Speaker Bios

Fabiola Moya is the Corporate Counsel for Concacaf, the regional governing body of soccer and one of the six continental authorities that administer the sport along with FIFA. As Corporate Counsel, she focuses on commercial contracts and corporate aspects, reviewing from participation agreements, sponsorship, broadcasting, media and content distribution, production, and other complex licenses agreements, to managing registration of trademarks and assets, creating and implementing corporate policies and procedures, and assisting in risk management and security and insurance assessments. Fabiola also supports Concacaf’s council and member associations with regulatory affairs, as well as the organization’s internal departments with competition-related topics.

Before joining the sports and entertainment business, Fabiola worked in the telecom industry. Because of her comparative law background, she was focused in the Latin American region, where she acquired vast experience dealing with legal matters related to logistics, manufacture and homologation of IT products, financial services, insurance and risk assessment, and U.S. customs operations. Along her career, Fabiola also worked on some M&A transactions with exposure to SOX compliance subjects and audit regulations, FCPA policy creation, and corporate policy control and implementation.

Fabiola holds an A.A. in Translation and Interpretation of Conferences, a J.D. degree and a master’s degree in International Law from the institute Tecnólogico de Monterrey, where in the latter she made her research thesis in the WTO Dispute Settlement Body in Geneva, Switzerland, and an LL.M. from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Besides her principal role at Concacaf, Fabiola also represents the Miami branch of Directum Translations LLC, a leading language service provider, and leads a professional group of attorneys and the Tecnólogico de Monterrey alumni association in Florida.

Dedicated and highly knowledgeable attorney, skilled in the management and advisement of internal investigations, ethics and violations. Accomplished in helping global corporations manage the regulatory, compliance, and national security aspect of a transaction. Instrumental in streamlining and developing compliance and privacy policies to address future risk, while implementing sound business solutions. Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and extensive global business expertise.

Jennifer Olmedo-Rodriguez focuses her practice on commercial litigation, class action defense litigation and civil appellate litigation while utilizing the firm’s full-service national platform to counsel her clients. By coordinating and implementing a centralized and unified legal strategy, Jennifer meets her clients’ legal needs across diverse practice areas. In this manner, her clients find Jennifer to be a valued counselor who uses her experience as a litigator to help businesses avoid the pitfalls that oftentimes result in costly and extenuated litigation.

Jennifer has litigated a variety of commercial litigation disputes involving banking, UCC issues and construction-defect matters, as well as a variety of contractual disputes, including partnership disputes, non-compete agreements, employment agreements, franchising disputes, and real property disputes in state and federal courts, including commercial and land-lord tenant disputes. She also has experience litigating claims arising under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act ("FDUTPA") and defending class actions, including claims brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"). Jennifer also handles all aspects of civil appeals and appellate proceedings in a wide variety of matters, including real property disputes, commercial contractual matters and business torts.

Her combined experience at the trial and appellate levels allows Jennifer to provide clients with the benefits of continuous representation throughout the entire trajectory of their case. Her appellate experience allows her to protect the record and properly prepare a case for appeal as it travels through the trial court. When handling appeals in cases she managed at the trial court level, Jennifer’s clients benefit from her intimate, first-hand knowledge of the record. On cases where she solely serves as appellate counsel, Jennifer partners with trial counsel and relies upon her experience to either protect a ruling favorable to her client or pursue reversal of a lower court’s legally flawed ruling. Jennifer’s appellate experience is further enhanced by the fact that she was appointed to serve on the Appellate Court Rules Committee of the Florida Bar from 2015 to 2018. As a member of this prestigious Committee, Jennifer will use her experience in the industry to help carry out mandates concerning the proposal of new rules of appellate procedure and changes to existing appellate rules.

Ginger Barry Boyd represents clients in general commercial litigation matters. She handles a variety of litigation matters including multi-claim and class action litigation, RICO litigation, unfair and deceptive trade practices litigation, real estate litigation, securities litigation, bankruptcy litigation, contracts litigation, foreclosures, employment litigation, intellectual property litigation, and general business litigation.

Rebecca Sipowicz is Senior Counsel, Litigation and Employment for Ocwen Financial Corporation, located in West Palm Beach, Florida. Rebecca is responsible for the management of complex litigation nationwide such as class actions and residential mortgage litigation, including without limitation, servicing claims, complex contested foreclosures, complex contested evictions, adversary complaints, and affirmative actions. Rebecca is also involved in reviewing legal documentation executed by Ocwen, advising various business units on legal issues, managing the department’s policies and procedures, advising the Human Resources department and acting as the litigation group technical liaison.

