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2010-2011 Board
President - Christine E. Arendas is with Arendas Law, P.A., and practices primarily in the fields of family, probate and guardianship law. She is also a Certified Circuit Civil Mediator. She graduated from the University of Central Florida, College of Business with a BSBA in Business Administration/Economics in 2002. She then went on to Barry University College of Law in Orlando where she received her J.D. in 2006. While at Barry, Christine was the treasurer for the Women Lawyers Association from 2005 – 2007 and the recipient of the 2005 and 2006 Women Lawyer’s Association President’s Award. Christine’s professional memberships include the OCBA, Osceola County Bar Association and CFAWL. Christine is the proud mother of two. When she is not running her children to their various activities, cheering on her children at the ball games, or acting as a Den Leader for the Cub Scouts; she also enjoys scrap booking, theme parking and spending quality time with her family.
President-Elect - Melanie S. Griffin earned her undergraduate degree in business finance (2003) and her law and master of business administration degrees (2006) from Florida State University. She is an associate attorney at Dean Mead and practices in the area of commercial litigation with an emphasis on business torts, employment law, landlord/tenant matters, probate and trust litigation, real estate litigation and trade name litigation. In addition to serving on the CFAWL Board of Directors, Melanie is a member of The Florida Bar Board of Governors Young Lawyers Division (Executive Board and Law School Division Chair), Orange County Bar Association - Young Lawyers' Section (At-Large Executive Board Member), Leadership Orlando (Class 76), Florida A & M College of Law Board of Visitors, Seminole Torchbearers Board of Directors, ALS Association’s Orlando Walk to Defeat ALS Committee (Walk Co-Chair) and the Junior League of Greater Orlando. Further, Melanie has been the recipient of the following awards and honors: 2010 Super Lawyers Rising Star, 2010 Legal Elite Up and Comer, 2010 Florida Association for Women Lawyers Leader in the Law Award, and the 2009 Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division Most Productive Young Lawyer Award.
Treasurer - Angela M. Miller is a registered patent attorney, board certified in Intellectual Property Law by The Florida Bar, and a senior associate with the law firm of Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, P.A. She practices all aspects of Intellectual Property law, including, but not limited to: patent prosecution; trademark prosecution; copyright prosecution; software, technology, and Internet law; Intellectual Property commercial transactions; and Intellectual Property litigation. Angela received her J.D. from Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law in 2003. She received her B.S. in biology from Stetson University in 2000, where she also minored in Information Technology. In her spare time, Angela enjoys spending time with her husband and toddler-aged daughter.
Treasurer-Elect - Sarah Koren practices with Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida, Inc. (CLSM), where she is an attorney in the Special Ed Unit. CLSM serves the legal needs of low income and senior Floridians in Central Florida.
Secretary - Andrea A. Ruff graduated from UF undergraduate school with high honors in 1975 and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In 1978, she obtained her law degree from University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law. Andrea Ruff served as a Chapter 7 Trustee in the Middle District of Florida for a number of years. Simultaneously, she handled hundreds of debtor Chapter 7, Chapter 13 cases as well as a number of Chapter 11 cases. Andrea Ruff has also represented numerous creditors. In her 25 years of legal experience, she has handled many bench trials and litigated highly complex cases. Andrea Ruff has also handled a range of bankruptcy appeals, orally arguing on appeal before the Middle District Court of Florida, The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the Florida Supreme Court. In years past, she served as President of the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees, was a Chosen Delegate to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judicial Conference and by invitation, a presenter to the National Association of Bankruptcy Judges Conference, a former Chairperson of the Orange County Bankruptcy Committee and founding member of the Central Florida Women’s Lawyer Association to name a few professional associations. Currently, she is a Director of the Central Florida Bankruptcy Lawyers Association and a member of the Orange County Bar Association.
Membership chair - Laura A. Weis is an attorney with Allen Norton & Blue, P.A., and practices in the area of labor and employment law. A native Floridian, Laura was born and raised in Miami, Florida. Leaving the warm sunshine of Miami, Laura traveled north to Tallahassee and graduated from Florida State University with a B.S. in Psychology in 1996. During her undergraduate degree, her family relocated to Winter Park where her extended family resided. After graduating, she worked as a legal secretary for two different local attorneys before starting law school in 1999. Laura earned her J.D. from St. Thomas University, School of Law, in Miami, Florida. After graduating in 2002, Laura returned to Orlando and has practiced exclusively in the labor and employment sector. She is currently an associate with Allen, Norton & Blue and represents public and private sector clients with employment related matters, including federal and state defense litigation.
Membership Co-chair - Cinnamon A. Baker is the Director of Career Services at Barry University School of Law in Orlando, where she is responsible for the creation and implementation of comprehensive career planning and job search guidance to students and graduates. She is an active member of the National Association of Legal Placement (“NALP”), an American and Canadian organization comprised of law schools and law firms. She currently is a Vice-Chair for the Solo & Small CSO Section and she co-presented at the 2009 and the 2010 Annual Education Conferences. After being trained as a stage manager for theater at Florida State University, Ms. Baker graduated from the University of Dayton School of Law, spending one semester as a visiting student at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas Boyd School of Law. Over the years Ms. Baker has honed her management, communication, and counseling skills through work which included being an office manager and an LSAT instructor. Prior to joining Barry in December 2007, Ms. Baker worked with several firms of various size and practice area in Ohio, Nevada, and Florida. Ms. Baker’s professional affiliations include Central Florida Association for Women Lawyers, Orange and Seminole County Bar Associations, Hispanic Bar Association of Central Florida, and the ABA. She also serves as co-chair of its Strategic Planning Committee for the Orange County Bar Association. Her community involvement has included the Advisory Committee to the Valencia Paralegal Studies Program, the Young Professionals' Group of the Orange County Regional History Center, and the board for The Animal Welfare Alliance of Central Florida.
