Ita Neymotin and colleagues meet to discuss latest legal issues from across the state

Attorney Ita Neymotin, the Regional Counsel of the Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel of the Second District Court of Appeal of Florida, hosted the annual Regional Counsel meeting on Monday, Dec. 7 in Lee County.
 
Jeffrey Deen, Regional Counsel Fifth District Court of Appeal; Jeffrey Lewis, Regional Counsel First District Court of Appeal (via phone); Anthony Ryan, Regional Counsel Fourth District Court of Appeal; Eugene Zenobi, Regional Counsel Third District Court of Appeal and several other Regional Counsel attorneys and staff met with Neymotin to discuss a variety of topics currently being talked about in Florida’s legal system. Among the topics discussed was a case in dependency that involved ineffective assistance of counsel, as well as a Supreme Court case that will determine whether the State of Florida will uphold a unanimous jury verdict in death penalty cases.
 
State Representative Heather Fitzenhagen attended the meeting as a guest speaker of the Regional Counsel. Representative Fitzenhagen discussed issues pertaining to the legislative process and presented ideas to the attendees on how to best approach the legislature with any issues they may have.
 
Ita Neymotin is the youngest attorney, and the first woman, appointed as Regional Counsel in the State of Florida. In that position she is responsible for the 14 counties that make up the Second District Court of Appeal, managing 140 attorneys and support staff with an annual budget that exceeds $9 million. The Regional Counsel defends parties when the Public Defender’s office has a conflict in a case. The office also represents indigent clients in juvenile dependency as well as certain types of civil cases. Neymotin is responsible for the counties including Lee, Collier, Hendry, Charlotte, Glades, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Polk, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, and Sarasota Counties.
 
Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel
Second District Court of Appeal, Florida
In 2011, Ita Neymotin was appointed by Governor Rick Scott to lead The Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel (OCCCRC) of the Second District Court of Appeal of Florida. It is one of five regional counsel offices created by the legislature in 2007 to provide legal representation to indigent persons in criminal cases in which the court grants the Public Defender’s motion to withdraw and appoints the OCCRC, in dependency and civil cases, and certain statutorily authorized civil commitment proceedings. OCCCRC also handles appeals and post conviction motions. As noted under Statute 27.511, the Florida Legislature states “it is the intent of the Legislature to provide adequate representation in a fiscally sound manner, while safeguarding constitutional principles.” Regional Counsel saves millions of taxpayer dollars every year while providing quality representation to its clients. For more information visit flrc2.org.