Beatriz has served as Legal Director and General Counsel for Amzak for the last 10 years. As the Legal Director she manages the legal departments, transactions and legal affairs of Amzak's active investments. In her capacity as the General Counsel she is in charge of the corporate and legal aspects of all Amzak investments and she takes care of all the firms’ internal legal and compliance affairs. Beatriz has experience in managing corporate international legal transactions such as mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, loan syndications, bidding processes acquisition, real estate and bankruptcy transactions. She is based in El Salvador and has been with the group since 2005. Beatriz previously was a Senior Associate at Consortium Legal (Central American law firm) were she directed the Corporate Law Department of the Law Firm. Beatriz was General Counsel and Country Compliance Officer of Citibank's Branch in El Salvador (1998-2005), and was a lawyer of the Legal Department of Citibank in the Guatemalan branch (1996-1998). As a Country Compliance Officer at Citibank for 6 years, she managed to apply United States regulations such as Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Anti-Bribery and Money Laundering in combination with El Salvador's local regulations. Beatriz also acted as Citibank’s legal coordinator and director for Citibank Honduras for more than 2 years.  Beatriz has a Degree in Legal and Social Sciences (Cum Laude) from Universidad Francisco Marroquin in Guatemala, with the License to practice Law in Guatemala and El Salvador, she has a Master in US Law from Washington University in St. Louis, School of Law.  Beatriz is fluent in Spanish and English. She is an active member and contributor for the board of directors of Vital Voices Global Partnership in El Salvador. 

Michele Martello is the Associate General Counsel at MDVIP, Inc. She has been an integral part of the legal team since 2008, helping MDVIP meet the unique challenges associated with a pioneering healthcare business model.  Michele has substantial experience negotiating and preparing business, employment, technology and human resources related agreements.  In addition, she advises on federal and state licensure, fraud and abuse and regulatory matters. Her expertise also includes patient privacy, security and compliance issues, physician recruitment and insurance services.  

Michele began her career as an associate practicing health law at Broad and Cassel where she specialized in complex health care transactions and regulatory compliance. She received her undergraduate degree in accounting and economics from Westminster College (summa cum laude). Michele is a (magna cum laude) graduate of the Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center which she attended as a Goodwin Academic Scholar. She enjoys running, listening to music, spending time with her two young children and volunteering at her church as a Sunday school teacher and assisting with the youth choir.

Jessica Alley is a Partner in the Litigation Practice Group and a member of the Firm’s Insurance/Reinsurance Industry Team. In the area of professional liability defense, Jessica focuses on the defense of professional malpractice claims brought against insurance agents and attorneys. She has defended hundreds of professional liability suits during her career, representing clients in state and federal courts as well as private arbitrations. She also has extensive experience defending high profile and high-stakes qui tam cases brought under the False Claims Act. In the area of insurance coverage, Jessica has provided counseling to insurers in construing insurance policies and litigated numerous declaratory judgment actions on behalf of domestic and foreign insurers.

Prior to joining Freeborn, Jessica was a Partner at Phelps Dunbar, where she served on the firm’s eDiscovery Team and the firm’s Operations Committee.

Lan Kennedy-Davis’ practice of law is diverse and involves corporate transactional work, as well as all aspects of general and complex business and family law litigation. She represents clients worldwide. Lan has worked at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, and is fluent in English and Vietnamese. Lan has a very strong business background. Lan has served as CEO of Soul Electronics a/k/a “Soul by Ludacris”, a high-end headphones company after first serving as it external general counsel for three years. She has a degree in Economics and has worked as a business consultant for Arthur Andersen/Andersen Consulting n/k/a Accenture, wherein she provided consulting services to CIGNA and PepsiCo. Lan has also served as corporate counsel for three publicly traded companies, including in-house counsel of a Fortune 500 company, CLO of a $800 million company which was then the world's largest electronics accessories company, and CLO of a publicly traded Hong Kong conglomerate. With a strong business background and having had extensive experience as in-house counsel, she serves corporate clients as their external general counsel and works closely with the corporations’ internal counsel and officers on transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, contract negotiations, business development and litigation. The breadth and depth of both her business and legal experience allow her to understand and appreciate how legal issues impact the business, and enable her to resolve issues efficiently and effectively. Lan has represented manufacturers of jet engines, gas turbine and power plants, space and aircraft controls, consumer electronics, video games, software applications, and nanotechnology, as well as physicians and their practices, pharmaceutical companies, engineering firms, marketing firms, commercial developers, carnivals, and companies involved in the business of cryptocurrency, crowdselling and crowdfunding. Lan also has more than 20 years of experience with government contracting, qui tam actions, anti-trust and import/export laws and regulations. She has worked on matters with the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Secret Service and has been granted Secret Security Clearance in the past. Lan has also worked on endorsement deals with celebrities and professional athletes. She also has an extensive and diverse commercial litigation practice. Lan has litigated complex business disputes, shareholder disputes, intellectual property, bankruptcy, products liability, breach of warranty, contracts, indemnification, administrative law, employment law, unfair competition, foreclosures and family law.

