OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
​
Adele Stone Esq., Chair, is a Shareholder at Buchanan, Ingersoll, Rooney PC in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, with over 30 years of real estate and business law experience. She has significant civic and involvement. Most notably, she served on the Florida Bar Board of Governors from 2011-2013, including serving on many committees of the Bar. Adele served on the Florida Bar Foundation Board of Directors for 10 years, serving as its President from 2009-2010. She also served as the President of Legal Aid Services of Broward County, Inc. and on its Executive Council, as well as serving on the State Board of Directors for the Children’s Home Society.
​
Lansing "Lanse" Scriven, Esq., Chair-Elect - is the principal of Lanse Scriven Law in Tampa, Florida. Lanse concentrates his practice in the areas of business litigation and bar disciplinary/professional ethics defense. He is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been recognized in Best Lawyers of America, Florida Trend’s Legal Elite, and Thomson Reuter’s Florida Super Lawyers. From 2009-2017, Lanse served as a member of the Florida Bar Board of Governors, representing the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit (Hillsborough County). While on the Board of Governors, Lanse served on the Disciplinary Review Committee and as Vice Chair of the Board Review Committee on Professional Ethics. He is a past President of the Hillsborough County Bar Association (HCBA), the Florida Chapter of the National Bar Association, and the George Edgecomb Bar Association. In 2018, Lanse was the recipient of the Outstanding Lawyer Award presented by the HCBA. Previously, he was awarded the National Bar Association’s Heman Sweatt Award for excellence and exemplary service in the legal profession.
In addition to his work as a bar leader, Lanse has devoted substantial time to several community and civic organizations, including service on the board of directors of Tampa General Hospital, Tampa Housing Authority, Moffitt Cancer Center Foundation, the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, and the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts. He has also served as Legal Counsel to the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce. A native of Jacksonville, Florida, Lanse graduated from Duke University in 1984 and earned his law degree, with honors, from Florida State University College of Law in 1987. While enrolled at Florida State, Lanse served as an editor of the Florida State University Law Review and a member of the law school’s Moot Court team. Following graduation from law school, Lanse clerked for the Honorable Joseph W. Hatchett, former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
​
2023-2024 Executive Committee
Karen Gottlieb, Esq., Treasurer - is an attorney, author, and visiting professor at the Florida International University’s Law Clinic and serves as co-director of FIU Law’s Center for Capital Representation. Gottlieb has more than 40 years of experience as an appellate lawyer and has represented criminal defendants and more than 250 appeals and writs in both Florida and federal courts. She served on the board of the Florida Capital Resource Center and is a former chair of the Florida Public Defenders’ Capital Litigation Steering Committee. Gottlieb is known for her amicus brief in the Supreme Court of the United States in Hurst v. Florida, in which the Court granted certiorari to consider whether Florida’s capital punishment system violates the Sixth or Eighth Amendments to the Constitution. Her successful representation of Rebecca Falcon in the Supreme Court of Florida established a decision that will require the re-sentencing of over 200 Florida juvenile homicide defendants who had previously been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
​
John Patterson, Esq., Secretary - is a Florida native, is a partner in the Sarasota office of Shutts & Bowen LLP, where he practices in the areas of commercial real estate, banking and business law. He received his B.A. degree from Duke University and his J.D. degree from the University of Florida, where he was member of the law review. He is a member of The Florida Bar, and served on its Board of Governors from 1995 to 1999. He served on the board of The Florida Bar Foundation from 2004-2014, and was president in 2013-14. He was appointed by the governor to the Second District Court of Appeal Nominating Committee, and previously served on and chaired the Twelfth Judicial Circuit Nominating Commission. He is a past president of the Sarasota County Bar Association and has served on numerous state and local bar committees. Locally, he is active in civic and political affairs and has served on the boards of civic, charitable and cultural organizations. He presently serves on the boards of Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics, Inc., The Innocence Project of Florida, Inc., Tiger Bay Club of Sarasota, Inc., Legal Aid of Manasota, Inc., and he is a trustee of the Florida Bar Foundation Endowment. His wife, Nora, is a former mayor of the city of Sarasota, and served for 24 years on the city and county commissions.
