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Attorneys Shareholders
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F. PHILIP
BLANK
F. Philip Blank is an A.V. rated lawyer in the Martindale Hubbell law directory. Mr. Blank is the firm’s founding shareholder. He spent more than six years with the Florida House of Representatives and was its first full-time General Counsel. He also served as staff counsel to numerous House committees. Mr. Blank directed the largest investigation of state agencies ever conducted by the Florida House of Representatives. He also served as General Counsel to the Florida Patients' Compensation Fund, recovering in excess of $110 million in less than twelve months. A native of La Habana, Cuba, Mr. Blank received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Florida and a Juris Doctor from Florida State University. He is admitted to practice before all Florida courts; the Federal Circuit Courts, Fifth and Eleventh Circuits; and the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Blank is a member of the American, Florida and Tallahassee Bar Associations and chaired the Florida Bar's Health Law Committee in 1984-85. He is certified by the Florida Bar in Health Law. He served as Vice Chairman of the Governor's Commission on the Division of Administrative Hearings in 1985-86, the Judicial Nomination Commission/Second Judicial Circuit 1987-1991 Chairman (1990), was appointed by the Speaker of the House to the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission and by the President of the Senate to the Statewide Health Council, and is a member of the American Academy of Hospital Attorneys and the Florida State University College of Law Board of Visitors. Mr. Blank currently serves as the General Counsel to the Florida Prepaid College Program. Mr. Blank was the founding member and President of The Rough Riders of North Florida. Mr. Blank's current practice focuses on health care and administrative law, lobbying, and litigation. Click here or his name above to email Mr. Blank. Timothy J. Meenan is an A.V. rated lawyer in the Martindale Hubbell law directory. While Deputy Treasurer for the State of Florida, Mr. Meenan oversaw Florida's four billion-dollar State Treasury and three other divisions of the Florida Department of Insurance, including the Division of Risk Management. He also served for three years as the executive assistant to the Florida Insurance Commissioner, where he helped formulate and implement legislative and regulatory proposals for the Department. Mr. Meenan received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida State University, serving as President of the student body, and received his Juris Doctor from Florida State University College of Law. Involved in the political process throughout his professional career, Mr. Meenan served as campaign manager for a Florida Cabinet race and a United States Senate campaign. He was appointed by Governor Bob Graham as a member of the Postsecondary Education Planning Commission. Mr. Meenan's legal practice focuses on regulatory law before numerous state agencies, with an emphasis on insurance company and agent regulation. He has assisted insurers and other regulated entities to obtain licensure, has represented life and health insurers and health maintenance organizations with various regulatory problems, and has helped numerous property and casualty insurance companies resolve their disputes with the Florida Department of Financial Services, Office of Insurance Regulation. Over the past 15 years, Mr. Meenan has represented many clients before the Florida Legislature, enacting legislation throughout the Florida Insurance Code. He currently serves as the statewide lobbyist for the Florida Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. As General Counsel for several insurer trade associations, Mr. Meenan has worked on regulatory and legislative matters affecting the insurance, home warranty, motor vehicle warranty and service contract industries in Florida and nationally. Mr. Meenan has participated in rule challenges on behalf of numerous clients and currently serves as Board Counsel of the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association. Click here or his name above to email Mr. Meenan. Joy M. Ryan represents insurance, technology, local government and law enforcement clients before the legislative and executive branches. Ms. Ryan is experienced in procurement and other regulatory matters, with an emphasis on insurance regulatory work in the areas of life, health, long-term care, disability, property and casualty, and title insurance. Prior to entering private practice, Ms. Ryan was legislative director and counsel for the Health Insurance Association of America, State Affairs, in Washington, D.C. There she managed legislative and regulatory issues at the state level dealing with key healthcare issues, including patients' rights, privacy, small group and individual market reforms, prescription drugs, and physician anti-trust waivers. Ms. Ryan has experience in state implementation of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. Among other responsibilities, Ms. Ryan managed outside counsel in six states on legislative and regulatory issues. Ms. Ryan has served as assistant general counsel for a life and health insurance company. She also served as legislative aide for a state Senate committee chair. Ms. Ryan is admitted to practice in Florida and in the District of Columbia, and is