As group general counsel and chief compliance officer of CNL Financial Group and CNL’s managing broker-dealer, CNL Securities Corp., member FINRA/SIPC, Erin Gray provides strategic in-house legal support for CNL and leads its distribution operations, regulatory due diligence, compliance and corporate legal teams.

Ms. Gray has been practicing law for over 14 years, serving as general counsel and other various roles at Orlando-based private attorney and real estate investment management companies.

Ms. Gray earned a juris doctor degree, cum laude, from the University of Florida and two Bachelor of Science degrees, cum laude, in accounting and finance from the University of Central Florida. She is licensed to practice law in Florida and currently holds her FINRA Series 7, 24 and 63 registrations.

Laura Ganoza is a partner and litigation lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP. She primarily represents business clients in a wide range of complex commercial litigation matters, including but not limited to cross-border disputes, trade secret and non-compete actions, as well as a variety of intellectual property litigation matters, including trademark, copyright, and patent infringement matters. Laura chairs the Litigation Practice in the firm’s Miami office. She is a member of the Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution; IP Litigation; Trademark, Copyright & Advertising; and Latin America Practices, and a member of the Manufacturing Industry Team.

Laura has found success combining her litigation and IP experience on behalf of her clients. In addition to enforcing and litigating her client’s valuable rights, Laura manages the trademark and copyright portfolios for a wide range of clients and advises clients about how to obtain, maintain and protect their intellectual property rights, both domestically and internationally.

Laura possesses experience in reviewing and analyzing trademark search reports, as well as in preparing and prosecuting trademark and copyright applications.

Laura’s recent representations include: obtaining permanent injunctions for franchisors against former licensees in trademark enforcement actions; obtaining and enforcing copyrights in the fashion industry; obtaining a favorable jury verdict and award of damages in a trade secret case, and successfully prosecuting and obtaining a federal trademark registration for the Coconut Grove Arts and Historical Association, Inc., for its trademark Coconut Grove Arts Festival®.

Kirsten is a Shareholder in the firm's Corporate & Tax Group and practice co-chair of the Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits Group. She is currently active in both Florida and California. Kirsten’s practice primarily involves employee benefit matters, including legal matters associated with the design and administration of executive deferred compensation plans, welfare benefit plans, Section 401(k) plans, profit sharing plans, and pension plans. Kirsten represents a number of tax-exempt entities as well as for-profit companies.

She is a member of the Tax Sections of The Florida Bar and the American Bar Association, as well as the State Bar of California and the District of Columbia Bar.

Away from the office, Kirsten enjoys travel, reading, and spending time with her husband and children.

Juliet Murphy Roulhac is the Regional Manager for Corporate External Affairs for Florida Power & Light Company, a Fortune 200 company which is the largest electric utility in the state, and one of the largest electric utility providers of clean energy in the country.  Ms. Roulhac manages governmental and community relations with elected officials and major stakeholders and develops regional strategies for FPL. She is a licensed attorney and practiced in the General Counsel’s Department prior to External Affairs, and has over twenty-five years of complex business litigation and appellate experience.

Prior to joining FPL in October 1999, Ms. Roulhac practiced law in-house with the General Counsel Departments of CIGNA Property and Casualty Insurance Company and Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance Company. She started her career at the Rumberger, Kirk law firm in Miami.

Ms. Roulhac currently serves as Chair of the Florida Bar Leadership Academy.  She is Chair-Elect for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce and serves on the Executive Committee of the Greater Plantation Chamber of Commerce.  She serves as the Treasurer of the Broward Workshop and Treasurer of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, where she is also a member of the CEO Council. She serves on the Boards of the Museum of Discovery and Science and Baptist Hospital BOH/BHE. She is an active member of the Broward County Bar Association, and previously served on the statewide Florida Bar Board of Governors and as a Trustee on the University of Florida’s Board of Trustees.

