2021 Virtual Teachers’ Law Symposium

Stephen (Steve) Renick has been practicing law since 1987 with a focus on workers’ compensation and personal injury trial work. Steve graduated with honors from the University of Miami in 1982 with an undergraduate degree in Business Administration. He then went on to graduate with honors from the University of Miami School of Law in 1986, while continuing to work full time as an International Financial Manager with a major national corporation.

Stephen was active in Miami-Dade County as a high school Mock Trial Attorney Coach for 23 years, and the teams he has helped coach have won numerous local, state and national awards, including two State of Florida High School Mock Trial Championships. Steve also currently serves on the Florida Law-Related Education Committee of the Florida Bar, and has authored the Middle School Mock Trial case materials for the past three years.

In addition to practicing law and coaching High School Mock Trial, over the past 20 years, Steve has been an adjunct professor for local and online universities, specializing in a variety of courses for those interested in pursuing careers in law-related fields.

Richard Akin is a stockholder at Henderson Franklin, Starnes and Holt, in Fort Myers, Florida.  Richard concentrates his litigation practice representing local municipalities, businesses, and individuals in civil, employment and constitutional claims. Richard also represents many Florida school boards (before both administrative and civil courts) in tort and special education matters under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act, and representation in connection with Constitutional matters under the 1st, 4th, and 14th Amendments.

Louis Virelli is a Professor of Law, teaching courses in Administrative Law, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law I, and the Separation of Powers. Professor Virelli has received the Dickerson-Brown Award for Excellence in Faculty Scholarship and the Branton Excellence in Teaching Award. He regularly coaches one of Stetson’s moot court teams and is the faculty advisor to the Stetson chapter of the American Constitution Society, the Stetson Law Democrats, and the Federal Bar Association.

Professor Virelli writes primarily in the areas of constitutional and administrative law. He is the author of Disqualifying the High Court: Supreme Court Recusal and the Constitution (Univ. Press of Kansas 2016) and a co-author of the casebook Administrative Law: Cases and Materials (Carolina Academic Press 8th ed.). He is the author of a report for the Administrative Conference of the United States titled Recusal Rules for Administrative Adjudicators. His articles have appeared in journals such as the North Carolina Law Review, the Wisconsin Law Review, the Alabama Law Review, the Illinois Law Review, the Washington & Lee Law Review, the Northwestern University Law Review Colloquy, the Iowa Law Review Bulletin, the Administrative Law Review, and the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law. He is a past member of the Board of Trustees of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools and has served as chair of the Sections on Administrative and Constitutional Law of the Association of American Law Schools. He is also a past managing editor and a recurring columnist for the quarterly ABA publication Administrative and Regulatory Law News.

Immediately prior to joining Stetson, Professor Virelli served for five years as a trial attorney in the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was named best oralist in the law school’s Keedy Cup Moot Court Competition and served as an Articles Editor on the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law. After law school, Professor Virelli clerked for Judge Franklin S. Van Antwerpen of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Judge Leonard I. Garth of the Third Circuit.

Mr. deVlaming was educated at the Ohio State University where he received a B.A. in Psychology (1969). He graduated from Stetson University College of Law in 1972 with a Juris doctor degree. He accepted an appointment as a Florida Assistant State Attorney where he prosecuted in the Sixth Judicial Circuit from 1972 through 1975. Thereafter, he started his own law practice and has specialized in criminal defense ever since. His offices are located at 1101 Turner Street, Clearwater, Florida 33756. Phone: (727) 461-0525; fax: (727) 461-7930; e-mail: denis@deVlaming.com.

Mr. deVlaming is the past president of the Pinellas County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (1987), the Pinellas County Trial Lawyers Association (1991) and the Clearwater Bar Association (1994-1995). He also served as Chairman of the Criminal Law Section of the Clearwater Bar. He was elected statewide President of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (2002-2003) and is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. In 2001 he was named senior counsel in The College of Master Advocates And Barristers and in 2010 he was inducted in to the American College of Trial Lawyers. He currently serves as president of First Step, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to helping disadvantaged men and women who are on probation.

