Newsmakers (Tampa)

Newsmakers (Tampa)

Kim Hopkins leaves state

AG's office for solo practice

Kim Nolen Hopkins, who represented the state attorney general on death penalty appeals for seven years, has resigned because of family demands.

"I'm the mother of two young boys," she says.

That doesn't mean Hopkins has forsaken a legal career. The Florida Bar board certified appellate lawyer now works as a solo practitioner in New Tampa. She was admitted to practice law in 1993.

FSU law school names

first McDevitt professor

Florida State University College of Law has honored one of its own by naming the first Sheila M. McDevitt Professor of Law.

The endowment goes to FSU Associate Professor Gregory Mitchell, who earned a law degree and a doctorate in psychology from the University of California-Berkeley and joined the FSU law school in 2002. He earned honors as "First Year Class Teacher of the Year" and "Co-Teacher of the Year" for 2003-04.

The endowment honors the legal career of Sheila McDevitt, a 1978 law school graduate who serves as senior vice president, general counsel and chief legal officer at Tampa's Teco Energy Inc.

A former chair of the law school's board of visitors, McDevitt is a gubernatorial appointee to the Florida Board of Governors, the group that oversees the state university system.

Campbell McLean

reappointed to board

GrayRobinson PA attorney W. Campbell McLean has been reappointed to the Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of Arts Board of Directors.

A director since 2003, McLean will serve a three-year term. This year he served as the 2005 festival's co-chairman.

McLean is a civil litigation attorney who focuses on eminent domain law.

Mills Paskert hires Kelly

Fitzgerald, Kelly McAuley

Kelly Fitzgerald and Kelly McAuley are new associates at Tampa's Mills Paskert Divers PA. Each focuses on business, construction, fidelity and surety litigation.

Fitzgerald earned bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Florida. She formerly worked at Atlanta's Wilson Brock & Irby LLC

McAuley, a James Madison University graduate, recently earned a law degree from the Stetson University College of Law. She has passed the bar exam and is awaiting admission.