Ms. Roulhac holds both BA and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Florida, where she previously served as a gubernatorial appointee on the Board of Trustees. She has resided in the South Florida area for over 35 years.

Katharyn E. Owen is a registered patent attorney who concentrates her practice in all areas of Intellectual Property, Technology, and Commercial/Business Law. For the past four years, she has been Counsel and Intellectual Property Counsel for Star2Star Communications, LLC, a software-based unified communications provider based in Sarasota, Florida.  In 2018, Star2Star engaged in a business combination with an Ireland-based company, Blue Face Ltd., for which Katharyn also became Counsel and Intellectual Property Counsel for, as Blue Face, prior to the combination, did not have its own legal department.  In the past four years, Katharyn has helped Star2Star and Blue Face by managing their existing IP assets, implementing open source software compliance programs and an innovation funnel, effectuating various IP-related policies through education and training, as well as streamlining sales channel agreements which have empowered sales staff to increase sales revenues by over thirty percent.  Also, Katharyn has also increased the overall IP portfolio by doubling both patent and trademark filing.  Before joining Star2Star, Katharyn was in private practice for eight years, working with individuals and business entities in the areas of commercial law and corporate governance, patent, trademark, and copyright application drafting and prosecution, enforcement, defense, and licensing. Her practice also included infringement analysis, validity studies, other commercial law-related issues, contract drafting, internet domain name issues, franchise agreement negotiation, software development agreements, and other business and real property related matters.  Katharyn is licensed to practice law in Florida (2011) Ohio (2007), and is a registered patent attorney with the USPTO (2008).

Prior to earning a JD from Cleveland Marshall College of Law (2007), Katharyn used her engineering degree with concentration in electrical application from the University of Toledo (2003) while working for a medical implantable device company, creating custom surgical equipment to assist orthopedic surgeons with knee, hip and shoulder replacements, specifically to fill the special needs of individual orthopedic patients.  She also worked as a computer software programmer on a bioinformatics research project for the National Institute of Mental Health as part of a team to create a software package catalog electrical brain activity into an easily accessible library, from which different properties of brain function could be determined. She received publication accolades for this effort.  In October 2017, Katharyn also published a paper and presented on the topic of "Important IP Case from 2017 for In-House Counsel" at the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) annual conference in Washington D.C., on behalf of the Corporate Practice Committee, of which she is currently the chairperson of the Speaker Bank. 

Melissa Aponte-Martini is an Associate General Counsel and Assistant Corporate Secretary at Banco Santander International (BSI). She is responsible for providing legal support to BSI and advising the Board, executive management and other internal stakeholders on corporate governance and regulatory matters impacting BSI. As a committee member of BSI’s Embrace Network, she seeks to foster a work environment that is inclusive and open to diversity.  Prior to BSI, Ms. Aponte-Martini was an attorney at Deutsche Bank and was responsible for negotiating financial derivative agreements with the bank’s institutional clients.   Ms. Aponte-Martini attended Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad Law Center, where she received her Juris Doctorate, summa cum laude.

Zina Gabsi focuses her practice on consumer financial services litigation and has experience representing financial institutions in complex business litigation matters.  Ms. Gabsi’s practice includes all facets of litigation, including case analysis, discovery, motion practice, deposition preparation, court appearances, hearings, mediation, settlement negotiations and trial preparation. Ms. Gabsi has defended financial institutions in a variety of cases, including matters alleging violations of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (FCCPA), Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), as well as state unfair and deceptive acts or practices (UDAP) statutes and other consumer lending statutes and regulations, such as those promulgated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Borrowers and lenders rely on Elle McCulty for advice and counsel on acquisition and development financing, senior and subordinated commercial credit facilities, and other commercial finance matters. Serving clients in the healthcare, financial services, and private equity industries, Elle works on a diverse set of matters including:

• Asset-based loans
• Secured financing
• Intercreditor arrangements
• Syndicated loan transactions
• Workouts and restructuring
• Real estate financing
• DIP financing

Elle serves as the Chair of Waller’s Women’s Leadership Council.

Marissa Corda is Sonnedix’s Executive Vice President, Global Head of Legal & Compliance, as well as Secretary of the Risk Committee. Her team is responsible for ensuring that the business has effective systems, procedures and controls in place for compliance with internal and external regulations, standards for best practice, and attitude towards risk, including ESG, anti-corruption, AML, FATCA and data protection, together with providing ad hoc transactional and dispute related legal support across the business.

