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HON. JOSEPH C. FULLER received his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida. He obtained his J.D. degree from South Texas College of Law, where he graduated cum laude in 1978. Judge Fuller had an active state and federal civil trial practice from 1978 until his election to the Circuit Bench in November 2006. In March 1990, he became certified as Civil County and Circuit Court Mediator and also had an active mediation practice until becoming a judge. Since assuming the bench in January 2007, he has served in the Juvenile Division as the Juvenile Delinquency Judge in Lee County and is currently assigned to the civil docket in Lee County. HON. LYNN GERALD JR. received his B.A. degree from the University of Florida. After the Army, he continued his education at the University of Florida Law School. Judge Gerald graduated, with honors, in 1968. He was a member of the Order of the Coif and the Law Review. After law school, Judge Gerald practiced law with the firm of Shepard and Woolslayer. He was president of the Legal Aid Society and chairman of the Grievance Committee in the Twentieth Judicial Circuit. In 1977, he opened his own law practice and in 1980 joined a firm known as Alderman & Gerald. This firm later became Gerald, Cary & Duncan. Judge Gerald was appointed to the bench in 1989 and has since stood for reelection. From 1989 to 1992, he sat in Glades and Hendry counties and was Administrative Judge for both Glades and Hendry counties. He returned to Fort Myers upon the retirement of Judge Shafer. Judge Gerald is currently assigned to the Probate Division for Lee and Charlotte counties. HON. CYNTHIA A. PIVACEK received her B.A. degree, with honors, from the University of Florida and her J.D. degree from the University of Florida. She served as Assistant State Attorney for both the Eighth and Twentieth Judicial Circuits and was appointed to the position of Collier County Judge in 1989 by Governor Bob Martinez. She was then elected to her first full term in 1990. Judge Pivacek was appointed by Governor Chiles to fill the Circuit Court. She began her duties on the Circuit Bench in May of 1998. Judge Pivacek is currently assigned to the circuit civil docket, having been assigned to this docket in 2006. Judge Pivacek served as Administrative Judge for Collier County from July 1, 2003 to July 1, 2005 and has been appointed to begin a second term as Administrative Judge for Collier County beginning July 1, 2007. HON. GEORGE C. RICHARDS came to the United States from England in 1980. Judge Richards attended Miami-Dade Community College where he received his A.A. degree and then went to Barry University where he received his B.A. degree. He received his J.D. degree from the University of Miami School of Law. Judge Richards served as an Assistant State Attorney in the Ninth and Thirteenth Circuits of Florida before joining the Office of Statewide Prosecution, where he served as a Chief Assistant Statewide Prosecutor. He was appointed to the Circuit Bench of the Twentieth Judicial Circuit of the Charlotte Justice Center by Governor Charlie Crist in August of 2009. HON. HUGH E. STARNES is a Senior Judge who served as Circuit Court Judge in the Twentieth Judicial Circuit from 1978 until 2008. During most of his 30 years on the bench, he served as a Family Judge and for four years he served as Chief Judge. He received the Lee County Bar Assistant. "Liberty Bell" award, and the Young Lawyers Division of The Florida Bar "Jurist of the Year" award in 2008. MAGISTRATE ROBERT L. CRONGEYER is General Magistrate of the Twentieth Judicial Circuit of the Lee County Justice Center. He was appointed U.S. Magistrate, N.D. Fla., in 1976 and served until 1986. Magistrate Crongeyer handled federal complex class action litigation, diversity of citizenship, personal injury lawsuits, employment discrimination, and numerous other civil rights matters in the Federal Court. In 1986, he was invited to join the prestigious law firm of Beggs & Lane as senior partner. He was a trial attorney actively practicing in state and federal courts, primarily representing defendants, but also plaintiffs, in a wide variety of cases throughout the United States. After 13 years as senior partner and member of the Executive Committee of Beggs & Lane, Magistrate Crongeyer moved to Fort Myers in 2000, and from 2000 to 2006, he continued to serve the firm in capacity "Of Counsel", consulting with, and advising, firm members in selected cases. In 2010, he was selected for appointment as the first Civil Magistrate for the Twentieth Judicial Circuit in Lee County. Magistrate Crongeyer is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Florida College of Law. He has lectured at Florida State University, the University of West Florida and at The Florida Bar Seminars on Federal Court Practice. SHARON ENGLISH received her Bachelor of Science degree, cum laude, in political science and criminology from Florida State University in 1995. Ms. English received her Juris Doctorate degree, cum laude, from the University of Minnesota School of Law in 1998, where she was named Co-Administrative Director of the school's Civil Rights Moot Court. After a brief stint in private practice, she began working for the Twentieth Judicial Circuit as a Trial Court Staff Attorney in 2000. When the Circuit began its civil differentiated case management program in 2010, Ms. English was selected to be the Civil Case Manager for Lee County. MODERATOR - RONALD L. BUSCHBOM is the general liability partner in the Fort Myers office of Conroy, Simberg, Ganon, Krevans, Abel, Lurvey, Morrow & Schefer, P.A., where he practices in the areas of civil trial, premises liability, personal injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, products liability law, insurance defense law, subrogation, automobile negligence, legal malpractice and accounting malpractice. Mr. Buschbom is a member of the Lee County and American bar associations, The Florida Bar and the Florida Defense Lawyers Association. He is past president of the Southwest Florida Federal Bar Association. Mr. Buschbom earned his B.S. degree from the United States Naval Academy and his M.B.A. degree and J.D. degree, cum laude, from the University of Miami.
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