COURSE NUMBER

9281

CLE

Approved by The Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Department for 1.5 hours of General CLE credit including 1.5 hours of Technology CLE credit and 1.5 hours of Ethics CLE credit.

OVERVIEW

Justice John D. Couriel
90th Justice of the Florida Supreme Court

John D. Couriel is the 90th Justice of the Florida Supreme Court. Justice Couriel was born in Miami, Florida in 1978. He is married to Rebecca L. Toonkel, M.D. They have two children.

Justice Couriel received his A.B. magna cum laude from Harvard College in 2000 and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2003. He clerked for the Honorable John D. Bates of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia before joining Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York. His practice there included securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcy matters, and investigations. In 2009, he became an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. He prosecuted hundreds of federal offenses, including international money laundering, public integrity, healthcare fraud, and human trafficking crimes. In 2013, he joined Kobre & Kim LLP, where he specialized in crossborder disputes and investigations relating to financial products and services, asset recovery, and government enforcement defense, with an emphasis on clients in Latin America.

Justice Couriel is a native speaker of Spanish. His parents emigrated from Cuba in the 1960s, his father as one of approximately 14,000 unaccompanied minors welcomed to the United States as part of Operation Pedro Pan.

He was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court by Governor Ron DeSantis on June 1, 2020.

Honorable Martin J. Bidwill
Circuit Court Judge, Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County

Martin J. Bidwill has served as a Circuit Court Judge in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in Fort Lauderdale since 2005. He served in the Criminal Division from 2005-2017, including seven years as the Administrative Judge of the Division. Since 2017, he has served in the Civil Division, where he presides over a general civil division and the Asbestos Litigation Division. In 2008, he served as an Associate Judge on the Fourth District Court of Appeal.

At the time of his appointment to the bench, he was the Chief Assistant Federal Public Defender for the Southern District of Florida. He served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender from 1995-2005. Judge Bidwill also served as an Assistant State Attorney in Broward County from 1992-1995. From 1990-1992, he served as a law clerk to United States District Judge Jose A. Gonzalez, Jr. in the Southern District of Florida. He earned his law degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law in 1990 and his undergraduate degree, cum laude, from Wittenberg University in 1987. Since 2012, he has served on the Florida Courts Technology Commission (FCTC), and currently serves as chair of the Commission.

Honorable Hunter W. Carroll
Circuit Court Judge, Twelfth Judicial Circuit, Desoto, Manatee, and Sarasota Counties

Hunter W. Carroll is a circuit judge for the Twelfth Judicial Circuit Court, which spans DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota Counties. Appointed in 2015 and subsequently elected twice, Judge Carroll currently is assigned to the circuit civil bench in Sarasota County. He is the administrative judge for Sarasota County, the administrative judge for the circuit civil division in Sarasota, and Chair of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit’s Technology Committee.

Judge Carroll focuses on harnessing technological solutions to improve the quality and efficiency of the legal profession. He is a member of the Florida Courts Technology Commission and serves as its Chair of the CMS Standards Subcommittee, Chair of the Civil Case Management Workgroup, and member of the Cyber Security Subcommittee. He is an appointed member of The Florida Bar’s Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence. Judge Carroll also serves as a member of the Mediator Qualifications and Discipline Review Board.

Judge Carroll is a past president of both the Sarasota County Bar Association and the John M. Scheb Inn of Court. As an attorney, Judge Carroll served as an elected member of the Young Lawyers Board of Governors of The Florida Bar. He practiced in the areas of commercial litigation, civil trial law, appellate law, and education law. Judge Carroll began his legal career as a staff attorney to The Honorable Charles T. Wells, then the Chief Justice of Florida.

Born and raised in Sarasota, Florida, Judge Carroll attended the University of Florida for both undergraduate studies and law school.

Honorable Walter J. Havers
Judge of Compensation Claims, Miami District Office

In 2003, Judge Havers began nine years of service as legal advisor to the Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims and assistant to the Deputy Chief Judge of Compensation Claims. He developed rules of procedure, policies, and production methods to improve the workflow and efficiency of the OJCC.

In addition, he represented Judges of Compensation Claims before the First District Court of Appeal in cases involving Petitions for Writs of Mandamus and Prohibition. In 2013, he began serving as a State Mediator with the OJCC until he was appointed Judge of Compensation Claims in Miami by Governor Rick Scott in 2017.

Honorable Thomas N. Palermo
Judge of Family Court, Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, Hillsborough County

Judge Thomas N. Palermo serves as a Circuit Court Judge of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit. He holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Banking and Finance Law from the University of London King’s College, a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) cum laude from The Florida State University College of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from The American University.

Prior to his judicial appointment, Judge Palermo had an extensive career as an Assistant United States Attorney in Tampa, where he served in various divisions, including Transnational Organized Crime, Economic Crimes, and Violent Crimes and Narcotics. He also held leadership roles as the District Opioid Coordinator for the Middle District of Florida and Senior Litigation Counsel for the Criminal Division, providing training for prosecutors and law enforcement.

Earlier in his career, he served as an Assistant State Attorney in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, Deputy Chief of the Economic Crimes Unit, and a federal judicial law clerk.

Over the course of his legal career, Judge Palermo has tried more than sixty cases to verdict, handling complex prosecutions ranging from organized crime and health care fraud to human trafficking and violent offenses.

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