She joined Sonnedix in 2012, and over the course of her career with the company she’s played a role in helping to set up Sonnedix’s office from the ground up in Miami and was instrumental in supporting early investment in Sonnedix.

At the beginning of 2017 Marissa moved to Sonnedix’s London office. Since moving to Europe, she is focusing on building out the Legal team and overseeing the development and implementation of a comprehensive ESG program (including a new corporate risk management standard) that will be rolled out company-wide in 2018. As a testament to the ESG program she is implementing, the UNPRI recently choose to highlight Sonnedix’s conflict mineral policy development process as part of their ESG Guidelines.

Prior to Sonnedix, Marissa spent her career at a mid-size law firm specialising in commercial litigation and corporate bankruptcy, as well as volunteering for Lawyers for Children, an advocacy group that represents children in the American foster system. Marissa also briefly spent time working for the US Federal Trade Commission on various matters, including legal research and statutory analysis regarding FTC advertising regulations.

Marissa has an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University, as well as a JD from Emory University School of Law, both in the US. In her spare time stateside, Marissa enjoyed coaching high school and collegiate women’s water polo.

Marissa is proud to have been part of Sonnedix’s growth from a start-up of less than 20 people to a large-scale, successful global business of more than 200 that attracted institutional investors. She’s excited to come to the office each day because her work is sophisticated and varied, and she’s had the ability to cultivate a team of incredibly talented, kind and hardworking people that take joy in contributing to Sonnedix’s mission.

As Deputy General Counsel, Heather Gatley heads up the Global Labor and Employment Legal Department at Ryder System, Inc, an 8B Fortune 500 publicly held transportation and supply chain management solutions company.   In this position, Heather is responsible for managing all of the labor and employment law issues that arise relating to Ryder’s 37,000 employees, operating in over 7 different countries.  Heather and her team provide day-to-day counsel to human resource and business professionals, lead HR compliance initiatives and projects, and manage administrative charges and litigation and class action matters for Ryder worldwide.    

Early in her tenure at Ryder, Heather spearheaded an extensive RFP for a national law firm to handle all of Ryder’s domestic labor and employment charges and single plaintiff litigation matters on a flat annual fee, portfolio basis, reducing overall legal spend for the company dramatically.   Heather has also been very active in managing threatened class and collective litigation as well as EEOC lead litigation both internally and through outside counsel and developed a written model for in-house lawyers to work to handle class action matters effectively and bring to early and favorable closure.  She is a frequent speaker on labor and employment issues, particularly handling class actions from an in house perspective.

Before joining Ryder, Ms. Gatley served as Executive Vice President of Services and General Counsel of AlphaStaff, a 300-member professional employer organization (PEO)/HR outsourcing company with $300 million in revenue.  During her tenure at AlphaStaff from 2004 to 2010, Ms. Gatley played a key role developing products and services for the company’s evolving client base and supervising a team that handled client employment law and HR issues.  She also managed all of the company’s internal legal affairs, regulatory compliance matters, and litigation, serving as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary.  Additionally, Ms. Gatley led the development of one of the industry’s first national accounts division, serving clients with 1,000 to 30,000 employees.  During her tenure, the company grew operations from four to 48 states and became one of the nation’s largest professional employer organizations.  When it was sold to a private equity fund in 2010, Ms. Gatley led the negotiation and consummation of the sale.  

Before her position at AlphaStaff, Ms. Gatley headed the labor and employment practice at the South Florida-based law firm of Steel Hector & Davis, where she was the youngest partner to head a major litigation department in the firm’s 75-year history.  During her tenure at Steel Hector & Davis from 1994 to 2004, she represented large employers from diverse industries facing employment litigation and/or regulatory/administrative investigations.  Ms. Gatley also grew the labor and employment client base, developed legal talent, and achieved summary disposal and significant court victories on behalf of her clients. 

Ms. Gatley earned a Juris Doctorate with high honors from the Frederic G. Levin College of Law at the University of Florida and a Bachelor of Science in speech communications from Penn State University.  She has served on the board of directors of the Florida Professional Employer Organization and the Human Resource Association of Broward County.

