Board of Directors
Elizete Velado, Esq.
President
A member of the Florida Bar since 2012, Elizete Velado currently represents plaintiffs in cases involving personal injury, premises liability, institutional child abuse or sexual abuse, and nursing home and medical neglect. Before joining Mallard Perez
in Sarasota, she spent a number of years focusing on legal research and writing in complex insurance bad faith and catastrophic injury cases at both the trial and appellate level. Since then, she has transitioned to a more active role in litigating these types of cases, and she is currently working towards board certification in Civil Trial Law.
Ms. Velado earned her J.D. with Honors from Florida State University College of Law. In law school, she worked as an editor for the FSU Journal of Land Use and Environmental Law and was recognized as an Outstanding Articles & Notes Editor. She has also been published in the FSU Journal of Transnational Law and Policy and has contributed to trade publications including the Florida Justice Association’s FJA Journal.
Ms. Velado is fluent in Portuguese and continues to improve her working knowledge of Spanish. In the past, she served as the Membership Director of Lee County’s FAWL chapter, and she looks forward to serving the Sarasota Chapter of FAWL. Currently, Ms. Velado is licensed to practice before all Florida state courts, the Federal District Court for the Middle District of Florida, and the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Email: Elizete@MallardPerez.com
Website: MallardPerez.com
Phone: 941.952.1682
Danielle Hixon, Esq.
Vice-President/President-Elect
Danielle Hixon focuses her practice in the area of workers’ compensation defense and related matters. She assists employers and carriers throughout the claim process, from investigating the work place accident to defending litigated issues, responding to requests for different forms of benefits, and guiding the client towards successful claim resolution. Danielle represents local and regional employers and national insurers, providing the right counsel for each to effectively protect our clients.
Email: DHixon@McConnaughHay.com
Website: McConnaughHay.com
Phone: 941.342.9143
Katlyn Coughlin, Esq.
Treasurer
Bio forthcoming.
Email:
Website:
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Julie Liang Herd, Esq.
Secretary
Julie Liang Herd is the Senior Assistant General Counsel for the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. Prior to joining the sheriff’s office, Julie was an Assistant State Attorney for the Sixth Judicial Circuit practicing in Pinellas County. As a former prosecutor, Julie specialized in juvenile delinquency and gang prosecution. Julie is a member of the Florida Association of Police Attorneys, the Florida Bar Association, the Florida Gang Investigators Association, the Florida Sheriff’s Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Judge John M. Scheb American Inn of Court, and the Sarasota County Bar Association.
Julie is a native Floridian, who received her B.A. cum laude, in Political Science and magna cum laude, in East Asian Language and Literature (Chinese), from the University of Florida. She also received her J.D. from Stetson University College of Law with a certificate of concentration in International Law. Julie enjoys traveling, watching Gator football, finding new restaurants, and taking her miniature poodle, Theodore, and boxer-mix, Brandy, for golf cart rides.
Email: Julie.Herd@sarasotasheriff.org
Website: SarasotaSheriff.org
Phone: 941.861.5800
Lora L. Howell, Esq.
Immediate Past President
Lora L. Howell has been a member of the Florida Bar since 2007 and has focused her practice in the areas of Real Estate Law, Foreclosure Litigation, Family Law and Civil Litigation. Lora also advises clients in transactional matters, which gives her an advantage understanding both the litigation and transactional perspectives.
Lora was born and raised in Mooresville, Indiana. She earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Indiana University in 1994 graduating on the Dean’s List and where she was a member of the Political Science Honor Society, Pi Sigma Alpha. She was the recipient of a Rotary Foundation Scholarship where she studied abroad at Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador en la facultad de Jurisprudencia. She earned her Juris Doctor Degree from Florida State University College of Law where she was a member of the Jessup Moot Court Team and the Women’s Law Symposium President. Lora is currently active in several professional organizations as well as community groups.
Email: LLH@LawPoweredByWomen.com
Website: LawPoweredByWomen.com
Phone: 941.212.2600
Amanda Davy, Esq.
Director
Bio forthcoming.
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Website:
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Regina A. Kardash, Esq.
Director
Regina A. Kardash, a Florida Bar Board Certified attorney in City, County and Local Government Law, has represented municipal clients in Pinellas, Manatee, and Sarasota counties. She serves as the Town Attorney for Indian Shores and Belleair Shore, Special Magistrate of the City of Palmetto, Board Attorney for the Pinellas County Homeless Leadership Board, and Assistant Town Attorney for the Town of Longboat Key. Regina was appointed to the Pinellas County Local Planning Agency and serving as Chairwoman in 2016 and 2017. She has litigated cases for clients in County Court, Circuit Court and Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal. Regina has also served as a hearing officer for the St. Petersburg Housing Authority and was appointed to the Florida Bar’s Constitutional Judiciary Committee. Regina is active in the Pinellas County Chapter of the Florida Association for Women, serving as President for the 2016-2017 term and received FAWL’s “Leadership in the Law Award” in 2012. She is also a member of the St. Petersburg Bar Association and the Clearwater Bar Association.
Regina was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area. She completed a 200-hour teacher training in 2010 with a certificate to teach Prana Flow yoga. In addition to yoga, she enjoys traveling, nature, local music and spending time with her son.
Email: RKardash@FLGovLaw.com
Website:FLGovLaw.com
Phone: 941.306.4730
Dana Keane, Esq.
Director
Bio forthcoming.
Email:
Website:
Phone:
Nerizza Miyamoto, Esq.
Director
Bio forthcoming.
Email:
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Marlo Sloan, Esq.
Director
Bio forthcoming.
Email:
Website:
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Michele S. Stephan, Esq.
Director
Michele S. Stephan is an attorney with mctlaw handling complex litigation in State and Federal Courts throughout the country.
Ms. Stephan has represented clients in civil litigation for 25 years. Her experience has included litigating matters involving defective products, defective medical devices, personal injury, violation of nursing home residents’ rights, federal civil rights, international child abduction under The Hague Convention and international matters involving civil theft and fraud. In addition to her trial experience, Ms. Stephan has handled appellate matters before the Second District Court of Appeals and is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Court Mediator.
Ms. Stephan graduated from the University of South Florida, College of Humanities, in 1989. She graduated from Stetson University College of Law in 1996 and was admitted to the Florida Bar the same year.
Ms. Stephan has a longstanding commitment to helping low income and indigent persons in need of legal services. She was awarded the 2017 Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Award for the Twelfth Judicial Circuit, the 2017 Florida Association for Women Lawyers “Leaders in the Law” award and has been featured by News Channel 9 as an “Everyday Hero” and Sarasota News Network’s “People You Should Know.” She has also been awarded the 2015 Distinguished Community Service Award from the Sarasota County Bar Association and been honored by Legal Aid of Manasota and the Florida Association for Women Lawyers for her service. She is on the Board of Directors for the Sarasota County Bar Association, the chair of the SCBA Access to Justice Task Force and a current board member and past president of the Sarasota County Chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers. Ms. Stephan is a Master Emeritus of the Judge John M. Scheb American Inn of Court and a proud member of the American Association for Justice, the Florida Bar and the Sarasota County Bar Association. In the community, Ms. Stephan has run a weekly legal clinic rendering legal services to the homeless and currently assists Legal Aid of Manasota with thei-r pro se family law clinic and is a volunteer judge for Teen Court of Sarasota.
Email: mstephan@mctlaw.com
Website: https://www.mctlaw.com/
Phone: 888-952-5242