At 19, Debbie graduated from Stetson cum laude and earned the distinction of being Stetson's youngest graduate since its founding in 1883.   

 

After graduating, Debbie worked full-time as assistant to the CEO of a local 400+ employee company. She was responsible for locating international investment properties for company expansion, organizing and participating in team-building and morale development meetings for key employees, and providing customer service to corporate clients. She worked closely with management to streamline activities, increase productivity, and effectuate change in the office atmosphere to promote employee development and growth. Through her experience Debbie became intimately familiar with the challenges and demands of running a small business including accounts receivable, accounts payable, mail solutions, invoicing, responding to customer demands, morale boosting, budgeting, and file & client management.  

 

Debbie attended Cornell Law School - one of the five Ivy League law schools - and became the first person in her family to obtain a graduate-level education.  Upon graduating, Debbie accepted an appellate clerkship with the Court of Appeals of Virginia.  In 2012, Debbie returned to school and obtained a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Taxation from Washington University in St. Louis.  In the Taxation program, Debbie focused her coursework on sophisticated personal estate and tax planning.

 

Debbie currently serves on the Executive Council of the Florida Bar's Real Property, Probate and Trust Committee and serves on the following sub-committees: Real Estate Structures & Tax, Asset Protection, Probate Law. Debbie was selected to teach a Certified Legal Education class by the Florida Bar Asset Protection Committee and her article on taxation implications of structuring real estate transactions has been published in the statewide publication, Actionline