With more than 20 years of experience, Myrna L. Maysonet is a partner with Greenspoon Marder’s Labor and Employment and Class Action Defense practice groups. She concentrates her practice in employment litigation, counseling and defending corporations in all areas of employment including but not limited to hiring, disciplining, discharging employees and post-discharge litigation. Ms. Maysonet litigation experience involves a large spectrum of employment-related issues, such as defense of discrimination complaints under Title VII and state counterparts, unpaid wages, minimum wage and overtime disputes under the FLSA and state counterparts, ADA, FMLA, ADEA, labor management disputes under collective bargaining agreements and the NLRA, OSHA federal regulations and employment class-actions (Rule 23 and collective actions). Likewise, Ms. Maysonet routinely protects employers’ rights against administrative agencies such as the EEOC, DOL and the NLRB and multiple jurisdictions in states such as Florida, Nevada, Utah, Tennessee and South Carolina.

In addition, Ms. Maysonet is recognized for her experience in the timeshare industry and has drafted analysis of the FHA and ADA rules, as they relate to the industry, for the American Resort and Development Association. She is also a soughtafter speaker at many employment-related functions and has been quoted for employment-related articles and radio and television programs, in English and Spanish.

Ms. Maysonet is regularly featured on local, national and Hispanic networks including El Sentinel Orlando, Univision, Orlando Business Journal, South Florida Business Journal, Law360 and HR Magazine. She is an advocate for LGBTQ, women’s rights and incorporates these values into her practice. Additionally, she has covered these issues in a number of speaking engagements and panel discussions. Some topics include: “Transgender Employees and The Workplace: Breaking the Barriers,” “Labor & Employment Issues in Cannabis: Employer Rights vs. Employee Rights,” and “Legal Issues Affecting the LGBT Community: Marriage, Adoption, Surrogacy, and Employment Law.”

Prior to joining Greenspoon Marder, Ms. Maysonet served as a Judge Advocate General in the United States Navy, where she represented service members in felony and misdemeanor cases. She also served as a Staff Judge Advocate and Counsel to the Captain of the Submarine Base at Kings Bay, Georgia. During that time, she was an advisor on issues relating to military discipline, labor relations, employment law for civilian workforce and state and federal laws.

Vivian de las Cuevas-Diaz is a partner in Holland & Knight's Miami office and serves as the deputy section leader of the Real Estate Section. Ms. de las Cuevas-Diaz has experience representing developers in a range of projects, including land development, multifamily, condominium, office and single family development and hotels. She also handles the financing for these types of developments, including institutions and mezzanine financing, public representation of complex real estate transactions, as well as government relations. She also focuses on joint venture negotiations for these transactions at all levels.

Ms. de las Cuevas-Diaz has extensive experience in complex real estate transactions for developers, family offices, and equity investors for acquisitions, developments and construction, institutional lenders in commercial lending for various types of projects and developments in the United States, as well as asset-based loans secured by real estate, inventory, equipment receivables and securities.

Ms. de las Cuevas-Diaz focuses on guiding institutional lenders toward resolutions for troubled loans and complex workouts. She is called on to assist clients in developing solutions for complex real estate transactions.

Ms. de las Cuevas-Diaz's special assets experience includes representation of lenders and developers across the U.S. with respect to forbearance, negotiation of loan modifications, restructuring and workouts on behalf of lenders and borrowers for various types of loans, deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure, note purchase, and sales and foreclosures affecting numerous commercial properties located throughout the state and nation.

Shari Ben Moussa currently serves as in-house Senior Legal Counsel for all mergers and acquisitions, business development, and project finance for Sonnedix USA Services Limited which, together with its affiliates, forms part of the Sonnedix Group.  The Sonnedix Group is an Independent Solar Power Producer in the global solar PV industry with a significant combination of energy production in operation and under construction, development, and/or documentation in eight countries.   Prior to working with Sonnedix USA Services Limited, Shari was Of Counsel in the Real Estate Group of Bilzin Sumberg and a Partner at Katz Barron Squitero Faust, focusing her law practice on real estate transactions, including shopping center, hotel, restaurant, and office acquisitions, dispositions, leasing and financing. Shari previously served as an Executive Council Member of The Florida Bar Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section; a vice chair and advertising coordinator of ActionLine, a quarterly publication of The Florida Bar reporting on state law of interest to section members; and the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Law and Public Policy at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. 

Ms. Dickens earned her undergraduate degree from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia in 1991 with honors, and her Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Miami Law School in 1994.   Ms. Dickens is Rated AV® Preeminent™* by Martindale-Hubbell.  

