First Coast Women in Law 2020 ABOTA Reenactment of Coker LawJWLA IS FAWL'S CHAPTER OF THE YEAR! THERE'S NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO JOIN! Monthly luncheons with dynamic speakers and CLE credit Members-only receptions, networking mixers, events, and enrichment activities Committee involvement, Judicial Reception participation, JWLA & FAWL Awards eligibility, and JWLA-sponsored nominations for other awards Automatic membership in FAWL & discounted membership to FAWL Chapters Individualized support and advocacy for The Florida Bar, JNC, & judicial appointments from JWLA & FAWL Network building through JWLA’s 350+ members & FAWL’s 3,500+ members & leadership development MEMBER BENEFITS INCLUDE: Join now to enjoy all the great JWLA benefits through June 2021! Membership is open to all judges, attorneys, and law students, women and men. JOIN TODAY AT: WWW.JWLA.ORGAttorney at Law Magazine is published by: Target Market Media Publications Inc. Ken Minniti PRESIDENT & CEO Howard LaGraffe VICE PRESIDENT Caitlin Keniston EDITOR Thomas Brady FIRST COAST PUBLISHER Susan Cushing Veronica Jauregui ASSISTANT EDITOR Nancy Kinnally LOCAL EDITOR Kate Quealy LOCAL ADMINISTRATOR Jaqueline Dávila GRAPHIC DESIGN Joseph Bisaillion Nathan M. Evans CSSC,CMSS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Susan Cushing Nancy Kinnaly CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Dan Harris PHOTOGRAPHY Copyright ©2020, Target Market Media all rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is strictly prohibited. Advertising rates on request. Bulk third class (standard) mail. Although every precaution is taken to ensure accuracy of published materials, Attorney at Law Magazine & Target Market Media cannot be held responsible for opinions expressed or facts supplied by authors. Corporate Office : 5828 North 7th Street, Suite 200 Phoenix, AZ 85014 Phone (480) 219-9716 www.tmmpublications.com • info@tmmpublications.com Northern Alabama | Atlanta | Chicago | Dallas | Ft. Lauderdale Jacksonville | Los Angeles | Miami | Minnesota North Carolina Triangle | Ohio | Philadelphia | Phoenix | San Antonio Salt Lake City | Middle Tennessee | Washington D.C. TABLE OF Contents 12 FROM THE Publisher D ear Readers, I am especially proud of this issue, not only because of the wonderful attorneys we featured. I am proud of all of the attorneys and judg- es we have featured over the years. This issue is such a wonderful ex- ample of the incredible resilience of First Coast Legal community. With large events being cancelled and trials online, there is less personal engage- ment in our new normal. My hope is the magazine will assist in keeping the First Coast Legal community con- nected and be a platform to illustrate how special and important the First Coast legal community is to the le- gal community statewide. I am often overwhelmed by the sheer generosity of their stories and fellowship. Thanks to everyone who assisted with this issue; including Charlene Shirk, Susan Crushing, James Jenkins, Corinne Hodak, Dan Harris, Shan- non Peabody and Nancy Kinnley. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Jacksonville’s Michael G. Tanner, Gunster Shareholder, and the new President-Elect of the Florida Bar Association. Happy Reading, THOMAS BRADY PUBLISHER 904-398-2234 TBRADY@ATTORNEYATLAWMAGAZINE.COM 9 IPEN, RIN, RON !? By Joseph Bisaillon 11 Bethany R. Reichard Litigator Spotlight 12 The Women of Coker Law Cover Story 17 Medicare & Liability Settlements By Nathan M. Evans, CSSC, CMSS 18 American Board of Trial Advocates Event Spotlight 21 Michelle Broyles Leads JALA’s Family Law and Victim Advocacy Unit By Nancy Kinnally SPECIAL SECTIONS 6 2020 Women in Law MICHAEL G. TANNER AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com 5Terri Sopp Director of the Juvenile Re-Sentencing Program Fourth Judicial Circuit Office of the Public Defender Teri Sopp, a board certified criminal trial lawyer, has been practicing law in Jacksonville since 1978, and had a private practice of law for 23 years. She returned to the Public Defender’s Office in 2017. Sopp’s role model is Former Florida State Supreme Court Justice Rosemary Barkett . Shannon Schott Partner Plata Schott Attorneys & Counselors at Law Shannon Schott practices personal injury, criminal and juvenile defense, in which she is board certified. She was honored as a 2020 Ultimate Attorney by Jacksonville Business Journal. Schott is involved in The Florida Bar, Jacksonville Bar Association, Florida and Jacksonville Justice Association, and FACDL. Dianne Jay Weaver is the woman in the law who most inspires her. Sarah Mannion Partner King & Mannion, P.A. Sarah Mannion specializes in real estate transactions and litigation, debtor and creditor bankruptcy representation, probate and estate planning. She is married to Charles Foreman, stepmom to Gracie, 15, and mom to Charlotte, 4, and JJ, 4 months. Mannion is president of JWLA and the immediate past board chair of the Women’s Center of Jacksonville. Kamala Harris is the woman in law who inspires her the most. ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · FIRST COAST · VOL. 5 NO. 3 6Stacy Thomas Associate Holland & Knight Stacy Thomas practices in the firm’s business law section in the areas of corporate and securities laws. Her experience includes securities offerings, private investment fund formation, mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations, equity investments and recapitalizations. Thomas is a member of the Jacksonville Bar Association and the Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association. “I was really inspired by my late mother, Connie Byrd , who began law school just five years before me. She always motivated me to be the best attorney and person possible.” Kelly Lauren Berlin Senior Attorney Fourth Judicial Circuit Guardian ad Litem Program Kelly Lauren Berlin practices juvenile law, representing the best interest of the abused, abandoned, and neglected children. Berlin received the Courtesy Award at the 2017 Statewide Guardian ad Litem Disabilities Conference and is a member of the Nassau County Inn of Court. Berlin is also a member of Florida’s Early Childhood Court team. “My mother, Karen Brimmer , has always been a woman in the law who has inspired me. She is a zealous advocate and incredible trial attorney for over 40 years. I was lucky enough to accompany her at a very young age to her hearings, depositions, and trials.” Susanne Kaye Sichta Partner Sichta Law Firm Susanne Kaye Schita graduated from the University of Idaho School of Law then moved to Florida where she began a career in criminal defense. She and her husband Rick opened their own practice, The Sichta Law Firm, in 2013, focusing on civil and criminal appeals and criminal post-conviction matters. Her inspirational woman in law is Meredith Charbula , circuit court judge, Florida Fourth Judicial Circuit. Jeanne M. Miller President & CEO Jacksonville Civic Council A fearless negotiator dedicated to the greater good, Jeanne Miller has established a reputation for bringing diverse stakeholders together to create positive change. In a career ranging from private practice to local government, higher education and the nonprofit sector, Miller has helped resolve complex fiscal and economic dilemmas, promote higher education, grow hundreds of jobs, and add over $1B to the Duval County tax base. Currently chair of Goodwill Industries of North Florida and a national member of the FSU Alumni Association board of directors executive committee, she’s received numerous awards for public service and is a graduate of both Leadership Jacksonville and Leadership Florida. “One of the women I’ve most admired is the late Rep. Tillie K. Fowler . A formidable public servant with a warm heart and gracious manner, she worked across party lines to get things done. She courageously took on some of the most difficult issues facing the community with the goal of achieving the greatest good for her constituents and our nation.” Gina P. Grimsley General Counsel Sauer Gina Grimsley is general counsel for Sauer and its affiliated companies, a best-in-class professional construction company since 1876. As general counsel, she provides legal counsel and risk management advice for the day-to- day operations of Sauer, which includes oversight and administration of litigation, corporate policies, insurance claims, as well as negotiation of contracts. Prior to joining Sauer, Grimsley spent eight years in private practice handling appellate and insurance coverage matters as well as a variety of complex commercial disputes and construction litigation. She is inspired by Sara E. Moss , executive vice president and general counsel of The Estée Lauder Companies. AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com 7904.353.3222 zisserfamilylaw.com Experience, Expertise and Compassion — and now more of it. Two of Jacksonville’s most accomplished law firms, Zisser Law and Zisser Family Law, recently merged uniting six highly-respected Family Law attorneys. Three of these attorneys are strong, confident, successful women who are aligning careers, beliefs and values. For them, nothing is more important than family or more difficult than a family in crisis. Lynn Salvatore, Carolyn Zisser, Katherine “Katie” Johnson www.hklaw.com Jacksonville, FL | 904.353.2000 Holland & Knight proudly celebrates the women attorneys in our Jacksonville office and thanks them for their contributions to our firm. Copyright © 2020 Holland & Knight LLP All Rights Reserved Crystal Adkins Lindsey Grubbs