Course 9845

The Florida Bar Appellate Practice Section presents “An Appellate Lawyer’s Roadmap for Hearsay, Character Evidence, Discovery Violations, and Excluded Evidence,” a practical CLE examining some of the evidentiary issues that most frequently shape trial outcomes and appellate review. Panelists Kimberly Kanoff Berman, Nicholas A. Shannin, and David Redfern will guide attendees through preservation strategies, standards of review, and common pitfalls involving evidentiary rulings and trial objections. The program will offer practical guidance for both trial and appellate practitioners seeking to build a stronger record and effectively challenge or defend evidentiary decisions on appeal.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

As a result of attending this session, the learner will be better able to:

1. Identify the key preservation requirements for challenging or defending evidentiary rulings involving hearsay, character evidence, discovery violations, and excluded evidence on appeal.
2. Analyze the standards of review commonly applied to evidentiary issues and evaluate how those standards affect appellate strategy and briefing.
3. Recognize common trial-level pitfalls that can undermine appellate review, including inadequate objections, incomplete proffers, and preservation failures.
4. Develop practical strategies for creating a clear appellate record and effectively presenting evidentiary arguments in both trial and appellate courts.

FACULTY BIOGRAPHIES:

David Redfern, of Bartow, serves as an Assistant Public Defender for Florida’s 10th  Judicial Circuit. He is a hybrid specialist in criminal trial and appellate litigation and is among the few attorneys in the country Board Certified by The Florida Bar in both Criminal Trial Law and Criminal Appellate Law. He also holds board certification in Criminal Trial Law from the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He has particular experience representing individuals sentenced to life without parole for offenses committed as children, securing reduced sentences, new sentencing hearings, and immediate releases through the use of multidisciplinary expert teams. In both his appellate and trial practices, he has obtained new trials, sentence reversals, and acquittals for clients charged with or convicted of serious felony offenses throughout Florida.

Kim Berman, of Fort Lauderdale, is a shareholder with Marshall Dennehey in the firm’s Appellate Advocacy and Post-Trial Practice Group and is board certified in Appellate Practice by The Florida Bar. She has handled appeals and litigation support matters in Florida state and federal courts across a broad range of areas, including medical malpractice, insurance coverage, bad faith, construction defects, maritime, aviation, and premises liability. Kimberly is an active leader in Florida’s appellate community, serving on numerous bar and historical society boards and committees, including as Treasurer and Communications Chair of the Florida Supreme Court Historical Society and Vice Chair of the Appellate Practice Section’s CLE Committee. Before entering private practice, she served as a Career Research Attorney to the Honorable David M. Gersten at the Third District Court of Appeal, and she has also taught as adjunct faculty at several Florida law schools.

Nick Shannin, of Orlando, is a Florida Bar Board Certified appellate attorney who has practiced in Florida since graduating with honors from the University of Florida College of Law in 1994. A graduate of Rice University with degrees in Political Science and Sociology, Nick is widely recognized for both his appellate advocacy and his commitment to public service. He has served in leadership roles with organizations including the West Orange Habitat for Humanity, the Legal Aid Society of Orange County, and the Orange County Bar Association, and he was honored by the Florida Bar Appellate Practice Section as its Pro Bono Attorney of the Year. Nick has also received numerous professional distinctions, including Martindale-Hubbell’s AV Preeminent rating, recognition by Florida Trend Legal Elite and Florida Super Lawyers, and inclusion in Super Lawyers’ “Top 100” Florida attorneys list since 2014.