Members
O. David Barksdale, Esq., graduated summa cum laude from Vanderbilt University in 1988. He received his J.D. from the University of Florida in 1992, with honors, and was appointed to the Order of the Coif. He practiced two years with the Bedell Firm as an associate, then spent four and a half years with the State Attorney’s Office in Jacksonville, where he was a division chief and a member of the Homicide Team. He returned to the Bedell Firm as a partner in 1999. David is listed in The Best Lawyers in America (White Collar and General Practice Criminal Defense), Florida Trend’s Legal Elite (Hall of Fame), and Super Lawyers (Florida’s Top 100: 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018,2019). He and his wife, Patty, have three children. David and his colleagues Allan Brooke and Ashley Cox wrote “Defending the Prescription Case,” Florida Defender (Winter 2014).
​
Gerald "Jerry" Berry, Esq., Past Board Chair, Jerry Berry has practiced law for more than 30 years in Southwest Florida specializing in criminal defense. He has worked in criminal law since graduating law school when he began his career as a prosecutor in Lakeland and Naples. Later he established a private practice in order tto defend the wrongfully accused. He is past president of the Collier County Bar Association, as well as founder and past president of the Collier County Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys. Berry holds the prestegiuos AV-Preeminent Lawyer rating in which his peers ranked him among the highest level of professional excellence, including ethical standards and legal ability. He has also been recognized as a Legal Leader, a title which recognizes the top 2% of lawyers in the state of Florida. Berry is also AV-Rated® BY Martindale-Hubbell® peer-review ratings. This recognition is the highest bestowed upon attorneys with excellence in both ethics and practice.
​
Derek Byrd, Esq., Mr. Byrd is a board certified criminal trial attorney in Sarasota Florida. He began his career in 1995 at the public defender's office and opened the Byrd law firm in 1997. Mr. Byrd has assisted IPF as local counsel on 2 cases, both which resulted in exoneration. Mr. Byrd is the past president of the Florida Association of criminal Defense lawyers and the Sarasota County bar Association. He is former chairperson for the Bar Grievance Committee. He also recently received the Jim Slater award which recognizes the attorney in the 12th circuit who exemplifies the highest ethics and professionalism. Mr. Byrd is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell, listed in Best Lawyers of America and Super Lawyers. Mr. Byrd has been married to his wife and law partner, Heather, for 23 years and have two wonderful sons.
​
Robert Cromwell, Past Board Chair, is retired as Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Jacksonville Division after nearly a 30-year career in law enforcement. During his career, Bob received numerous commendations from the Director of the FBI for his investigative accomplishments, primarily in the field of Violent Crime. He is also a former Navy Cryptology Technician, a New Jersey Police Officer and a Special Agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Today, he is the owner of a Security and Investigative Consulting firm and is co-owner of PoliceCommunity.net, which provides online training for police officers throughout the nation.
​
Benjamin Crump, Esq., is a partner with Parks and Crump, LLC, in Tallahassee. He is a graduate of Florida State University and the FSU College of Law. Over the years Mr. Crump has dedicated his areas of practice in serious personal injury, wrongful death, and civil rights matters. Throughout his career he has handled civil litigation matters in state and federal courts throughout the Country. Mr. Crump is currently President-elect of the National Bar Association and has served as General Counsel to the Tallahassee Chapter of the NAACP. He was elected as the Board Chairman of the Internationally Renowned Tallahassee Boys Choir, and is the Past President of the National Florida State University Black Alumni Association. He was the first African-American President of the Federal Bar Association for the Northern District of Florida, first African-American Chairman of the Florida State College of Law Board of Directors, and the first African-American Chair of the Tallahassee Utility Commission. He is married to the lovely, Dr. Genae Angelique Crump, guardian of two adopted cousins, Marcus and Chancellor Crump, and proud father of Brooklyn Zeta Crump.
Randle P. DeFoor, Esq. (“Randy”) is with Fidelity National Financial Group as SVP, National Agency Counsel in their corporate home office located in Jacksonville, Florida. She obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of the South and her law degree from the Cumberland School of Law, Samford University. Randy joined FNTG in 2010 as Regional Major Claims Counsel and became a Senior Staff Underwriter in 2012 in the office of the Chief Underwriting Counsel. Prior to joining Fidelity, Randy was Senior Corporate Counsel, VP, and Assistant Secretary with Regency Centers Corp., a real estate investment trust. At Regency, Randy created the legal department and provided legal counsel for the day to day operations of the company for 15 years.
