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Author: UWWM Mediation Staff

Ocala Mediator Renée Thompson Joins Upchurch Watson White & Max

OCALA, Fla. (May 4, 2016) – Renée Thompson, familiar to attorneys throughout the state as an enthusiastic leader within The Florida Bar, has joined the Upchurch Watson White & Max Mediation Group. She has long had an interest in alternative dispute resolution and was certified as county mediator in 2002, near the beginning of her 15-year litigation career, and as a circuit mediator in 2010. She mediates disputes in both state and federal court. Ms. Thompson was a partner with Mateer Harbert PA, where she worked for more than nine years, and she plans to remain at the firm’s former Ocala address, the landmark Concord Square Building, where Upchurch Watson White & Max will establish an office. She and her husband, Marion County Judge Thomas P. “Tommy” Thompson III, reside on a horse farm in nearby Citra, and Ms. Thompson counts equine law among her practice areas. Her other areas of practice include, but are not limited to: bankruptcy mortgage modification, business litigation, collections, complex commercial litigation, consumer disputes, employment, estates and trusts, family business, insurance disputes, medical malpractice, personal injury, product liability, real estate, tenant disputes and wrongful death.

UWWM’s Brandon Peters Named to UF Self-Insurance Programs’ Panel of Presuit Mediators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (April 14, 2016) – Brandon Peters, who mediates throughout the state with Upchurch Watson White & Max, recently has been named by the University of Florida Self-Insurance Program to a panel of presuit mediators for medical malpractice cases at six participating institutions. Randall C. Jenkins, administrator of five of the six Florida Board of Governors’ self-insurance programs, offers some history, beginning with the J. Hillis Miller Health Center Self-Insurance Program, which dates to 1971 at UF. “It was one of the first, if not the first, of its kind in the United States and set a standard for liability protection in the academic health care setting.” Since then, “Florida has expanded the State University System’s health care education programs to virtually all areas in the Sunshine State. Self-Insurance Programs (SIPs) have been created by the Florida Board of Governors for the Florida State University College of Medicine, the University of Central Florida College of Medicine, Florida International University College of Medicine, Florida Atlantic University College of Medicine and the University of South Florida Health Science Center, joining the Self-Insurance Program at the University of Florida Gainesville and Jacksonville campuses.”

Ricardo Cata to Moderate ABA Panel Exploring Role of Mediation in U.S. Claims Against Cuba

MIAMI (April 6, 2016) — Mediator/Arbitrator Ricardo J. Cata will moderate an April 13 panel discussion, “The Role of Mediation in Resolving U.S. Claims Against Cuba,” at the American Bar Association Section of International Law 2016 Spring Meeting in New York City. As normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations intensifies, so do the questions surrounding what will happen if individual transactions and longer-term deals go wrong in the future. It was recently addressed by Monika Gonzalez Mesa in a story for the South Florida Daily Business Review. No doubt, it will be hard to overcome history. A summary for Mr. Cata’s upcoming panel explains: The U.S. and Cuban governments are already negotiating thousands of certified U.S. claims against Cuba, “with an estimated value of $8 billion, and three court judgments, with present value of over $3 billion.” In return, Cuba asserts $157 billion in damages from the U.S. embargo and $270 million of assets frozen in U.S. banks.

Well-Known Appellate and Trial Attorney Shelley H. Leinicke Joins Upchurch Watson White & Max

Shelley H. Leinicke, familiar throughout the state for her 39 years as an appellate and general trial attorney, officiallylaunched her mediation career with Upchurch Watson White & Max on Friday, April 1, 2016. She plans to establish a statewide practice focused on resolving disputes involving products liability, medical malpractice, legal malpractice, construction litigation, bad faith, officer and director liability, premises liability, automobile negligence, wrongful death and other issues. Other litigation experience that should translate well to her mediation practice includes work in the areas of aviation accidents, insurance policy interpretation, negligence, personal injury, automobile liability, and patent and trademark law.

Join UWWM in Supporting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Fla.

For the fourth consecutive year, Upchurch Watson White & Max is sponsoring the major fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Florida: Bowl for Kids’ Sake. The 2016 effort is set for consecutive Saturdays, April 23 and 30, at Bowl America Southside, 11141 Beach Blvd. in Jacksonville.

Jacksonville-based shareholder and mediator Robert A. “Bob” Cole is a 12-year member of the organization’s board of directors and has solidified the relationship between UWWM and the local Big Brothers Big Sisters. Nationally, BBBS has a longtime association with the legal community, having been founded in 1904 by a court clerk whose New York courtroom had seen a growing influx of boys.