The most active sub- stance in opium is morphine—named after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams. Morphine is a very powerful painkiller, prescribed by doctors for the treatment of serious pain. People who abuse this drug illegally enjoy the effects it has on their body. Methadone. In the 1940s, scien- tists synthesized methadone due to a morphine shortage. In today’s world, methadone is commonly used for the treatment of narcotic addiction; how- ever, many people become addicted to this drug due to the way it makes them feel. YOU AND YOUR CLIENTS NEED TREATMENT THAT WORKS People with substance use disor- ders need an approach that brings re- sults, so if they are ready to get help, medication assisted treatment (MAT) is an effective approach in addressing the challenge of recovery. MAT is the use of FDA approved medications, in addition to recovery support services and psychosocial therapies (including individual or group counseling), to provide a com- prehensive approach to the treatment of substance use disorders. The MAT services are provided in a number of settings, including provider’s office, outpatient treatment programs, and facility-based programs. There are several medications cur- rently approved by the FDA for al- cohol and opioid dependence: bu- prenorphine, naltrexone, methadone, and suboxone for opioids. Improved outcomes associated with MAT include reduced physical cravings; lower relapse and overdose risks; improved ability to participate in recovery services and resume life activities such as parenting, work, schooling; and reduced transmission of infectious disease. Studies demonstrate that MAT’s combination of therapy, recovery sup- ports, and medication provides the best chance for long-term recovery AMY COPELAND AND MILLIE SAGESSE, LMHC | Behavior Health For more information visit, https://www.metropolitanbehavioralservices.com. Jacksonville’s Opioid Crisis: A Treatment Option that Works AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com 15Forensic Video Law 904.716.5149 forensicvideolaw.com James R Jenkins James@forensicvideolaw.com Settlement Documentaries Day in the Life Exhibits Trial Exhibits Pain Management Injection Procedures CME/IME Documentation Deposition Testimony HD Drone Capture Documentation On-Site Inspections Accident Site Documentation Surveillance Enhancement $1.75 Billion in Success Increase the Value of Your Case!In July 2019, House Bill 409 was signed into law, setting an effective date of January 1st, 2020 for remote online notarizations to be legally completed by a Florida notary public. In a historic change of process, remote online notariza- tion removes the physical presence requirement that most people are fa- miliar with in a traditional notariza- tion process. An online notary and the signer are no longer required to be physically in the same location. House Bill 409 defines the processes and procedures to become an online notary and technical requirements that allow a notary to execute a fully online notarization. In a remote online notarization ses- sion, a notary will connect to a signer through an online audio/video ses- sion then digitally sign and notarize their documents. The online notari- zation process in Florida has defined security requirements and compli- ance standards to elevate the secu- rity of an online notarization above a traditional in-person notarization. There are a few key principles that the law has included which create a more secure notarization process: identity verification, audio-video recording, tamper-evident documents, data stor- age standards and audit trails. House Bill 409 has defined specific requirements to ensure the security of the identity verification process. The bill does this by requiring a two- step identity verification process, knowledge-based authentication and credential analysis. A Florida online notary is required to present knowl- edge-based authentication questions known as “KBA” questions. KBA questions are personalized questions sourced from public and private data sources that only the signer should know the answers to. KBA questions help an online notary identify that the signer is who they say they are. The next step in the process is credential analysis, since a notary is not able to physically check the validity of a gov- ernment issued ID, an online notary is required to use the assistance of 3rd party credential analysis software to programmatically check for security features to validate the legitimacy of the ID the remote signer is present- ing. The signer is also required to dis- play the ID to the notary on video so the notary can see it’s physically pres- ent with the signer. Validation of a notary session has always been difficult in a traditional in-person notarization process. But, in an online notarization session the audio and video of the session are recorded and stored for no less than 10 years by state requirement. A digi- tal audit trail is also built and stored through the online process for his- torical reference. All this history and data storage is rendered useless if you cannot validate the authenticity of the document itself. Which is why Florida requires all digitally notarized documents to be rendered tamper- evident and independently verifiable. Most online notarization vendors do this by using a X.509 certificate from a 3rd party certificate authority. By sealing a digital document with a X.509 certificate, anyone who has the digital document can validate if the document has been tampered with since the notary sealed it. As you can see, House Bill 409 is the beginning of an exciting era for notaries in Florida. Using online no- tarization software, online notaries in Florida can notarize documents for anyone in the world. With digital transformation having already im- pacted so many in- dustries, it was just a matter of time be- fore the digitization of the notary public came to fruition. JOSEPH BISAILLON | Notary Joseph Bisaillon is a co-founder of eNotaryLog, a remote online notarization service provider headquartered in Tampa, Florida. He has an extensive enterprise software background working in government, finance and real es- tate industries. He is a licensed real estate agent in Florida and Certified Ethical Hacker. Joseph spends his time working at eNotaryLog as Chief Technology Offer and working with industry groups to advance the notarial indus- try in the US. Remote Online Notarization Goes Live in Florida AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com 17ON JANUARY 1, 2020, TWO OF JACKSONVILLE’S OLDEST FAMILY LAW FIRMS BECAME ITS NEWEST. Zisser Law and Zisser Family Law. Two locations and 100 years of expert Family Law are now one. Introducing Downtown 121 West Forsyth Street, Suite 1000 Jacksonville, FL 32202 The Beaches Ocean Office Plaza, 302 Third Street, Suite 6 Neptune Beach, FL 32266 Contact 904.353.3222CHRISTOPHER GUARINO AND PAUL CRAWFORD DAVID AND JENNIFER THOMPSON KATHERINE AND SETH PAJCIC CHRISTINE MEYER AND THE HONORABLE MARCIA MORALES HOWARD Event Spotlight To see more pictures from Guardian ad Litem Events go to the Jacksonville edition at AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com. The Guardian ad Litem Foundation of Florida’s First Coast, Inc hosted “There’s No Place Like Home” on Friday November 15, 2019, at the Duval County Court House. 19 AttorneyAtLawMagazine.comNext >