Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. Bar Association Cultivating Excellence & Inclusion in the Legal Profession |
Trelvis D. Randolph
President
Trelvis D. Randolph is a partner in the Miami office of Cole, Scott & Kissane, P.A. He began his legal career in the Miami-Dade County Public Defender’s Office where he represented clients charged with misdemeanor and serious felony offenses. After several subsequent years of doing civil litigation, he joined CSK and focuses his practice in the areas of premises liability; nursing home and assisted living facilities; personal injury; vehicle negligence; general civil litigation; hospitality industry defense; and negligent security. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, he received his Juris Doctor degree from Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at The University of Memphis.
He also serves as the General Counsel of the Miami-Dade Branch of the NAACP and is an elected member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). He has been a member of the Board of Directors of SAVE for several years and is also active with the local ACLU, as well as the National African American Insurance Association (NAAIA). Trelvis Randolph has proudly served the United States of America as an infantry soldier in the United States Army, as well as the Tennessee Army National Guard. He is a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.
Monique D. Hayes
President Elect
Monique D. Hayes is a partner in the Miami office of Goldstein & McClintock, LLLP. She focuses her practice in the areas of business transactions, commercial litigation, and corporate restructuring. She has extensive experience advising fiduciaries, corporations, and non-profit board members. Prior to entering private practice, Ms. Hayes served as law clerk to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laurel Myerson Isicoff and housing attorney for Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc.
Ms. Hayes is a member of the American Bar Association – Business Law Section – Young Lawyers Committee Incoming Chair, Bankruptcy Bar Association S.D. Fla., American Bankruptcy Institute, the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (“IWIRC”) – Florida Network Chair, and the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Bar Association – President-Elect. She is also a member of the ABA Business Bankruptcy Committee and served as its 2013-2015 Fellow and currently serves as Co-Chair of the Executive Contracts Subcommittee. Ms. Hayes frequently serves as a writer, commentator, and panelist on business law issues. In the community she an active philanthropist and has been recognized for her efforts in that regard.
Chanel Jefferson
Vice President
Andrew Kemp-Gerstel
Secretary
Mr. Andrew Kemp-Gerstel is serving in his third consecutive term as the Secretary for the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Bar Association. Mr. Kemp-Gerstel is a Shareholder at Liebler Gonzalez Portuondo where he focuses his litigation practice in the areas of consumer protection statute defense, loan servicing, transportation network companies, premises liability, assisted living facilities, personal injury, third-party logistics and transportation, trucking and automobile negligence, negligent security, wrongful death, professional liability, and errors & omissions coverage.
Mr. Kemp-Gerstel received his Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt University Law School, where he was an Honors Scholar. He received his Bachelor of Arts cum laude
while enrolled in the Honors Program at the University of Miami, where he was named to the Provost’s Honor Roll. Mr. Kemp-Gerstel is a Florida Super Lawyers Rising Star (2015, 2016, 2017); Miami Fellows alum (Class IX); Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce Leadership Miami alum, facilitator, superfacilitator, and executive board member; Dibia D.R.E.A.M. Board Member; Board Member on Miami’s Community Advisory Board; former Co-Chair of the National Bar Association’s Clemency Project efforts; and recipient of the National Bar Association YLD Chair’s 2016 Service Award.
Omari S. Ruddock
Treasurer
Omari S. Ruddock is an Assistant Public Defender at the Miami-Dade Public Defenders office. As an Assistant Public Defender, Mr. Ruddock has had the privilege of affording Miami’s indigent community with a fighting chance against the criminal justice system. He has had the opportunity to represent clients within his community in cases involving simple misdemeanors to serious felonies punishable by life. Mr. Ruddock is also a proud alumni of Florida A&M College of Law.
Tara Jackson
Group I Director
Tara Jackson is a corporate associate at Akerman LLP. She focuses her practice on securities transactions, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, corporate governance, and other general corporate matters. Tara represents clients from a broad spectrum of industries, including healthcare, utilities, automotive, and correctional facilities.
Prior to practicing law, Tara was the compliance director of a group of financial institutions in Jamaica, where she drafted and ensured the effective implementation of AntiMoney Laundering and CounterTerrorism Financing Policies and Procedures, and completed corporate restructuring of the group's lending institution to ensure full compliance with the applicable regulations and Laws of Jamaica.
In 2016, Tara graduated from the University of Miami Law School of Law, where she served as staff editor for the Race and Social Justice Law Review, Vice President of the Association of Caribbean Law Students, Community Relations Chair of the Black Law Students Association, and was a Dean's Merit Scholar.
Loreal Arscott
Group II Director
Loreal A. Arscott is a native Miamian, who was born and raised in the “Magic City”. In 2003, she received a Bachelors of Art in both Political Science and English, while minoring in Psychology, from the Florida State University. She then matriculated to the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law, where she earned her Juris Doctorate in 2006.
Prior to joining the City of Miami Gardens, in March 2016 as the Assistant City Attorney, Ms. Arscott served as a litigation attorney in the Corporate Law Department of a major insurance company, primarily practicing insurance defense. Ms. Arscott initially dedicated her practice to Family and Dependency Law, serving the most vulnerable members of our society, our children, for several years as first a Program Attorney for the Guardian Ad Litem Program, and then as Division Chief for Florida’s Department of Children and Families’ Children’s Legal Services. Ms. Arscott continues to serve as a pro bono Attorney Ad Litem for Dependency cases.
Ms. Arscott is very active in the Florida Bar and in and her local community. She is currently the Group II Director for the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. Bar Association. She is also the Immediate Past President of the Gwen S. Cherry Black Women Lawyer’s Association (GSCBWLA), having served two (2) consecutive terms, from 2015-2017, as President.
Ian G. Ward, II
Immediate Past President
