weLCome from mVaC’S new CHairS
Military & Veterans Affairs Committee
Chairs: Steve Berlin - Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell, P.A. and Sonya Colon - Law Office of Sonya C. Colon, P.A,
Steve and Sonya look
forward to seeing
everyone at the
meetings — the first
W
e are both honored
and excited to serve
as MVAC’s new
co-chairs and look
forward to serving our members
and the community this Bar
year. We would like to introduce
ourselves, and tell you a little about
our backgrounds and why the MVAC
Committee is important to us:
* * *
Steve Berlin:
I am a retired Army lieutenant
colonel who began my career as a
Field Artillery officer and retired
as an Army Judge Advocate (JAG).
As a JAG, I served half my time as
a command legal advisor and the
other half as a criminal prosecutor,
culminating in serving as one of
the Army’s first Special Victim
Prosecutors. I spent most of my
twenty-year career in Germany;
Fort Knox, Kentucky; and Fort
Bragg, North Carolina, rounding
out my career serving my final three
years at MacDill Air Force Base.
I grew up in St. Petersburg, so
my final duty station at MacDill
AFB was an appropriate transition
point for me. I am fortunate to
have received advice from a mentor
who recommended that I join the
HCBA and specifically the then-
recently revitalized MVAC. At my
first meeting, I met then-co-chair
Matthew Hall, which built our
friendship and began a three-year
transition helping me translate my
46
one of the bar year is
currently scheduled
for September 11.
military experience to the civil
community. I also received great
mentorship and support from other
MVAC members and as a member
of the Bar Leadership Institute
Class of 2017.
The support from the HCBA
and my own experiences have laid
the foundation for my goals to help
other military members transition
into civil practice and to help fellow
veterans support one another in the
legal community. I believe in doing
so, I can, in turn, help military and
veterans in the community with
their specific legal needs.
Sonya Colon:
I have been practicing law
since May 2007, opening my own
firm in 2008 and have been a solo
practitioner since then. Primarily,
I handle family law cases, and have
a small practice in bankruptcy,
probate and personal injury. Prior
to becoming an attorney, I received
my bachelor’s degree in legal
assistant studies from New York
City Technical College. However,
unlike most students, by the time
I started my undergraduate degree,
I was already a mother to Jessica
Colon (now 25 years old and a
mother to my two-year-old
grandson, Ezra). And by the time
I started Seattle University School
of Law, I had my second daughter,
Gabriella Colon (now 19).
I consider myself fortunate to
have married my high school
sweetheart, who was active-duty
Army until his retirement in 2017.
My husband had five deployments
to Iraq and Afghanistan, and I was
proud to be a military spouse for
25 years. As a result, I am very
committed to supporting those
who have served.
I hope for a great year with
MVAC and look forward to
working with all the members and
with other partner organizations to
connect our veterans with quality
legal services, as well as provide
our legal community with some
understanding of the challenges
that our veterans face.
* * *
In closing, if we can be of any
assistance to you or you have any
ideas or suggestions for this
upcoming year, please feel free
to contact us. We look forward to
seeing everyone at the Committee
meetings — the first one of the
Bar year is currently scheduled for
September 11. n
Authors: Steve Berlin – Rumberger,
Kirk & Caldwell, P.A. and Sonya
Colon – Law Office of Sonya C.
Colon, P.A.
SEPT - OCT 2019
|
HCBA LAWYER