The Law Office of Clarissa E. Harrell, P.A.

She began her legal career as a criminal prosecutor, gaining valuable trial experience in the Juvenile, Misdemeanor, General Felony, and Sex Crimes & Child Abuse Divisions of the State Attorney's Office.  During her tenure there she was awarded the annual "Pride In Excellence" Attorney Award for 1996 and was recognized for her outstanding prosecution of domestic violence cases in 1995.  She has also worked as a Trial Court Staff Attorney for the judges of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, an academic position requiring extensive legal research and writing. 

In addition to her 1993 admission to practice in Florida's state courts, Ms. Harrell was admitted to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida in 1994. 

Professional Activities and Awards

Ms. Harrell has been involved in several legal organizations and causes over the course of her career.  In July 2005 she completed a one-year term as President of the Brevard County Bar Association (BCBA) after being elected to this post by the membership, then comprised of approximately 600 attorneys. She previously served in other officer positions in the BCBA and was named "Board Member of the Year" for 2001-2002.  She chaired several Bar committees including the Mock Trial, Budget, and Professionalism Awards Luncheon Committees.  From August 2007 until January 2008, she was the President of the Brevard Bar Foundation, an organization which promotes charitable community causes. She is a past Fellow of the National Conference of Bar Presidents, and she served two years on the Advisory Board of the Academy of Law and Public Safety, during which time she drafted the Constitution and By-Laws governing the operation of this Board.

Ms. Harrell previously completed a three-year term as a Barrister in the Vassar B. Carlton American Inn of Court.  The Inn of Court is a limited-membership organization of judges and attorneys who are dedicated to the advancement of the highest level of ethical and academic ideals in the practice of law; it is comprised of year-long programs featuring presentations on a variety of legal topics.  The Inn provides opportunities for in-depth analysis of particular, often current legal issues.  In October 2003, Ms. Harrell compiled a legal outline for an Inn of Court presentation on federal court system practice.  In October 2002, together with attorney Aaron Lyons and other team members, she scripted and participated in an Inn presentation entitled, "The Taking and Defending of Depositions," later voted Best Presentation of the year by the other teams.

Seminars; Continuing Legal Education

Attending legal educational seminars on an ongoing basis is also a priority.  Seminars Ms. Harrell has attended in recent years include: 
     •"Dealing With Mental Health Issues in Family Law Cases" (October 2008)
     •"Jury Selection:  Law & Techniques" (September 2008)
     •"Bankruptcy and Divorce" (September 2008)
     •"Crawford v. Washington" (Presented by Fifth District Court of Appeal Judge Vincent G. Torpy, Jr.; Sept. 2008)
     •"Hot Topics in Family Law:  Disestablishment of Paternity and Bridge-the-Gap Alimony" (July 2007);
     •"Creative Financial Tips for Family Law" (April 2007); 
     •"Collaborative Family Law Training" (February 2007); 
     •"Effective Lawyering: A View from the Bench" (November 2005);
     •"Dos and Don'ts for a Successful Appeal" (November 2005); 
     •"Quick Tips for Qualified Domestic Relations Order Preparation" (July 2005); 
     •"Family Law from a Military Justice Perspective" (April 2005);
     •"Family Court Evaluators in the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit" (January 2005); and
     •"Drafting Comprehensive Final Judgments in Dissolution of Marriage" (November 2004), among others.

Educational Background

Ms. Harrell was awarded her Juris Doctor degree from Tulane Law School in New Orleans, Louisiana in May of 1993. While at Tulane she excelled in courtroom advocacy and trial techniques, earning induction into the Order of Barristers, the Callaghan Book Award for Excellence in Oral Advocacy, the position of Administrative Justice of the Moot Court Board, and an invitation to participate in the New Orleans chapter of the American Inn of Court. She was named Captain of Tulane's National Trial Team and won both the Intraschool Appellate Competition (briefwriting and oral argument) and the Intraschool Trial Competition.

She was selected by the Tulane Law faculty to serve as a Senior Fellow in the Legal Research and Writing Program, where she taught first-year law students the fundamentals of briefwriting. She served as President of Tulane's Public Interest Law Foundation, as a student attorney in Tulane's Criminal Law Clinic representing low-income clients, and as a volunteer at the Free Tutoring Program of New Orleans as well as the Orleans Indigent Defender Program. She was active in the Project for Older Prisoners, a student organization working to transition elderly prisoners out of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola in order to make room for younger, more violent offenders.  She also earned a Certificate in Environmental Studies from Tulane Law's prestigious environmental law program.  Ms. Harrell worked her way through law school in various jobs such as restaurant server, grocery cashier, substitute teacher, and federal, state, and private firm law clerk.  Visit Tulane Law School's Web Site.

Her undergraduate degree was awarded from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C., where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service, specializing in International Politics.  After graduation she worked in the corporate marketing division at First Union National Bank's headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, and served as a volunteer in the Guardian Ad Litem Program there, before deciding to pursue a law degree at Tulane.

Personal

Ms. Harrell is a Brevard County native.  She was born in Cocoa Beach and is a graduate of Palm Bay High School.  Her late father served as an engineer with the space program; her mother is in her fourth decade of teaching elementary school in Brevard.  Ms. Harrell has been married to a law enforcement officer for over eleven years.  As a child of divorce who is now the mother of three young children and the stepmother of three, Ms. Harrell is personally familiar with many of the issues and concerns encountered by her family law clients.