Legal Briefs (Tampa edition)

Legal Briefs (Tampa edition)

College shares divorce

program with British judiciary

Thanks to the efforts of Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge John Lenderman, the British legal system is learning about a parenting class for divorcing parents offered by St. Petersburg College.

A DVD of the seminar was recently sent to Whitehall, the seat of the British judiciary in London, and may help provide an impetus for a change in centuries-old English law, according to a St. Petersburg College press release.

Lenderman, who has lectured in England on U.S. divorce law, says English judges "pretty much react to a situation long after things have fallen apart. Here, we take a proactive approach," it says.

The judge has visited England three times to discuss family law and how the British system can be improved.

Longtime area lawyers

honored for service

Four Tampa Bay area lawyers were recently honored by the Florida Bar for fifty years in the legal profession. Honored were former Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney James T. Russell, St. Petersburg; Howard L. Killian, Tampa; George Baker Thomson, Gulfport; and Richard C. Williams, New Port Richey.

The attorneys were among 68 in the state expected to be honored at the bar's annual meeting, June 23-26 at the Boca Raton Resort & Club, Boca Raton.

Tallahassee lawyer becomes

Florida Bar's 56th president

The Florida Bar installed Tallahassee attorney Kelly Overstreet Johnson as its 56th president during its annual convention June 25 in Boca Raton. She becomes the group's third female president and the first from Tallahassee in 39 years.

Johnson intends to focus on judicial independence issues. For one, she wants to improve the work of the states 26 judicial nominating commissions. She also wants to focus on lawyer advertising issues.

A partner in the Tallahassee office of Broad & Cassel, Johnson earned bachelor's and law degrees from Florida State University.

Abbey Adams hires

Headley as associate

James R. Headley is a new associate at Abbey Adams Byelick Kiernan Mueller & Lancaster LLP, St. Petersburg.

Bar appoints Smith-Khan

to diversity symposium

Clearwater attorney Cheryl Smith-Khan is a recent appointee to the Florida Bar's diversity symposium. She is an associate at Boyer & Schiltz PA.

The symposium recently produced a preliminary report that focused on diversity issues in laws schools, the bar, government and private practice.

Besides her work for the bar, Smith-Khan serves as co-chair of the Clearwater Bar Association's family law committee. A graduate of Rollins College, she earned a law degree from the Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center.

Broad & Cassel hires

three new associates

Tamaro Johnson, Roger Mason and William Podolsky III are new associates in the commercial litigation practice group at Broad & Cassel's Tampa office.

Johnson, who practices real property law, earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida and a law degree from the Stetson University College of Law.

Mason, who practices insurance defense, earned a bachelor's degree from Washington and Jefferson College and a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Podolsky earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Tampa and a law degree from the Stetson law school.