The American Board of Trial Advocates Jacksonville Chapter begins 2021 with new leadership.
At a virtual ceremony Dec. 16 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the chapter swore in 2021 President David Dunlap of Dunlap, Ravis & Miller; President-elect Brian Currie; Treasurer Raymond Reid; and Geoff Sessions as secretary.
Dunlap said a priority for the chapter during his year as president will be restarting live and/or virtual civil jury trials in the 4th Judicial Circuit.
With the induction of four new members, the Jacksonville ABOTA chapter is one of the few in the country to have more than 100 members.
New members inducted this year are Tiffany Jones, defense counsel with the O’Hara Law Firm; Christopher Shakib, plaintiff counsel with Terrell Hogan; Ashley Smith, defense in-house counsel with State Farm Insurance Co.; and David Thompson, plaintiff counsel with Coker Law.
A 9-year-old girl named Cylie and her 2-year-old brother, Cayden.
About 11 months ago, when she heard from a friend that two young siblings had been neglected by their biological parents and needed foster care, she opened up her home.
Over time they all fell in love with each other, with a little help from a Jacksonville attorney who, while fighting cancer, advocated for the children in the court system as a volunteer for the Fourth Judicial Circuit guardian ad litem program.
Rhonda, who is retired and raised two of her own children to adulthood, adopted Cylie and Cayden in October, just in time to celebrate Christmas 2020 as a family. She asked their last name not be used for privacy concerns.