Programs Chair - Kimberly E. Lorenz is an attorney with Fisher, Rushmer, Werrenrath, Dickson, Talley & Dunlap, P. A., where she has been an associate since 2006. Ms. Lorenz attended University of Florida College of Law, where she was a member of Moot Court, received the book award for Trial Practice and graduated cum laude. She also has a Bachelor of Science from UF in Journalism. Ms. Lorenz served as CFAWL's OCBA Representative in 2009-2010.
Programs Co-Chair - Silvia S. Ibanez is the sole shareholder of Silvia S. Ibanez, PLC, where she practices in the areas of Business, Elder Law, Real Estate, Tax, Wills, Trusts and Estates. Ms. Ibanez is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico School of Law. Ms. Ibanes provides ADA accessible client services, and is fluent in French and Spanish.
FAWL Representative - Joyce Fuller is from Falls Church, Virginia, has been practicing law for ten years, is the sole shareholder of the law firm J.C. FULLER, P.A., in Winter Park, Florida, and practices all areas of Community Association law (HOA and Condo), civil litigation, appellate practice, and corporate for profit and non-profit law. Joyce obtained her law degree from Stetson University College of Law with academic excellence; her Bachelor of Arts Degree in American Studies with Distinction from Eckerd College, and her Associate of Arts Degree, Summa Cum Laude, from Manatee Community College. Joyce has authored published works including “Thanksgiving Lessons From Puritans,” Bradenton Herald; “Legal Comments on Ramifications of Margins of Error,” Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers Annual Meeting; and "Captain Lonnie More, 10 Jet Ace - The Chief and his Dancer", Veteran’s Day 2005 publication of Fox 28, WPGX. Joyce has appeared at annual and bi-annual OCHAA legal workshops and on Orange County Public Television as a legal expert in the area of community association law. She is a former Vice-Chair of a Florida Bar Grievance Committee, and is currently serving on the Florida Bar Code of Rules of Evidence and Unlicensed Practice of Law Committees. Prior to law school, Joyce created the Literacy Program for the Manatee County Jail, Bradenton Florida; and served as a missionary in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Joyce performs locally as a Jazz singer and pianist, and she is an artist. Joyce is also a direct descendent of Samuel and Edward Fuller signers of the Mayflower Compact, and the Great-Grandniece of Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller, United States Supreme Court 1888-1910. Read more . . . .
OCBA Representative - Jaquelynne J. Regan is a third-year associate at the law firm of Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, P.A., where she concentrates her legal practice on commercial litigation, intellectual property, and corporate and securities work. Ms. Regan counsels clients regarding business-related issues and corporate matters, with an emphasis on significant contract and intellectual property disputes in both state and federal courts. She represents a wide array of clients including individuals, start-up companies, national and multi-national corporations involved in various industries. Ms. Regan currently serves the Legal Aid Society as a Guardian ad Litem and as a volunteer mediator for the Citizen Dispute Settlement program. She also serves as the Communications Director for the Young Lawyers' Section of the Orange County Bar Association. Ms. Regan is a graduate of the William & Mary School of Law.
Public Relations - Ashley Calhoun Winship is an attorney with Broad and Cassel and practices in the area of tax, trusts, wills, and estates. After receiving her undergraduate degree from Florida Southern College in advertising and graphic design, Ms. Winship attended Stetson University, where she earned both a Master of Business Administration and a Juris Doctor. During her tenure at Stetson, Ms. Winship served as a student intern to U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas G. Wilson at the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida and Articles Editor for the Stetson Law Review. Ms. Winship earned a Master of Laws in Taxation from the University of Florida College of Law, where she served as an assistant editor for the Florida Tax Review. In 2006, the Florida Southern College chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa recognized Ms. Winship with its annual "Grads Made Good Award." She is the author of published literary and scholarly works and has been active in numerous professional and community organizations, including the Estate Planning Council, Kiwanis Club of Lakeland, Junior League of Greater Lakeland, the Polk Museum of Art and the Community Foundation of Central Florida.
Director at Large - Courtney L. Milam graduated from Rhodes College with a B.A. in history and a minor in English in 2003. Courtney went on to obtain her J.D. from Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida. While at Stetson she was a member of the Client Skills Board and participated in several competitions throughout the country on the mediation and negotiation teams. Courtney is now an associate attorney at the law firm of ShuffieldLowman where she practices in commercial real estate focusing primarily on lender representation and commercial leasing. In her spare time, Courtney enjoys spending time with her family, including her two playful boxers!
Young Lawyers - Allison C. McMillen is an associate with the McMillen Law Firm, P.A. She received a B.A. in Spanish from Middlebury College, and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 2007. Allison is a member of the Order of the Coif, the George C. Young Central Florida American Inns of Court, the Central Florida Trial Lawyers’ Association, the Florida Justice Association (formerly the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers), and the Orange County Bar Association. She is also an associate editor of the Orange County Bar Association’s publication, The Briefs.