Journey to Esquire®️ The Podcast

In this episode, we pass the mic to Omar Erchid, interviewed by our Class of 2021 Intern Hala Alkattan.  Omar is the managing attorney of Ercihid Law Firm. Born and raised in the Tampa Bay Area, Omar Erchid graduated from the University of South Florida with a B.S. in Journalism before obtaining his J.D. degree from The Florida State University College of Law. After practicing with an eminent...

In this short video, you will meet some of the students in the Journey to Esquire® Class of 2021- interns Baron Olden, Jr. - who handles meetings, and Dioni' Stewart- who handles Journey to Esquire® The Blog and two scholars BreeAna Coleman and Breyon Love . Find out more about or program and students at www.journeytoesquire.com  Check out the Journey to Esquire® Podcast on Anchor, Spotify, A...

In this episode, we pass the mic to Brielle F. Bell, Class of 2019 Scholar and current board member. Ms. Bell is an Associate at Bush Ross, P.A. practicing Bankruptcy and Commercial Litigation. Brielle represents debtors, creditors, and trustees in Chapter 11 and 13 reorganizations and Chapter 7 liquidations. She also represents parties in all aspects of litigation in federal and state courts. Pri...

In this episode, we pass the mic to Jamila S. Little. Ms. Little is an attorney licensed to practice law in Florida, and in the Caribbean. Her practice areas include immigration, criminal defense, personal injury, and business law. Jamila continues to represent her clients in State court and Federal Immigration court as an immigration attorney in Tampa Bay. She hails from the beautiful twin isle o...

In this episode, we pass the mic to Michena Georges.  Ms. Georges is the newest Board Member of the JTE team. She received her B.A. in Political Science from the University of South Florida and her J.D. from Florida A&M University College of Law. Ms. Georges is also a veteran who served for several years in the United States Navy as a Hospital Corpsman and an Emergency Medical Technician....

An Associate at Butler, Suzanne DeCopain practices in our Coverage Defense department. Suzanne has been a member of the Florida Bar since 2009 and is based in our Tampa office. She is admitted to the United States District Court for the Middle, Southern and Northern Districts of Florida.  Before joining Butler, Suzanne served as an Assistant State Attorney for the 20th Judicial Circuit for th...

Marisol Ruiz joined McIntyre Thanasides as an associate in the complex litigation division in 2020. Before joining McIntyre Thanasides, Marisol worked as an associate attorney where her practice consisted of the representation of several community associations, real estate, family law, business litigation, and bankruptcy. Marisol is a Tampa native and a proud “double Gator”, having previously grad...

Lyndonna Marrast, MD, MPH is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Donald and Barbara Zucker SOM at Hofstra/Northwell. She is a researcher, educator, and general internist. Her research interests include health disparities interventions and workforce diversity. Currently, she studies the perspectives of racial and ethnic minorities on the design and implementation of Personalized (n-of-1) tria...

Elaine L. Thompson has been practicing law since 1989.  She began her legal career working as an Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Appeals Division of the Florida Attorney General's Office in Tampa.  Over the next ten years, Ms. Thompson continued to develop her legal skills and knowledge while working in the Employment Discrimination Section and the Office of Civil Rights where...

In this episode, we pass the mic to Sarah Gottlieb. She is an Associate in the Litigation Practice Group and a member of the Insurance/Reinsurance Industry Team at Freeborn. Sarah focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation. She served as a Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Charlene Edwards Honeywell in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. She&...

In this episode, we pass the mic to Kamilah O'Brien to discuss student loan debt and living you bet financial life. Kamilah O’Brien is an operations and financial nonprofit professional with the proven ability to create and optimize operational systems as well as manage billion-dollar budgets. Upon graduating with her Masters of Public Administration in General Finance from NYU, Kamilah had over $...

In this episode, we pass the mic to Mandi Clay to discuss voluntary bar associations and mental health.  A commercial litigator, Mandi has experience in a variety of subject matters, including labor & employment, intellectual property, restrictive covenants, and class actions. Mandi has experienced the practice of law from both sides of the bench, having clerked for U.S. District Judge Gr...

In this episode, we pass the mic to board member Sumayya Saleh, Esq. She discusses why she joined the Journey to Esquire team and religious diversity. Ms. Saleh is the product of circumstances similar to those endured by JTE’s target population.  Ms. Saleh’s formative years were shaped largely by the realities of being the daughter of Syrian immigrants and being a Muslim in post-9/11 America....