​
Michael E. Dutko, Sr., Esq., is a criminal defense attorney with the law firm of Bogenschutz, Dutko & Kroll, P.A., in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. Dutko worked as a Police Officer and Detective in the Organized Crime Bureau of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. Upon his graduation from Nova Southeastern University Law School, Mr. Dutko served as an Assistant State Attorney with the Broward County State Attorney’s Office. In addition to memberships in numerous legal associations, Mr. Dutko also serves on the Board of Directors of The Hundred Club of Broward County, Inc. and the Board of Governors of Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center. Mr. Dutko is included in the Best Lawyers in America, 2009 to the present, Criminal Defense and White Collar Defense.
​
Mark Olive, Esq., Mark Olive's national practice of law focuses on death penalty litigation and educating lawyers, judges, and law students about capital punishment and habeas corpus practice. Mark has litigated capital cases throughout the country, both state and federal, including in the United States Supreme Court. Mark was the Director of the first Capital Resource Center in the country, opened in Florida in 1985. The Center provided assistance to pro bono attorneys, as well as direct representation, in capital cases. He was later the Director of both the Georgia and Virginia Resource Centers. He has taught in law schools around the country, and today teaches the Death Penalty and the Supreme Court seminar at the University of North Carolina College of Law in Chapel Hill. Mark has been awarded: the National Legal Aid and Defender Association's Life in the Balance Achievement Award; one of the the Florida Supreme Court’s highest awards, the Tobias Simon award for pro bono service; the Kentucky Furman award for national service to death sentenced inmates; and the California Death Penalty Focus award for lifetime service. Mark has been a member of HAT, with John Blume, since the project's inception in 1996.
​
Hon. Raoul G. Cantero, Esq. (ret) is a partner in the Miami office of global law firm White & Case LLP. He is board-certified in appellate practice and is ranked Band 1 by Chambers USA in Florida Appellate Practice. He also is a certified arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and the International Centre for Dispute Resolution. In his 30 years as a lawyer, he has handled over 400 appeals. The publication LawDragon lists him as one of the top 500 lawyers in the US. Justice Cantero is also the firm's Office Executive Partner in Miami, leading a contingent of 95 lawyers and over 100 support staff. From 2014-2019, he was Global Executive Partner for Diversity, in which position he oversaw the firm's recruitment, retention, and promotion of diverse lawyers. Appointed to the Florida Supreme Court in 2002 by then-Governor Jeb Bush, Mr. Cantero was the first justice of Hispanic descent and one of the youngest ever to sit on the Court. In his six years as a justice, he heard hundreds of appeals and authored well over 100 opinions.
​
Robert C.L. Vaughan, Esq. is a Partner with Kim Vaughan Lerner LLP, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Robert focuses his practice on general and complex commercial litigation, international dispute resolution and product liability. He represents clients with matters pending in US state and federal courts as well as with matters pending before Caribbean courts. Mr. Vaughan is rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell, its highest rating for professional excellence, and has successfully tried civil and criminal cases, both court and jury, in state and federal court in Florida. He has successfully litigated multimillion-dollar jury trials, class action litigation and multidistrict litigation, and represented numerous clients through summary judgment and trial in nonjury proceedings. From 2012 - 2021, Mr. Vaughan has been listed in Super Lawyers Nationwide Magazine as a “Top Attorney for Business Litigation.” Florida Trend magazine has listed him among Florida’s Legal Elite each year since 2007. Mr. Vaughan has also been rated Band 5 by Chambers USA in the practice area of “Litigation: General Commercial” and recently obtained an award from Chambers Diversity and Inclusion - North America 2021 for his “Outstanding Contributions to Diversity & Inclusion”. He was recently inducted into the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates and is also a member of the highly rated National Institute of Trial Advocacy faculty. Mr. Vaughan enjoys everything aviation related and is an instrument rated, private pilot. Community service is Mr. Vaughan’s most important calling. He recently served as President of the Broward County Bar Association for the 2020-2021 term, is a member of the National Bar Association and the Caribbean Bar Association and has served as Vice-Chair of the Florida Bar Judicial Nominating Procedures Committee and as a Chairperson on the Florida Bar Grievance Committee, Diversity and Inclusion and Leadership Academy, as well as a member of the board of directors of the Dade County Bar Association. He is a past president of the Caribbean Bar Association and currently serves on the Caribbean Bar Association Foundation Board.