He is Board Certified in criminal law (1988-present) and has been approved by the Florida Bar to give Continuing Legal Education seminars on every aspect of the criminal trial. For over twenty five years he has been asked to lecture at the Board Certification Seminar for criminal trial law. He has authored over 70 published articles touching upon matters involving criminal law in both state-wide and national magazines. Mr. deVlaming is an adjunct professor at Stetson College of Law in St. Petersburg, Florida teaching “Advanced Criminal Trial Advocacy” and is a past adjunct professor at the University of South Florida. He has also been a guest lecturer for the St. Petersburg College, the “Peoples Law School” in Pinellas County and been asked to speak at the statewide Florida Judicial Conference on criminal law and ethics (Circuit and County), the Florida Public Defender’s Association (trial tactics), the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Annual seminar, the Gerald T. Bennett prosecutor/public defender trial training program at the University of Florida, the National College of DUI Defense (NCDD) held at Harvard law school (2005, 2009, 2014) and “Masters of DUI” held in Miami, Florida (2006). He has also travelled around the state giving a three hour interactive ethics seminar to the combined offices of the state attorney and public defender. And has written, directed and acted in several mock trials for cable television.

Mr. deVlaming has been inducted into “Who’s Who In American Law” (1989-present) and has been included in the book “Best Lawyers In America” (Naifeh and Smith, 1995-present). He was selected as one of the best criminal defense lawyers in Florida by the Florida Trend magazine (July 2004-6), Florida Monthly magazine (Sept. 2003), the Tampa Bay magazine (1997-present), the Tampa Metro magazine (2003-4) and Florida Super Lawyers magazine (2006-present). The Tampa edition of the Business Review newspaper included him as one of the Gulf Coast’s most influential lawyers (Oct. 2003). The national rating service of attorneys (Martindale-Hubbell) has given him an “A” rating since 1987. He is also listed in that publication’s “Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers”. His peers have presented him with awards for professionalism and excellence in the field of criminal law by awarding him “The Barney” award (Inns of Court, 1997), “The Hindman” award (Pinellas County Criminal Defense Lawyers, 1998), “The Richard T. Earle” award (voted on by all Pinellas County Florida judges, 1998),“The William Reece Smith” award for professionalism (Stetson College of Law, 2008) and the “Jack Edmund” award (The Herbert G. Goldburg Inn of Court, Tampa 2011). In 2012 he was inducted in to the Stetson College of Law “Hall of Fame” (Florida).

Julie S. Sneed was appointed as a United States Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court, Middle District of Florida on June 15, 2015. Judge Sneed received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida and her Juris Doctor degree from the Florida State University College of Law. After law school, she served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable James D. Whittemore, United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida and the Honorable Chris W. Altenbernd, State of Florida, Second District Court of Appeal.

Prior to her appointment to the court, she worked in private practice handling complex civil litigation as a partner at Akerman LLP and Fowler White Boggs Banker, P.A. She also worked in private practice as a litigation associate at Trenam, Kemker, Scharf, Barkin, Frye, O’Neill, and Mullis, P.A. As an attorney, she handled numerous trials in courts throughout the state of Florida.

Judge Sneed is a past president of the Tampa Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and the George Edgecomb Bar Association. She previously served on the board of the Hillsborough County Bar Foundation and the Hillsborough Association for Women Lawyers. She is currently a Master of the Judge Clifford J. Cheatwood American Inn of Court and the Ferguson-White American Inn of Court.

Judge Sneed is a recipient of awards including the Judge George C. Carr Memorial Award from the Federal Bar Association for excellence in federal practice, the George Edgecomb Bar Association’s President’s Award for distinguished service and the Delano S. Stewart Diversity Award. She was also honored by the Florida Association for Women Lawyers as a Leader in the Law.

Judge Sneed has published articles including “Enforcing Proposals for Settlement and Offers of Judgment in Federal Court: Mission Impossible?” Co-Author, Florida Bar Journal, December 2009 and “Federal and Florida Courts Heighten the Requirements for Class Certification” Co-Author, Florida Bar Journal, April 2010.