a member of the Tallahassee Bar Association. In her community, Ms. Ryan served as chair of the Winefest Dinner 2005 planning committee of the Tallahassee chapter of the March of Dimes. Ms. Ryan received her B.A. degree in economics from Brown University in 1982, where she was a National Merit Scholar, and her law degree from the University of Miami School of Law in 1996, where was elected to the Order of the Coif. Click here or her name above to email Ms. Ryan. Timothy G. Schoenwalder is an A.V. rated lawyer in the Martindale Hubbell law directory. Mr. Schoenwalder studied accounting at the University of Texas at Austin, received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Bob Jones University, and received his Juris Doctor degree from the Florida State University College of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review and the Journal of Land Use and Environmental Law. Mr. Schoenwalder frequently represents entities and individuals before the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, Florida Office of Financial Regulation and the Florida Department of Financial Services. He has represented admitted insurers, fraternal benefit societies, surplus lines insurers, reinsurers, service contract providers, health maintenance organizations, insurance brokers and agencies, administrators, prepaid limited health services organizations, viatical settlement providers, life expectancy providers, and other regulated entities in matters relating to licensure applications, financial examinations, market conduct examinations, form and rate issues, mergers and acquisitions, premium and sales tax issues, and other compliance matters. Mr. Schoenwalder served for three years as the outside General Counsel for the Florida Surplus Lines Service Office in Tallahassee, Florida. He has extensive experience in administrative proceedings and served as trial counsel for three state insurance departments in federal court proceedings brought against an unauthorized insurer. In addition to representing clients before the Florida Department of Health, Agency for Health Care Administration, and Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Mr. Schoenwalder has considerable experience in public contract procurement matters; has assisted entities including trade associations in matters before the Florida Legislature; and has litigated matters in state and federal court for companies, trusts, condominium associations, government agencies and individuals. Mr. Schoenwalder clerked and then served as a litigation associate at Holland & Knight. He was a regulatory law shareholder at Hopping Green & Sams, P.A., in Tallahassee, Florida, and managed his own firm prior to returning to Blank & Meenan, P.A. Click here or his name above to email Mr. Schoenwalder. Robert N. Sechen is Board Certified in City, County and Local Government Law and has been AV rated in the Martindale Hubbell law directory for over 15 years in the cities he has practiced. Mr. Sechen received a B.A. degree in Business Management from the University of South Florida and a Juris Doctor from the University of Miami. He is admitted to practice before Florida Courts, the Federal Courts Middle and Southern Districts of Florida and the United States Supreme Court. Formerly a shareholder with the Miami law firms of Blackwell & Walker and Kubicki Draper, P.A., Mr. Sechen came to Tallahassee to join Governor Jeb Bush’s administration as General Counsel to the Department of Juvenile Justice in 1999. In 2003 Mr. Sechen became the General Counsel and Chief Financial Officer of the Republican Party of Florida to assist in the reelection of President George W. Bush where he directed the state party’s financial and legal affairs for the President’s Reelection. While in private practice, Mr. Sechen represented many Cities, Counties, School Boards and other municipal entities throughout the state. He was also the City Attorney for the City of Vero Beach. While in Miami, Mr. Sechen was selected as the Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority’s first General Counsel where he oversaw the legal operations of the Authority and its development of the first Miami arena for the obtaining of the Miami Heat basketball franchise. He also represented the Downtown Development Authority of the City of Miami in obtaining one of the first development orders that permitted substantial development within the downtown area of the City of Miami. In addition to other publications, Mr. Sechen has published articles in the Stetson Law Review, the University of Miami Law Review and the Florida Bar Journal. He has served as the Chair of the Annual and Mid Year Meetings of the Florida Bar, was selected to be on the initial the Certification Board for City County and Local Government Lawyers, served for six years on the City County and Local Government Lawyers Executive Council and was Chairman of the Economics of the Law Practice Section (now the Practice Management Section) of the Florida Bar. Mr. Sechen has served on numerous businesses and community organization boards including the Board of Regents of the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Florida, the Board of Directors of Miami’s New World Center Foundation, the Florida Keys Land and Sea Trust and was active in the leadership of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Sechen's current practice focuses on government, administrative law and litigation. Click here or his name above to email Mr. Sechen.
