Clark, White honored with Government Lawyer Section’s Claude Pepper Award
Clark, White honored with Government Lawyer Section’s Claude Pepper Award
Mary Ellen Clark and Jewel White — two women lawyers who have been career public servants, leaders of their local bar associations, and leaders within The Florida Bar — are the recipients of the 2016 Claude Pepper Outstanding Government Lawyer Award.
The award recognizes Florida lawyers who have made exemplary contributions as practicing government lawyers. It is named after Claude Pepper, a Florida attorney, U.S. senator, and congressman, who was an advocate on behalf of the people, and who represented the highest ideals of government service through 12 presidential administrations.
The award was presented at the Bar’s Annual Convention in Orlando.
Clark is a senior assistant attorney general, serving in the Administrative Law Bureau in the Tallahassee office of AG for the past 13 years, and represents multiple professional licensure boards as their general counsel. She began her 21 years of public service as a prosecuting attorney for the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and later worked for the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, including tenure as a hearing officer within the Division of Motor Vehicles. Clark also volunteers her time to improve the legal profession as the chair of the Government Lawyer Section, president of the Florida Government Bar Association, president of Tallahassee Women Lawyers, and as a member of state and national committees related to accounting rules and professional ethics.
White is the Pinellas County chief assistant county attorney, and has climbed the ranks of that office for the entirety of her 20-year legal career. Through the exercise of her drafting and litigation skills, she has been an integral part of the ordinances, resolutions, development agreements, various contracts, and other instruments that have shaped Pinellas County. White’s commitment to the legal profession is further demonstrated by her service as president of The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division, president of the Clearwater Bar Association, chair of the Council of Sections and the City, County and Local Government Section, and as a member of the board of directors for The Florida Bar Foundation. White is also board certified in city, county and local government law, and a graduate of Leadership Pinellas.