Kelly Hellmuth Eliona JankullaJennifer KiferSummer KingJennifer MansfieldKarin Oko Laura RenstromBeth RothenbergChristina SchwingAubrey SmithStacy Byrd ThomasMelissa TurraStacy Watson May Lauren AlbertAmanda BarbourMichelle BayatGina BuleczaGenesa Eavenson Kaitlyn CawleyY ou may have heard RIN or RON recently as demand for these services increase dramat- ically due to COVID-19. As if we do not have enough acronyms already, we must add a few more to the list. So, what are these acronyms and why are they such a hot topic recently? In-person electronic notarization (IPEN) is an electronic notarization that is performed while in physi- cal presence of the signer. IPEN is a digital signature signing session done in person. It still requires the notary and signers to be present in the same room at the time of the digital sig- nature being done on an electronic device such as a tablet or laptop. The notary can personally view the sign- er’s identification and perform the traditional notarial process of identity verification just like they would with a wet ink signed ceremony. IPEN has great value in real estate where it can create an electronic document that can be submitted to e-recording offic- es and other electronic systems. The catch with an IPEN is that it does not allow for social distancing, making it not feasible for businesses during a pandemic. Remote Online Notarization (RON) is a fully remote and online notarization. It is not as simple as hopping onto a zoom call, it requires special technology that conforms to the notary’s state law. In Florida, a RON transaction requires extra iden- tity verification procedures. Unless personally known, a notary public in the state of Florida performing a RON session must put participants in a notarization through identity verification services such as KBA and credential analysis, these are ques- tions and processes to validate you are who you say you are, even though the notary is not physically within the presence of the signers. In addition to the extra steps required to perform a RON, the notary public must also be certificate to perform an online trans- action in many states. In Florida, that means an extra 2-hour state approved RON course, $25,000 bond & insur- ance and registration as an online notary public. With current laws be- ing state specific, some legislators are pushing for a nationwide standard. In March of 2020, the Securing and En- abling Commerce Using Remote and Electronic Notarization (SECURE) Act of 2020 was introduced to the Senate as a bi-partisan effort to au- thorize and establish minimum stan- dards for electronic and remote nota- rizations nationwide. The need for a remote option has never been greater and legislators across the country are rushing to pass executive orders to enable RON in their states. If you haven’t looked at adopting RON in- ternally, I recommend starting the process of education yourself and your firm as early as possible as RON is not a technology that can be turned on overnight, it required education, training and buy in. Remote ink-signed notarization (RIN) is a new concept adopted by states through executive orders. At the beginning of COVID-19, many states rushed to pass executive orders allowing for notarizations to be done remotely, even though they did not have RON laws in place. RIN intro- duced a melting pot of different rules and requirements for notarizing doc- uments in states such as New York, which never passed a state RON law. RIN laws are changing daily through- out the US, it is imperative that no- taries in RIN enabled states stay on top of legislative changes to make sure they are performing a compli- ant notarial process. An example RIN process is usually in line with a RON process, except instead of a digital signature, the document is wet ink signed and the documents are trans- mitted between the notary public and signers through the mail or scanned. Many states still require the same identity verification processes of a RON and the audio/video recording of the signing ceremony be stored as well. Just like COVID-19 will not be with us forever, we do not expect RIN to be either. Many of the executive or- ders were in direct correlation to the problems COVID-19 introduced and will expire after the emergency decla- rations subside. Digitization of the notary public is here to stay and as customers want a more convenient and secure workflow, we expect IPEN, RIN and RON to become an essential offering for many businesses. JOSEPH BISAILLON | Online 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 Officer and working with industry groups to advance the notarial in- dustry in the US. IPEN, RIN, RON !? “Digitization of the notary public is here to stay” AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com 9Next >