Women in Leadership Roles at Fowler White Boggs

A diverse workforce is a core component of Fowler White Boggs’ Diversity Mission. Perhaps the best evidence and reflection of the firm’s mission statement lies in the number of leadership positions held by the firm’s minority and women attorneys. At Fowler White, we enhance professional opportunities, and create a positive, supportive environment for the firm's women.

We have women in every leadership role at our firm, at all different levels, and throughout our different offices. Women attorneys serve as directors, practice group leaders, committee chairs, and executive partners. At Fowler White, women comprise more than half of our workforce. Three women hold administrative leadership positions, and in addition to the firm’s president, women also manage two out of our five different offices.

Fowler White continually encourages all of its attorneys-including its women lawyers-to be active leaders in professional and civic organizations, and good citizens of the communities in which they live. Our women are among the most prominent members of the business and legal communities. The firm’s women support and lead organizations like the American Heart Association, Tampa Bay Advisory Council, The International Women’s Forum, Moffitt Cancer Center, and The Ophelia Project-to name a few. Fowler White is proud of the recognition for our women’s efforts as leaders of these different organizations in all of the regions that we serve.

• 23% of Fowler White’s leadership is comprised of women & minorities.
• Rhea F. Law, Chair of the Board, and CEO of Fowler White Boggs has been selected to serve on the Multicultural Advisory Council (MAC) of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc. (BCBSF). The goal of the MAC is to accelerate the company’s leadership efforts in expanding its diversity and cultural awareness in business markets throughout the state.
• Fowler White Boggs is pleased to announce that it has received a Gold Standard Certificate from the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF). Law firms are eligible for the Gold Standard Certification if they successfully demonstrate that women represent a meaningful percentage of their equity partners, of their highest leadership positions, of their governance and compensation committees, and of their most highly compensated partners.  Fowler White Boggs was one of only 44 law firms nationwide to meet the certification requirements.
• Hala A. Sandridge, managing shareholder of the Tampa office, has been appointed Director of The Florida Bar Foundation for a three year term beginning July 1, 2011.  
• Jennifer G. Roeper and Sarah Lahlou-Amine were honored for their outstanding pro bono work by the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit.  Ms. Roeper received an award for “Outstanding Pro Bono Service by a Lawyer” and Ms. Lahlou-Amine was recognized as a Pro Bono Award Pin Recipient for contributing over 100 pro bono hours within the community.
• At the Florida Diversity and Leadership Conference held on January 14, 2011 at the University of Central Florida, Olga Pina was one of the recipients of the 2011 Most Powerful and Influential Women Awards.
• Ceci Culpepper Berman, a shareholder in the Firm's Appellate Practice, has been selected to the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s 2010 Up & Comers. The Up and Comer award honors rising professionals in the Tampa Bay area who are committed to excellence in both their work and community environments.
• Cathy Beveridge has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Trust for Florida’s Children. The mission of the Trust for Florida’s Children is to assist the state in carrying out its purposes and responsibilities regarding the prevention of child abuse, abandonment, and neglect; the promotion of adoption; and the support of adoptive families by raising money from private foundations and individuals.
• Rhea F. Law, Chair of the Board, and CEO of Fowler White Boggs was awarded the University of South Florida President’s Fellow Medallion by President Judy Genshaft at the USF graduation ceremonies on August 7, 2010. Established in 1988, the President's Fellow Medallion is awarded at the President's discretion to highly distinguished meritorious individuals.
• Julie Sneed has been selected as the winner of the 2010 Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Diversity and Inclusion Awards in the individual category. This award celebrates individuals who have demonstrated their ability to promote policies, programs and projects that foster equal opportunities, practices, career advancement skills and benefits in the workplace regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or expression.
• Rhea F. Law, Chair of the Board, and CEO of Fowler White Boggs has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Pasco Economic Development Council (PEDC). The PEDC was created in 1987 to foster the economic vitality and business development opportunities of Pasco County, Florida. The PEDC is committed to positive growth to make Pasco County a great place to live and work. The mission of The Pasco Economic Development Council will lead Pasco County in the creation of a sustainable and diversified economy.
• Shareholder Julie Sneed received a DiversityFIRST Award from the National Diversity Counsel recognizing individual achievement and commitment to diversity. Also, Fowler White Boggs sponsored and Ms. Sneed served as a panelist at the inaugural Florida Leadership and Diversity Conference in Orlando on January 15, 2010 discussing, "The Balancing Act: Is it possible to be a Superwoman?" The vision of the National Diversity Council is to establish state and regional councils across the U.S. to take a leadership role in promoting diversity and inclusion within our workplaces and communities. The Council's goal is to advocate for diversity as a business imperative - to increase our chances to innovate and create sustainable wealth in our communities.
• Rhea F. Law, Chair of the Board, and CEO of the Firm has been inducted into the NAIOP Tampa Bay Chapter’s Hall of Fame. Rhea is a former president of the NAIOP State and Tampa Bay Chapters and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Tampa Bay Chapter. In addition, she has received numerous recognitions for her creation and operation, over 20 years, of the Tampa Bay Watch Program – an award winning monthly program which brings government and agency leaders together with the NAIOP membership.
• Rhea F. Law has been named “Tampa Land Use & Zoning Lawyer of the Year for 2010” and Linda Loomis Shelley has been named “Tallahassee Land Use & Zoning Lawyer of the Year for 2010” by Best Lawyers.
• Ceci Berman, for the third consecutive year has been recognized by Florida Trend Magazine as a 2009 “Up and Coming” attorney.
• Rhea F. Law, Chair of the Board, and CEO of the Firm has been selected by Tampa Bay's Business Professional Women as their 2009 Woman of the Year.
• Andrea Zelman, a shareholder in the Firm's Land Use and Zoning Practice Group has been selected for Leadership Tampa, class of 2010.
• Donna L. Longhouse, a shareholder in the Firm's Wealth Preservation, Trusts and Estates Practice, has been selected to the Board of Trustees of the Community Foundation in Tampa Bay. 
• CEO of the firm, Rhea Law, is also the Green Law Leader.
• Linda Shelley is the Office Managing Shareholder for the firm’s Tallahassee office.
• Hala Sandridge, is the Office Managing Shareholder for the firm’s Tampa office.
• 25 years ago, women attorneys initiated informal marketing/mentoring program.
• Julie Sneed, a past GEBA president, was appointed Co-Chair of the ABA Section of Litigation Minority Trial Lawyer Committee for the 2009-2010 term as well as appointed to the Hillsborough County Bar Foundation of Trustees for the 2009-2010 term. 
• Monica Mason is a leading Trademarks lawyer according to Who’s Who Legal 2008, and she is also the firm’s Trademarks and Trades Team Leader.
• The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation received Julie Sneed as a member of this honorary organization, comprising only one-third of one percent of lawyers licensed to practice in each jurisdiction.

For more information, please contact:

Cathy Beveridge
Women's Initiative Chair
501 East Kennedy Boulevard
Suite 1700
Tampa, FL 33602
T (813) 228-7411
F (813) 229-8313