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EDUCATION:
Fort Lauderdale (1981) 1981 Video Advertising Awards, Honors
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Nichols, Williams, P.A., 200 SE 6th St., Suite 401, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301 Partner: Feb. 2003 to Present Criminal Defense specializing in Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Watson & Lentner, P.A., 220 NE 51st St., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33334 Managing Attorney: October 1999 to February 2003 Managed attorney/paralegal staff in separate office. Successfully litigated over 1,000 lawsuits. Allstate Insurance Company, 110 SE 6th St., Suite 1800, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301 Managing Attorney, PIP Division: November 1998 to October 1999 Opened and managed 1st In-House PIP Division in Broward County for Allstate Insurance Comp., Deerbrook Insurance Comp., and CCN Insurance Comp.Also responsible for defense litigation of bodily injury lawsuits Successfully defended over 500 PIP lawsuits Assistant State Attorney, 17th Judicial Circuit, Fort Lauderdale, Florida Sexual Battery/Child Abuse Unit: January 1995 to November 1998 Felony Trial Unit: July 1994 to January 1995 Assistant State Attorney, 6th Judicial Circuit, Clearwater, Florida Felony Trial Attorney: March 1991 to June 1994 Child Abuse/Sex Crimes Unit DUI Manslaughter Prosecution Team High concentration of white-collar fraud cases Lead Trial Attorney: October 1990 to March 1991 Supervision of six attorneys in County Court Division Misdemeanor Trial Attorney: January 1989 to October 1990
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES: United States Customs: Assisted in developing legislation to ban the importation of Rohypnol (flunitrazepam) into the United States (for use in drug-related sex crimes), March 1996. United States Department of Justice: Assisted in preparing report on the investigation of Rohypnol-related sex crimes, May 1996. Florida Legislature: Lobbyist for enhanced penalties for drug-related sex abuse, 1996 Session. (Enhanced legislation enacted.) Assisted with the rescheduling of Rohypnol, Ketamine, and GHB, 1998 Session. Florida Model Policy on Evidence Collection: Co-authored in Drug-Facilitated Sex Crimes, May 1996. Testified before Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth regarding the need for enhanced legislation for Rohypnol abuse in drug-facilitated sex crimes, June 17, 1996. (Attorney General Butterworth subsequently reclassified Rohypnol from a Schedule IV to a Schedule I drug.) United States Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations: Invited to testify as an expert in the Investigation and Prosecution of drug-rapes, July 1996. Recommendations published as part of the United States Senate’s Final Report regarding the need for enhanced national legislation for drug-related sex crimes. (New legislation enacted in October of 1996) Florida Governor’s Task Force on Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse: Made recommendations for policy changes regarding drug-related sex crimes, August 1996. United States Department of Education, Every Child Is Ours National Task Force: Developed and implemented a national computer curriculum regarding the prevention of drugs and violence in public schools, Boston, Massachusetts, December 1996. (Task Force recommendations were sent directly to President Bill Clinton for his approval and implementation.) American Prosecutors Research Institute Task Force: Developed video and related materials for the United States Department of Justice, Violence Against Women Program, to train attorneys, law enforcement, and medical personnel in all aspects of investigating and prosecuting drug-facilitated crimes, Washington, DC, December 1997. United States Department of Justice: Developed an FBI Intranet Web Page to assist state and federal law enforcement and medical personnel in all aspects of investigating and litigating drug-facilitated sex crimes, Washington, DC, January 1998. (Wrote articles and helped design format) United States Attorneys Office: Developed video and written materials to train state and US attorneys, law enforcement, and medical personnel in all aspects of investigating and prosecuting drug-facilitated sex crimes, University of Maine, March 1998. (Distributed throughout New England) CAVNET (Communities Against Violence Network): Vice President and Advisory Board Member of Communities Against Violence Network. CAVNET is an Internet Website and List Service devoted to legal and medical issues in the area of domestic violence and sex crimes. Its advisory board includes members of the US Department of Justice, FBI, US Secret Service, Interpol, and numerous police chiefs, university professors, and physicians
United States Department of Justice: Co-authored training manuals regarding the prosecution of drug-facilitated crimes, 1998-99. (Copies distributed throughout the US, Canada, and United Kingdom). National Crime Faculty: Assisted in the development of policies and training manuals regarding the investigation and prosecution of violent drug-facilitated sex crimes throughout the United Kingdom, February, 1999, Hampshire, England. United States House of Representatives, Committee on Oversight and Investigations: Invited to testify before US Congress as an expert on the development of legislation regarding the regulation of various drugs which are used to facilitate violent crimes, Washington, DC, March 1999. Sexual Violence on Campus: Edited chapter on the use of Date-Rape Drugs for training manual. Springer Publishing Co., April 1999. National Judicial Education Program, National Organization of Women Legal Defense Fund: National Task Force Member to develop national training manual and standard protocol for the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of drug-facilitated sex crimes, New York, April 1999. National Center for Women and Policing: Development of national training manual for the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of drug-facilitated sex crimes, May, 1999. PIP Lawyers Group: Invited member of PIP plaintiff’s lawyers group throughout Florida dedicated to development of strategies in PIP litigation on behalf of Florida medical providers, 2003.