ASSOCIATES Joan Humphrey Anderson joined our firm in September 2006. Ms. Anderson is an accomplished health care attorney. She was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2000, and has worked in the health care field for over 20 years. Before attending law school, she was a health care administrator, serving as vice president of Outpatient and Inpatient Services at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola. During the 1997 legislative session, she was a health systems consultant for the Association of Community Hospitals and Health Systems (now the Florida Hospital Association). Ms. Anderson has taught marketing as an adjunct professor in the School of Business at the University of West Florida, and has lectured to family practice residents regarding practice opportunities, physician recruitment and employment contracting issues. Ms. Anderson graduated with honors from the Florida State University College of Law. She earned a M.P.H. degree, concentrating in health policy and epidemiology, and a M.B.A. degree from the University of Alabama. Ms. Anderson earned a B.S. degree in Zoology from the University of Florida. Ms. Anderson serves as a guardian ad litem in the 2nd Judicial Circuit. Her professional memberships include the Tallahassee Bar Association, the Florida Bar, the American Bar Association and the American Health Lawyers Association. She currently serves on the Legal Aid Foundation of the Tallahassee Bar Association and is the immediate past President. Ms. Anderson’s current practice concentrates in health care and administrative law. Click here or her name above to email Ms. Anderson. Sandra Faglie received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Florida State University in 1995 and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Florida College of Law in 2001. She is admitted to practice before all Florida courts. Prior to joining our firm, Mrs. Faglie worked as a legislative assistant for the United States Congressman Cliff Stearns. Her primary areas of legislative experience included transportation, health and science, immigration, and natural resources. She also served as the Congressman’s north district aide, where she acted as a liaison between the Congressman and his constituents and represented the Congressman on numerous councils and organizations throughout North Florida. Mrs. Faglie joined our firm in the spring of 2002, and works primarily on insurance regulatory matters. Click here or her name above to email Mrs. Faglie. Stephen McDaniel received his Bachelor of Science degrees in Accounting and Finance at Florida State University, graduating Cum Laude in 1999. Mr. McDaniel passed the Uniform Certified Public Accountant exam in Georgia where he received the Gold Key Award for scoring the highest score of the 1,462 candidates. He graduated from the Florida State University College of Law, Summa Cum Laude, in 2004. He was ranked third in his graduating class, and received the distinction of being selected as a member of the Florida State Chapter of the Order of the Coif. Prior to law school, Mr. McDaniel worked as a Senior Accountant in KPMG’s Assurance Department, where he supervised audit engagement teams in the consumer markets, software development, telecommunications, real estate, and banking and financial institutions industries. While enrolled at Florida State University College of Law, Mr. McDaniel was an active member of the Tallahassee Chapter of the American Inns of Court and served as the Administrative Editor of the School’s Journal of Land Use and Environmental Law. His article Essential Fish Habitat: Building a Barrier to Affordable Housing? was published in the Journal of Land Use and Environmental Law. He received Book Awards for achieving the highest grade in State Constitutional Law, Taxation I, Administrative Law, Business Associations and Florida Criminal Practice. From August 2004 to August 2006, Mr. McDaniel served as a Senior Staff Attorney to Justice R. Fred Lewis of the Florida Supreme Court. Mr. McDaniel’s practice areas include insurance and service contract regulatory, administrative and corporate law. Click here or his name above to email Mr. McDaniel. Mr. Nowels received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1996 from Davidson College and his Juris Doctorate degree from the Florida State University College of Law in 2001. Mr. Nowels began his legal career at the Florida Department of Insurance (now the Department of Financial Services) where he represented the Department in administrative and appellate litigation matters. In 2003 he joined the Office of Insurance Regulation as Assistant General Counsel. In that capacity, he reviewed applications