​
Dr. Dan Diaco, MD
Bio Forthcoming
Honorable James E.C. Perry, Former Justice James E.C. Perry was the 85th Justice of the Supreme Court serving from 2009-2016. He is a native of New Bern, North Carolina, James E. C. Perry was appointed as the 85th Justice to the Florida Supreme Court by Governor Charlie Crist and took office there on March 11, 2009. Before his appointment, he served as a Circuit judge of Florida's Eighteenth Judicial Circuit upon his appointment by Governor Jeb Bush in March 2000. Justice Perry later served as Chief Judge of the Circuit for a two-year term beginning July 2003. He attended Saint Augustine's University, graduating in 1966 with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Accounting. After servinging the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant, he went on to Columbia Law School where he earned his Juris Doctorate degree in 1972. Justice Perry met his future bride, Adrienne M. Perry, Ph.D., while at Columbia Law School. They have three children, two attorneys and a Human Resource Manager.
Justice Perry has been actively involved in many community activities. A dedicated father, Perry managed his son’s AAU basketball team, the SanLando Greyhounds and played an active role in all their sports activities. Justice Perry’s commitment to improving children’s lives extends beyond his own family. As founder and president of the Jackie Robinson Sports Association, Perry built a baseball league serving 650 at-risk boys and girls – the largest in the nation. However, the Association did more than coach baseball. Volunteers also served as mentors and provided free tutoring. In addition to his work with disadvantaged kids, Justice Perry served as captain of the Heart of Florida United Way Campaign and his firm served as general counsel for the Florida Chapter Branches of the NAACP. He is a member of the Board of Trustees at Saint Augustine’s University. Justice Perry has been a member of the Carter CME Tabernacle Church of Orlando for more than 30 plus years and is a former member of its Board of Trustees. As an attorney, Perry was widely recognized for his legal skills and abilities. Prior to his appointment to the trial bench, Justice Perry was senior partner in the law firm of Perry & Hicks, P.A., where he specialized in civil and business law. Justice Perry was the first African-American appointed to the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit. Justice Perry has received numerous honors and awards including the 3rd Annual Puerto Rican Bar Association's Moot Court Competition Award in 2014, the 2014 Key to the City of Titusville Award for recognition of his dedication and extraordinary commitment to Justice, the Florida Memorial University's President's Award in 2014, the North Brevard County Branch NAACP's Award of Appreciation for outstanding and exemplary service to this nation in fall 2014, the Seminole County NAACP Humanitarian Award, the Orange County Chapter NAACP Paul C. Perkins Award, and the 2005 Martin Luther King Drum Major Award for Social Justice.
​
Ellen S. Podgor, J.D., is the Gary R. Trombley Family White-Collar Crime Research Professor at Stetson University College of Law where she teaches courses in White Collar Crime, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure: Adjudication, and White-Collar Advocacy. She is the co-author of numerous books including the Hornbook on White Collar Crime and Mastering Criminal Procedure Vol. I and II and has authored more than 70 law review articles and essays. She served as the official reporter for the 2018 Florida Criminal Justice Summit. Professor Podgor served for six years as a member of the board of directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and currently serves on the board of directors of the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law. She is a past chair of the Criminal Justice Section of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), a past president of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS), and an honorary member of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers (ABCL). She is also a member of the American Law Institute. Prior to becoming an academic she served as a deputy prosecutor in Indiana and later as a partner in a law firm.
​
David Rothman, Esq., Past Board Chair, is a founding partner of the Miami criminal defense firm Rothman & Associates, formerly Thornton & Rothman, formed in 1980. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Rothman served as an Assistant State Attorney under Richard Gerstein and, later, Janet Reno. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law, teaching in the Litigation Skills Program. Mr. Rothman has served as President of the Dade County Bar Association, Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Miami Chapter (FACDL – Miami) and FACDL, Statewide. He has served on the Board of Governors of The Florida Bar and was recently appointed to the Florida Bar Foundation board of directors.
