Directors
Email: Catherine.Carson-Freymann@FMGLaw.com
Website: FMGLaw.com
Phone: 813.364.2884
Catherine M. Carson-Freymann
Cathi is a partner at Freeman Mathis & Gary, LLP. She defends businesses in premises liability, negligent security, and trucking liability. She also handles insurance coverage disputes as well as construction defect litigation.
Ms. Carson-Freymann graduated cum laude from Ohio University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. She earned her Juris Doctor from University of Florida Levin College of Law, where she served as a member of Law Review.
Ms. Carson-Freymann spent more than eight years as an on-air investigative reporter and legal analyst. She provided commentary on major trials, uncovered fraud, and exposed government waste. She was awarded 1st Place for Investigative Reporting and 1st Place for Individual Achievement by the Florida Associated Press.
Ms. Carson-Freymann is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Middle, Northern, and Southern Districts of Florida, and all courts within the State of Florida. She is also admitted to practice in Georgia.
Ms. Carson-Freymann is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, and all courts within the State of Florida. She is also admitted to practice in Georgia.
Email: DHixon@McConnaughHay.com
Website: McConnaughHay.com
Phone: 941.342.9143
Danielle Hixon
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: Stephanie@MurphyLawSarasota.com
Website: MurphyLawSarasota.com
Phone: 941.584.9570
Stephanie Murphy
Stephanie is a native of Florida, having been born and raised in Polk County, Florida. She graduated from Converse College, in Spartanburg, South Carolina, then obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Stetson University College of Law. Stephanie began her legal career representing the State of Florida Department of Revenue (DOR), Office for Child Support Enforcement, through a private contract law firm. As a DOR attorney, she prosecuted child support cases, by establishing paternity for unwed mothers, establishing child support for custodial parents, enforcing previously-entered child support orders, and modifying same when legally justified to do so.
Stephanie left the public sector and came to Sarasota, where she became a member of its thriving legal community. In private practice, Stephanie has had the opportunity to expand the narrow field of child support to the larger, complex discipline of family law. As a private practitioner, she has become active in the legal community: she was appointed by the Supreme Court of Florida for her second 4-year term as a member of the Mediator Qualifications Discipline and Review Board, which is part of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Center for the Supreme Court; she is the Vice President of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers in Sarasota; is a member of the Governing Board for Sarasota Academy of the Arts; and is a member of the Family Law Section of the Sarasota Bar. In the past, she served as a Guardian ad Litem, Judge for the Teen Court program, and a Big Sister for the Bigs in School program through Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Stephanie’s practice areas include adoption, from step-parent and relative adoptions, to private placement adoptions; as well as the broad spectrum of family law, including divorce; paternity; child support; property division; custody and visitation; enforcement and modification; and prenuptial agreements.
Email: RSchadt@TKBowmanPA.com
Website: TKBowmanPA.com
Phone: 941.735.5200
Rachel Schadt
Rachel is an elder law attorney with Teresa K. Bowman, PA. She is a seventh-generation Floridian, third-generation attorney, and a Sarasota native. Rachel graduated from Florida State University and Western Michigan University – Cooley Law School. She focuses her practice on estate planning, long-term care planning, Medicaid and VA eligibility, special needs trusts, probate, and trust administration. Rachel is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Association of Florida Elder Law Attorneys, the Elder Law Section of the Florida Bar, board member of Florida Association of Women Lawyers – Sarasota Chapter, and former chair for the Sarasota Bar Association – Solo and Small Firm Section. Before coming to work with Teresa, Rachel represented both Plaintiffs and Defendants in the areas of personal injury and workers’ compensation. Rachel is admitted to practice law in the State of Florida and federally in the Middle District of Florida.
Email: MStephan@mctlaw.com
Website: mctlaw.com
Phone: 941.417.5513
Michele Stephan
Michele is an attorney with Maglio Christopher & Toale, P.A. handling defective medical device cases in State and Federal Courts throughout the country.
Ms. Stephan has represented clients in civil litigation for over 20 years. Her experience includes litigating matters involving products liability/defective medical devices, mass torts, personal injury, nursing home negligence, federal civil rights litigation, 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 certified by the Florida Supreme Court as a mediator in the areas of circuit civil and family.
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, the 2015, 2014 and 2011 Service to the Community Award by Legal Aid of Manasota, the 2008 Member of the Year award from the Sarasota County Chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers and was recognized by the Supreme Court of Florida in 2007 for outstanding pro-bono service.
She has also been committed to serving the legal profession and community. Ms. Stephan is a member of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee and the Sarasota County Bar Association Programs Committee. She is a past president of the Sarasota County chapter of the Florida Association for Women Layers, a past Chair of the Sarasota County Bar Association Alternate Dispute Resolution section, a past editor of the Sarasota County Bar Association legal newspaper “The Docket,” a Master Emeritus of the Judge John M. Scheb American Inn of Court and a member of the member of the Florida Bar, the Sarasota County Bar Association and the American Association for Justice.
Ms. Stephan also serves as a volunteer judge for Teen Court of Sarasota County and teaches a pro se divorce clinic for Legal Aid of Manasota. She has served as a board member of the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Suncoast and the Friends of the Selby Public Library.
Elizete Velado
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.
Lori Wolf
Lori Wolf works in personal injury law. Lori was raised in Bradenton, Florida, and started practicing as a second career Florida lawyer. She has previously worked as civil litigator specializing in the areas of corporate and real estate law. She recently returned to her roots after working and living out of state for several years. She has obtained bar licenses in Florida, Texas, and Nebraska and is licensed to practice in the Federal District Trial Courts in the Middle and Southern Districts of Florida.
Lori graduated with a Juris Doctorate from Stetson University College of Law, cum laude, in 2006, while raising her three children. She also holds a master’s degree in Real Estate Development from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, from Duke University, cum laude.
For fun, Lori enjoys ballroom dance, horseback riding, creative cooking, working out, and her church. Over the years, she has been involved in numerous leadership roles and charitable and civic organizations. She eagerly welcomes building long term relationships with FAWL members and reconnecting with her community.
Email: WolfChatter@gmail.com
Phone: 941.705.1231