for Certificates of Authority, provided legal advice to various departments, and participated in reviewing depopulation proposals. In 2004, Mr. Nowels joined Citizens Property Insurance Corporation as in-house counsel and managed the Corporation’s Agent Administration Department. As counsel to the Corporation, Mr. Nowels oversaw several large non-claims lawsuits, and represented the Corporation in a variety of matters, including its interaction with the Office of Insurance Regulation on various issues. Mr. Nowels’ practice focuses on insurance regulatory and corporate matters. Click here or his name above to email Mr. Nowels. Q. Tod Stupski has been a member of the Florida Bar since 1985, and is a member of the Federal Bar of the Northern District. Mr. Stupski received his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics with honors from Florida State University, and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Alabama School of Law. Prior to joining our firm, Mr. Stupski was a staff attorney for the Florida House of Representatives Committee on Corrections, Probation and Parole and a staff analyst for the Florida Senate Committee on Commerce. He was instrumental in the development of legislation which codified the licensing, rating and regulatory provisions of Florida’s Insurance law. He also served as a legislative manager for the National Council on Compensation Insurance. His prior legal experience includes workers’ compensation litigation and claims resolution, legislative lobbying and civil litigation. Mr. Stupski is a certified Civil Mediator and a court appointed guardian in Florida’s Guardian Ad Litem Program. Mr. Stupski’s practice areas include workers’ compensation, insurance regulation and administrative law. Click here or his name above to email Mr. Stupski. Miriam O. Victorian is an AV rated attorney by Martindale Hubbell. Ms. Victorian is an accomplished civil and criminal litigator with twenty– three years experience. Ms. Victorian brings her expertise in defense of medical malpractice, personal injury, products liability and toxic tort cases. Ms. Victorian served in the United States Air Force as a Judge Advocate from 1982 to 1988 at bases in the United States and overseas. Her military legal experience included serving as lead counsel in over 40 litigated felony trials. She continued her military service in the United States Air Force Reserve while in private practice, retiring in August 2003 with the rank of Colonel. Ms. Victorian received her Juris Doctor in May of 1982 from the University of Florida College of Law. She received her Bachelor of Arts in December 1978 from Meredith College, Raleigh, N.C. in American Civilization graduating summa cum laude. Ms. Victorian is admitted to the Bar in Florida (1982), Texas (1986), the United States Court of Military Appeals (1983), the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida (1983), the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (1988), and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (1989). Her professional memberships include: the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management, the Federal Bar Association, and the Tallahassee Women Lawyers Association. Ms. Victorian has participated in presentations to members of the medical community, including: "Medical/Legal Issues: What You May Not Have Learned in Medical School," Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX (2001) and "Mock Trial: How Will Your Documentation Hold Up?" Houston Northwest Medical Center and Park Plaza Hospital, Houston, TX (2002). Ms. Victorian’s practice includes insurance, regulatory, administrative, and litigation matters. Click here or her name above to email Ms. Victorian. LEGAL ASSISTANT
(Not a member of the Florida Bar) Abigail London obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Florida State University in 2002 and Master of Business Administration and Juris Doctorate degrees from Florida State University in 2006. Prior to joining our firm, Ms. London served as the Director of Governmental Affairs for the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, and was responsible for monitoring state and federal legislation relating to the insurance industry. Ms. London also monitored the implementation of the 2006 and 2007 property insurance reforms, the reenactment of Florida’s Auto Insurance No-Fault law, and the Long-Term Care Partnership Program. Ms. London represented the OIR at national conferences on insurance regulatory matters and participated in industry and consumer discussion groups relating to Florida’s insurance reforms. Click here or her name above to email Ms. London.
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