Ms. Dickens has served as the City Attorney for the City of Miami Gardens since February of 2004.  She has extensive experience in the area of municipal law and litigation.  

Ms. Dickens started her legal career with the firm of Brown & Associates in Riviera Beach, Florida.  Ms. Dickens began her municipal career as an Assistant City Attorney for the City of West Palm Beach where her areas of specialty included planning and zoning, litigation, appeals and general municipal law.  

After serving the City of West Palm Beach, Ms. Dickens became associated with the law firm of James & Coker in Fort Lauderdale, a boutique law firm specializing in complex land use litigation, local government law, real estate litigation, and general civil and commercial litigation.  While at Brady & Coker, Ms. Dickens serviced both governmental and private clients. She also served as the Assistant City Attorney for the City of Lauderdale Lakes.  

In 2006, Ms. Dickens became a partner with Arnstein & Lehr (n/k/a Arnstein & Saul), LLP in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  Ms. Dickens’ areas of specialty included land use litigation, local government law, real estate litigation, and general civil and commercial litigation. Her clients included both governmental and private clients, with an emphasis on municipal/governmental disputes. She handled appellate and first impression land use cases and other disputes involving governmental entities. She represented commercial litigation clients on a vast array of matters.  Before leaving Arnstein & Lehr, Ms. Dickens also served as the Practice Group Leader for litigation.

In 2009, Ms. Dickens came in-house with the City of Miami Gardens and started the City’s first Legal Department.  Ms. Dickens, and her capable staff, oversee and handle all legal matters on behalf of the City of Miami Gardens.  

Ms. Dickens currently serves as the chairperson for Miami Dade League of Cities City Attorney’s Committee, which deals with legal issues that affect the municipalities generally and hosts seminars to train the elected officials and others with respect to issues that affect municipalities.  

In 2018, Ms. Dickens’ office was recognized by the Daily Business Review as Legal Department of the Year in Diversity and Quality of Life. 

Chantel is an experienced trial attorney, skilled in Trial Practice, Pleadings, Legal Writing, Corporate Law, and Compliance. Chantel obtained her Bachelor degree in Philosophy from Stetson University in 2007, studied as a registered visiting student at Magdalen College, University of Oxford in England, and obtained her Juris Doctor from Stetson University College of Law in 2010. She has been a member of, and is the past President of, the Florida Creditors Bar Association, since 2011, and is has been a member of, and is a board member and past Treasurer of, the Rotary Club of Pinellas Park since 2015, and is a member of the Florida Small Claims Rules Committee and the Tampa Bay Inns of Court. She is barred in the state of Florida and the Northern, Middle, and Southern districts in Florida.

Susan N. Eisenberg has more than 25 years of experience representing employers in all aspects of employment matters and is widely recognized as one of the leading employment law attorneys in Florida. Susan has extensive jury and non-jury trial experience involving sex, race, religion, age and disability harassment and discrimination issues. She also litigates non-compete and confidentiality issues as well as accessibility issues under the Americans with Disabilities Act. She regularly handles single plaintiff as well as class-action litigation. Susan is also widely known for her experience with wage and hour issues and is one of the authors of the premiere treatise titled The Fair Labor Standards Act.

Susan also advises clients on employment law compliance, discipline, terminations, reductions in force and wage and hour audits. She has extensive experience in conducting workplace investigations including those involving high level executives. She prepares workplace policies and procedure manuals, employment contracts, non-compete and confidentiality agreements and separation agreements. Susan also conducts informative and entertaining in-house training on employment issues.

Susan is Florida Bar Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law and has been a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers since 2007. Susan was recognized as one of the top 20 women lawyers in South Florida in 2014. She is a frequent lecturer, author and bar association leader. She regularly writes and speaks on employment issues for the American Bar Association, Practicing Law Institute, and American Conference Institute. Susan is the former chair of the American Bar Association’s Federal Labor Standards Legislation Committee, president of the Academy of Florida Management Attorneys, and founding member and president of the Wage and Hour Defense Institute. Susan is the current management co-chair of the American Bar Association Labor and Employment Section Conference Planning Committee, the former president of the Academy of Florida Management Attorneys, and founding member and president of the Wage and Hour Defense Institute.

In addition to her litigation and counseling practice, for the past 15 years Susan has been an Arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association and a Certified Mediator.

Susan earned her Bachelor of Science from the University of Michigan and her law degree from the University of Miami where she was a member of law review and president of the Moot Court Board. Before practicing law, Susan worked as a pharmacist and still holds her pharmacy license in Florida.