In this episode, we pass the mic to Ricardeau Lucceus to discuss being a "whole lawyer" and building character throughout law school.  Ricardeau Lucceus has called Tampa Bay home for the past 20 years. Mr. Lucceus graduated from The University of South Florida where he earned his Baccalaureate degree in Political Science; he went on to earn his Juris Doctorate degree from the Western Michigan...

Dr. Peter-Christian Aigner is a historian of twentieth-century America. In this episode, we discuss the Journey to Esquire: Oral History Project and its importance to recent events.    Dr. Aigner's first book explores the life and career of Daniel Patrick Moynihan as a view onto the strains of American liberalism between the New Deal and the present century. The manuscript is contracted...

Ms. Kira Brereton-Paul currently serves as Associate General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at S&P (Standard & Poors) Global Ratings. In her capacity as Associate General Counsel, she provides transactional legal counseling (i) in respect of ratings on traditional and esoteric structured finance transactions in the U.S. and (ii) with respect to all types of credit ratings issued in Latin...

Welcome to another great bonus episode from the Journey to Esquire: Oral History Project. In this episode, we pass the mic to Arthenia L. Joyner. Former State Senator Arthenia Joyner is a pioneer and has been a political trailblazer throughout her impressive career. Born in 1943 in Lakeland, Florida (later moving to Tampa), she was taught by her father, Henry Joyner -- the owner of Tampa’s premier...

Welcome to another bonus episode featuring Journey to Esquire: An Oral History. In this episode, we pass the mic to Donald R. Odom.  Bornin 1950, in Saint Petersburg, Florida, Donald R. Odom always knew he would be a lawyer.  He spent his formative years in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, during which he became an admirer of Judge Thurgood Marshall.  He recalls reading about Judge Mars...

Welcome to the first full interview of the Journey to Esquire: Oral History Project.  In this episode, we pass the mic to Delano Stewart who had a stellar career as a criminal and civil trial lawyer. He served as the first president of the George Edgecomb Bar Association from 1982 to 1983. Stewart was elected as the first African American on the Hillsborough County Bar Association Board of Di...

In honor of Black History Month, Journey to Esquire: The Podcast would like to share a glimpse into the beginnings of an oral history of African-American Pioneering lawyers in Tampa Bay. Featured speakers are Delano Stewart, Arthenia Joyner, and Donald Odom.  Special thanks to Ricky Roberts and Ricky Roberts Photography www.rickyroberts.com, and Dr. Peter-Christian Aigner Director of the Goth...

Vanessa Ferguson is a Florida native and was born near Orlando, Florida. She is currently an attorney and the managing director of Ferguson Legal, PLLC. Ferguson Legal, PLLC is a law firm that focuses on general Business law, Data Privacy, and Intellectual Property. Ms. Ferguson also serves as the secretary of the George Edgecomb Bar Association and is a Certified Information Privacy Technologist....

Judge Daryl M. Manning is a County Court Judge in Hillsborough County and currently assigned to the county civil division.  He was a practicing attorney in Tampa with the Office of the Florida Attorney General for sixteen years prior to his appointment by Governor Scott in 2015. Judge Manning obtained his LL.M. from the Army Judge Advocate Legal Center and School at the University of Virginia...

As WMU - Cooley Law School Tampa Bay's campus director, Daniela Mendez is responsible for term course schedules and provides campus supervision and support. Daniela is a magna cum laude graduate of WMU-Cooley Law School and before serving as a public defender worked as a legal intern with the WMU-Cooley Innocence Project. She was a paralegal with Catania & Catania, PA and served as a legal ass...

Joann Grages Burnett serves as the Associate Director of Career and Professional Development at Stetson University College of Law.  Burnett specializes in employer engagement, professional development, and readiness for students and alumni. Burnett co-chairs Stetson Law’s award-winning Campus to Career Professional Development Conference. Burnett previously served as an assistant public defen...

Board Certified in Appellate Practice, Sarah Lahlou-Amine practices in all areas of state and federal appellate litigation. In addition to handling all types of appeals and original proceedings, Sarah is frequently retained for the strategic focus she brings to trial court litigation, helping clients and trial lawyers create records suited to both protect favorable rulings and document grounds for...