New Equity Principal A. Michelle Jernigan
New Equity Principal Robert A. "Bob" Cole
New Equity Principal Charles A. "Chuck" Mancuso
ORMOND BEACH, Fla., December 3, 2020 - Upchurch Watson White & Max Mediation Group will enter the new year with three new members on its leadership team; Florida mediators and shareholders A. Michelle Jernigan, Robert A. "Bob" Cole and Charles A. "Chuck" Mancuso will become equity principals, joining the six other principals already on the firm's panel.
John Upchurch, UWWM's president and CEO, recently announced the news, adding, "We look forward to an early opportunity to join together to celebrate this significant event, and, in the meantime, extend our heartiest congratulations and warm greetings to each of our new members." Each has a notable career, both before and since joining UWWM, summarized below:
- In 1988, Ms. Jernigan, an Orlando resident, was one of the first mediators to be certified by the Florida Supreme Court. Since launching her mediation career in 1987, she has mediated thousands of cases throughout Florida. A mediation pioneer, she served as a consultant to the Supreme Court as it established mediation mentorship rules and served on the court's Mediation Training Review Board from 1997 to 2013. She formally joined UWWM at its 1996 inception and, for 32 years, has mediated multi-party, multi-district, complex commercial, employment and tort cases to successful conclusion. She is also an accomplished arbitrator (FINRA, consumer, commercial, employment, personal injury, family and real estate).
- Mr. Cole, who resides in Atlantic Beach near Jacksonville, has been a Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil Mediator since 2010, and he joined UWWM in 2011. He has served as past chair of the Jacksonville Bar Association ADR Committee and the ADR Section of the Florida Bar. Prior to his dispute resolution career, he litigated major cases throughout Florida in state and federal courts. He is rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell, has been selected by Florida Super Lawyers every year since 2007 and by Florida Trend as a 2012 Legal Elite. His private practice focused on significant injury and wrongful death, medical malpractice, legal malpractice and design professional liability cases. He is a longtime leader within the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).
- Mr. Mancuso of Royal Palm Beach became a Supreme Court certified mediator in 1994, joined UWWM in 2013 and has participated in thousands of mediations both as a mediator and, before that, as a civil trial attorney. He was admitted to The Florida Bar when he was 24 and, at 27, was one of the youngest attorneys in the nation to successfully litigate a multiple wrongful death action for a recovery in excess of $2 million. He litigated, representing plaintiffs and defendants, more than 2,400 cases to completion in all Florida circuits and Florida federal districts. As a mediator, he is a highly effective spokesman for dispute resolution and an ambassador for UWWM among several of South Florida's voluntary bar associations.
About Upchurch Watson White & Max
A nationally leading mediation specialty firm, Upchurch Watson White & Max is known for facilitating reasonable agreements to resolve complex issues. From 11 offices in Florida and Alabama, state Supreme Court-certified attorney mediators with wide-ranging specialties serve as court-appointed and privately employed mediators, arbitrators and third-party neutral case managers, implementing innovative methods of alternative dispute resolution across the country. On the web: uww-adr.com.
Media Contact:
Catherine Klasne
(386) 253-1560
cklasne@uww-adr.com