SEMINAR PRESENTATIONS: Instructor: Investigation & Prosecution Techniques in Arson-Related Fraud Cases, National Association of Arson Investigators, St. Petersburg, Florida, September 1st, 1993. Instructor: Investigation & Prosecution Techniques in Drug-Related Rapes, Florida Sex Crimes Investigators Association, Tallahassee, Florida, October 17th, 1996. Instructor: Investigation & Prosecution Techniques in Drug-Related Rape Cases, Metropolitan Police Institute, Miami, Florida, November 15th, 1996. Instructor: Investigation & Prosecution of Drug-Related Crimes, Florida Sex Crimes Investigators Association, Criminal Justice Institute, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, February 20th, 1997. Instructor: Identification, Investigation, & Prosecution of Drug-Facilitated Crimes, nine-hour workshop presented with Dr. Sarah Calhoun, Research Director of Haight Ashbury Clinic, California Sex Crimes Investigators Association, Shell Beach, California, March 14th, 1997. Instructor: Investigation, Prosecution, & Treatment of Victims in Drug-Facilitated Crimes, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, June 11th, 1997. Instructor: Investigation, Prosecution, & Treatment of Victims in Drug-Facilitated Crimes at the State and Federal Level, United States Attorneys Office, Orono, Maine, March 15th, 1998. Video of presentation used as training tool for FBI and the US Attorneys Office as well as local law enforcement in New England. Instructor: Investigation & Prosecution Techniques in Drug-Facilitated Crimes, Broward County Victim Rights Coalition, 3rd Annual Training Conference, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, April 24th, 1998. Instructor: Investigation, Prosecution, & Treatment of Victims in Drug-Facilitated Crimes, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, June 11th, 1997. Instructor: Investigation, Prosecution, & Treatment of Victims in Drug-Facilitated Crimes, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Tallahassee, Florida, November 12th, 1998. Instructor: Investigation & Prosecution Techniques in Drug-Related Crimes, New York Police Department/Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Huntington, New York, November 13th, 1998. Instructor: Investigation, Prosecution, & Treatment of Victims in Drug-Facilitated Crimes, Metro-Dade County Police Department, Miami, Florida, December 14th, 1998. Instructor: Expert Panel Member regarding policy development in cases of gender-based violence, National Center for Women and Policing, 4th Annual Conference, Orlando, Florida, April, 1999. Instructor: Investigation & Prosecution of Drug-Facilitated Crimes, Workshop sponsored by the United States Attorneys Offices of Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky; Gatlinburg, Tennessee, April 22nd, 1999. Instructor: What Physicians Need To Know About PIP Law/Legislative Update: Winter Park, Florida, Ruth’s Chris, April 12, 2001 Dania, Florida, Sheraton Airport Hotel, June 12, 2001 West Palm Beach, Florida, Crowne Plaza, June 13, 2001 Miami, Florida, Marriott Airport, June 14, 2001 Gainesville, Florida, University of Florida Hotel & Conference Center, June 21, 2001 Melbourne, Florida, Imperial Hotel & Conference Center, June 26, 2001 Orlando, Florida, Orthopedic Society, Ruth Chris, May 24, 2002 West Palm Beach, Florida, Breakers Hotel, August 24, 2002
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS:
• United States District Court, Southern and Middle Districts of Florida • Florida Bar/Trial Lawyers, Criminal and Governmental Law Sections • Broward County Bar Association • United Kingdom National Crime Faculty • Florida Sex Crimes Investigators Association • California Sex Crimes Investigators Association • New York Sex Crimes Investigators Association • Tennessee Sex Crimes Investigators Association • Maine Sex Crimes Investigators Association • Broward County Crime Commission • RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) • St. Thomas More Society • PIP Lawyers Group (Florida PIP Plaintiff’s Lawyers) • Florida Commerce Club • Coral Ridge Homeowners Assoc. (Board of Governors/Treasurer) |
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