Justia Legal Services & Lawyers Directory

Jason Gonzalez is credited with reshaping the Florida Supreme Court while serving as General Counsel to Florida Governor Charlie Crist. He was the chief advisor to Governor Crist on the appointment of four of the seven Justices currently serving on the Florida Supreme Court.

Gonzalez currently practices in Tallahassee with the Ausley & McMullen law firm, handling litigation, appeals and government relations.


Public Service

Judicial Nominating Commissions

In 2001 Gonzalez was appointed by Governor Jeb Bush to the Judicial Nominating Commission for the Second Circuit and served as Chairman of the Commission in 2003. In 2004 Governor Bush appointed Jason to the Judicial Nominating Commission for the Florida First District Court of Appeal, which he chaired in 2006. In 2007 Governor Charlie Crist appointed Gonzalez to the Judicial Nominating Commission for the Florida Supreme Court.


General Counsel to Governor Charlie Crist

Jason Gonzalez was appointed General Counsel to Florida Governor Charlie Crist in 2008. As General Counsel he is the chief advisor to the Governor on all legal matters and serves as the Governor’s Chief Ethics Officer and chief advisor on judicial appointments. In 2008-2009 Gonzalez was the chief advisor to Governor Crist on the appointments of four Florida Supreme Court Justices: Justice Charles Canady; Justice Ricky Polston; Justice Jorge Labarga; and Justice James Perry. The four appointments marked the first time in Florida history that a Governor appointed a majority of the Court in less than a year.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Gonzalez

Jason Gonzalez, The General Counsel Who Helped Governor Charlie Crist Reshape Florida's Highest Court, Is Leaving His Post For Private Practice. The St. Petersburg Times http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/legislature/article1007476.ece

Daniel Woodring was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but has lived in Florida for the past twenty years. In Florida, he has lived and worked in Pensacola, Clearwater, Jacksonville, Gainesville and Tallahassee. His wife Jean, who is also an attorney, was born in Miami, and grew up in Ft. Myers.

Daniel Woodring is a member of the Florida and Georgia Bars, and is admitted to practice before the Florida Federal Southern, Middle and Northern District Courts, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. He has worked at the trial level on cases in many of Florida's 20 judicial circuits, in addition to cases in state administrative tribunals, and has argued cases at the Florida Supreme Court and Florida District Courts of Appeal, and briefed cases at the U.S. Supreme Court.

He graduated from the University of Florida, College of Law with a Juris Doctorate, Cum Laude, and received his B.A. degree from Clearwater Christian College, Summa Cum Laude.

After law school, Mr. Woodring was in private practice doing general civil and appellate work. He then left for a two year appellate clerkship at the First District Court of Appeal. During his time at the court, he worked on cases including, but not limited to: criminal; family law; administrative law; workers' compensation; civil and constitutional law.

Mr. Woodring next worked as a counsel in the Executive Office of the Governor, Office of the General Counsel. During his time in Governor Bush's Legal Office he had diverse responsibilities, including oversight and strategic litigation management of significant legal matters at numerous Governor's agencies, including the Department of Education; Department of Management Services; Department of Business and Professional Regulation; Department of Health; Agency for Health Care Administration; Department of Children and Families; Department of Community Affairs; Department of Elder affairs; Agency for Workforce Innovation; Department of Transportation, and the Department of State. He was also legally responsible for topics as diverse as emergency operations; advising the Governor on the selection of judges; implementation of civil service reform; reform of workers' compensation; budget and appropriation matters; Indian gaming law; and advice to the Florida Cabinet sitting in its many capacities, such as the Florida Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission.

Daniel Woodring was then asked to be the General Counsel for the Florida Department of Education, which encompassed Pre-K though 12th Grade, community colleges and the Florida University System. He was also the Charter General Counsel for The Board of Governors, when that board was constitutionally created to manage the State University System. During his tenure at the Department of Education, Mr. Woodring advised and litigated on matters including, but not limited to: constitutional challenges to Florida's education programs, including Opportunity Scholarships and the charter school approval and appeal process; doing away with race as a preference in university admissions and state contracting; teacher and professional discipline cases; union, labor and employment matters; state procurement and bid protest proceedings; administrative rule challenges and rule making proceedings; IDEA and Section 504 proceedings; public records, government in the sunshine and ethical matters; contract negotiations and disputes.

Since 2007, Mr. Woodring has been back in private practice as the principal of the Woodring Law Firm, located in Tallahassee, Florida, and practicing statewide and in Georgia. He concentrates his practice on appeals; constitutional cases instate and federal court; education law matters; and state administrative matters, including state procurement, regulation and licensing.

Mike Underwood was a key official at the predecessor of the Florida Department of Financial Services and authored many provisions of Florida securities and banking laws. Since leaving government, he has become recognized as a national leader in financial services regulation, especially in Florida. He represents securities broker-dealers, investment advisers, mortgage brokers, financial institutions and affiliated individuals in civil litigation, arbitration, regulatory investigations and enforcement actions. His experience includes defense of class actions, multi-district litigation and regular appearances before self-regulatory organizations as well as state and federal financial regulators.