​
Mark Schlakman, Esq., Past Board Chair, serves as senior program director for The Florida State University Center for the Advancement of Human Rights where he received one of several Guardian of the Flame Awards from Burning Spear presented to faculty from across the university in 2015 for outstanding service…“ Prior to joining FSU’s faculty in 2002 he held senior positions in state and federal government, including special counsel to Gov. Lawton Chiles; special advisor to Gov. Jeb Bush during his first several months in office; senior advisor to Gov. “Buddy” MacKay in Washington, D.C., when the governor was White House Special Envoy to the Americas during the final two years of the Clinton administration. Mr. Schlakman subsequently served as a Foreign Affairs Officer for the U.S. Department of State at the outset of the George W. Bush administration where he received a Superior Honor Award for his service at the White House and had follow-on assignments as a special assistant and interim foreign policy advisor to four-star Marine Corps. General Peter Pace, Commander, U.S. Southern Command, and as an Alternate Representative for the U.S. Permanent Mission to the Organization of American States (OAS). Mark received his B.A. from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL, graduating magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi; and received his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., where he served as president of the Student Bar Association and received the Dean’s Certificate at graduation. Following law school, he completed Harvard University’s Kennedy School post-graduate Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government in Cambridge, MA. He was a member of the American Bar Association’s Florida Death Penalty Assessment Team.
​
Neal R. Sonnett, Esq. is the founder and managing partner of his Miami-based law firm, which concentrates on the defense of corporate, white collar and complex criminal cases in Florida and throughout the United States. He earned his B.A. degree in 1967 from the University of Miami and his J.D. degree from the University of Miami School of Law in 1972. Prior to entering private practice, Neal served as an assistant U. S. Attorney and chief of the Criminal Division for the Southern District of Florida. Neal has represented a roster of high profile clients as diverse as MetLife, Jack Abramoff, and General Manuel Noriega, as well as major national corporations, banking institutions, prominent business executives, bankers, attorneys, physicians, and federal and state political figures. He has served as lead counsel in regulatory and grand jury investigations, trials, appeals, federal sentencing and post conviction issues in environmental crimes, healthcare, insurance, securities, tax, and mail fraud cases, election law violations, money laundering, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Arms Export Control Act cases, federal asset forfeiture, international extradition, and attorney ethics and disciplinary matters. Neal is a member of the American Bar Association Board of Governors, a past member of the ABA Nominating Committee, and a former chair of both the ABA Criminal Justice Section and the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities. He has been a member of the ABA House of Delegates for almost 25 years. Among other diverse legal and civic involvement, Neal has served as president of the American Judicature Society, a national organization of judges, lawyers and other citizens who work to maintain the independence and integrity of the courts and increase public understanding of the justice system.
​
Brian Tannebaum, Esq., Immediate Past Board Chair, is the managing partner at Tannebaum Weiss, P.A., in Miami and President of the Florida Association of Bar Defense Lawyers. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Tannebaum was a trial lawyer in the largest public defender’s office in Florida. He has served as the President of FACDL and the FACDL Miami Chapter. He is one of only two members of FACDL to have received all three Presidential Service Awards. He is a frequent lecturer, having spoken at statewide and local seminars including The Florida Bar Annual Meeting, “Showcase on Sentencing,” “Basic Criminal Law,” “Practicing with Professionalism,” and his own seminars entitled “The Practice,” and “What Every Civil Lawyer Needs to Know About Criminal Law.” Multiple Florida and national publications have named him one of the top criminal defense attorneys. The National Law Journal named his acquittal in US v. Dow as one of the “Top 10 defense verdicts in the U.S.”
​
Michael T. Davis, Esq., is a board-certified appellate specialist with Kuehne Davis Law, P.A. Davis’ practice areas include appellate and trial support, criminal defense, and civil rights law. A graduate of Stetson University, Davis began his appellate career successfully competing in moot court competitions. A former law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington, Davis joined the Appellate Division of the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office. Davis has argued before the Third DCA, the Florida Supreme Court, and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a Board Certified in Appeals and is a regular CLE presenter on appellate practice. Davis serves as Secretary of the Stetson University Board of Trustees and is a Board member of his church, Bread of Life Community Church. He is also President of the Virgil Hawkins Chapter of the National Bar Association, President-Elect of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers-Miami Chapter, Director for the Dade County Bar Association, and Member of the Board of Directors for the Innocence Project of Florida.
Our Founding Board Chair
Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte, Esq., IPF’s Founding Board Chair, was a lawyer, professor, former politician, former educational administrator, and former president of the American Bar Association (1991 to 1992). He represented Dade County in the Florida House of Representatives from 1966 to 1972. Mr. D’Alemberte served five years as Dean of the College of Law and nine years as President of Florida State University. He is currently a Professor of Law at FSU and a partner of D’Alemberte & Palmer, a Tallahassee firm specializing in appellate work. D'Alemberte passed away on May 20, 2019.