For more than fifteen years, Christina has represented companies and individuals in a wide array of litigation in federal and state courts at the trial and appellate levels. She also represents clients in arbitrations and mediations. Christina focuses her practice on business disputes and professional malpractice defense. Christina also represents plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation proceedings (“MDL”) in antitrust matters. Her multi-cultural experiences have played a significant role in her representations in cross-border disputes involving clients, parties, and issues from countries, such as Colombia, Argentina, El Salvador, Mexico, Switzerland, the Bahamas, and South Korea. Christina takes pride in handling complex procedural and jurisdictional issues and questions of conflict of laws. 

Christina is dedicated to imparting her legal and research writing skills to foreign attorneys. She has many years of experience teaching legal research and writing to candidates in the University of Miami School of Law’s Comparative Law LL.M. program. She also has crafted and taught legal writing courses to foreign in-house attorneys seeking to improve their English writing and communication skills.

Christina was born in Miami, Florida, and recently lived with her family in Geneva, Switzerland. Upon graduating from law school, Christina served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Alan S. Gold, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida from 2000 through 2002.

Christina graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. from Florida International University in 1997, and summa cum laude and Order of the Coif with a J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law in 2000, where she served as the Executive Editor of the Law Review.

Nicole Atkinson is a litigation shareholder who co-chairs the firm’s Women’s Leadership Forum and serves on the firm’s Diversity Committee. Nicole represents clients in a variety of litigation and estate and trust matters. She has a broad range of experience at the trial and appellate levels in federal and state courts throughout the country. Her practice includes defending accountants and lawyers in professional liability cases, handling complex business litigation matters, contract disputes, real estate disputes, product liability litigation, intellectual property litigation and estate and trust litigation. Nicole has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® in commercial litigation, real estate litigation and estate and trust litigation.

In addition to her active law practice, Nicole is a leader in the firm, the bar association and the community. She is active in the Florida Bar’s Judicial Relations Committee and Judicial Spokesperson Sub-Committee, formerly chairing both committees, and also serves on the Professionalism Committee. Additionally, she serves on the board of the Women’s Foundation of Palm Beach County, the Palm Beach United Way and the Hospice Foundation.

Michelle L. Humes is a partner in the Orlando office of Shutts & Bowen LLP, where she is a member of the Real Estate Practice Group.

Michelle focuses her practice on real estate development, where she represents lenders, developers and owners in negotiating and drafting documents and approvals for the purchase, sale, leasing, financing and development of real estate. She has represented owners with negotiating and drafting construction contracts.

Michelle started her career handling construction and commercial litigation cases involving construction defect claims, construction lien issues, and contract disputes. She has negotiated and litigated various disputes involving single and multi-family community associations.

While in law school, Michelle interned with the Honorable Jose R. Rodriguez in the Circuit Court of the Ninth Judicial Circuit in and for Orange County, Florida.

Melissa Tapanes Llahues has made her mark not only as a shareholder at Bercow Radell Fernandez & Larkin but also in the greater Miami community. She focuses her legal practice on growth management; land use, zoning and environmental law; permitting, historical preservation; archeological resources; due diligence reviews; and development agreements.

She serves as an Executive Board Member of the Latin Builders Association and Chair of the FIU President’s Council for the 2017-2019 term. Melissa also serves on the Friends of the Underline, Real Estate Committee. Prior civic involvement includes chairing the City of Doral’s Design District Steering Committee and serving as a member of the City of Miami Charter Review & Reform Committee.

Melissa’s activism has been long in the making. In 1999, Melissa was appointed to the state of Florida Board of Education Postsecondary Education Planning Commission by Governor “Jeb” Bush, where she recommended legislation, funding, and policy initiatives to the governor, legislature, and board of education for both public and private higher education institutions.

The South Florida Business Journal recognized Melissa’s professional accomplishments and community leadership with its 2017 “40 Under 40” Award. The Legal 500 named her a “Recommended Attorney” in 2017. And she was named a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers and an “Up and Comer” by Florida Trend’s Legal Elite. Melissa has also been selected for inclusion in numerous Who’s Who publications. In 2016, she was recognized with the inaugural Latin Builders Association Leadership Award.

Melissa graduated from the University Of Miami School Of Law (Juris Doctor, cum laude) and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Geography (magna cum laude) from FIU’s Honors College.