Past Presidents
On June 30, 1951, Mattie Belle Davis — the only female Floridian who passed The Florida Bar Exam in 1936 — presided over a breakfast meeting held by a group of Florida women lawyers in Miami Beach. Those women officially formed the Florida Association for Women Lawyers.
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On March 1, 1980, local chapters of FAWL were formed. Linda C. Singer, then president of state FAWL, encouraged the women lawyers of Dade County to form a chapter. At that time, all of the business clubs in downtown Miami were “male only” and there were few women judges or law firm partners. MDFAWL was formed, with Charlene Carres serving as the first president.
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Since MDFAWL's inception, 44 amazing women lawyers have served as President of the organization. The 2023-2024 term marks MDFAWL's 44th year!
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Charlene M. Carres, 1980-1981
Diane M. Van Ness, 1981-1982
Alison C. Weinger, 1982-1983
May L. Cain, 1983-1984
Judge Sandy Karlan, 1984-1985
Judge Ellen L. Leesfield, 1985-1986
Judge Cindy S. Lederman, 1986-1987
Edith G. Osman, 1987-1988
Judge Lauren L. Miller, 1988-1989
Judge Shelley J. Kravitz, 1989-1990
Mary V. Brennan, 1990-1991
Adrienne F. Promoff, 1991-1992
Ameli Padron-Fragetta, 1992-1993
Allison Doliner Hockman, 1993-1994
Amy Agnoli, 1994-1995
Elizabeth Ann Morgan, 1995-1996
Sally M. Richardson, 1996-1997
Jani Kline Singer, 1997-1998
Sonia (Sunny) Yahr-Schneider, 1998
Dyanne E. Feinberg, 1998-1999
Michele (Mickey) Maracini, 1999-2000
​Judge Jacqueline Hogan Scola, 2000-2001
Judge Sarah Zabel, 2002
Magistrate Deborah Magid, 2002-2004
Rosana Hernandez, 2004-2005
Sandra Hernandez, 2005-2006
Judge Abby Cynamon, 2006-2007
Judge Lisa S. Walsh, 2007-2008
Stacey Koch Lieberman, 2008-2009
Julie Braman Kane, 2009-2010
Kristy M. Johnson, 2010-2011
Alexandra Bach-Lagos, 2011-2012
Marisol Gomez-Decena, 2012-2013
Sherril Colombo, 2013-2014
Deborah Baker, 2014-2015
Ileana Cruz, 2015-2016
Rebecca A. Ocariz, 2016-2017
Katie S. Phang, 2017-2018
Lara Bueso Bach, 2018-2019
Elisa D'Amico, 2019-2020
Ardith Bronson, 2020-2021
Kristin Drecktrah-Paz, 2021-2022
Diana Mendez, 2022-2023