Our Managing Partners:

Maxine Cheesman, Esq.

Ms. Cheesman is a veteran public administrator with over 24 years of supervisory and management experience in public sector employment. She is an experienced litigator awarded by the Labor and Employment Law Section of the Florida Bar.

Ms. Cheesman is an avid environmentalist with a Masters degree in Chemistry and more than 20 years of experience understanding and dealing with environmental issues, managing land acquisitions, and public land restoration. She has taught as an Adjunct Professor in the area of Environmental Science, made presentations on a variety of environmental topics from "Water Quality" to the "Everglades", and published articles on:

Ground and Surface Water Quality
Intensive Canal Study: Evaluation of Water Quality in the L-31 Canal
Intensive Canal Study: Evaluation of Water Quality in the Princeton Canal (C-102)
Field Comprehensive Quality Assurance Plan for Dade County, DERM
Water Quality Associated with Atrazine Usage in Corn Fields in Dade County, Florida and
The Interaction of Calcium and Magnesium with HEMA/MAA Copolymers

Her experience has gained her the respect of the environmental community and she brings a wealth of knowledge to the area of Environmental Law.

Ms. Cheesman also practices Real Estate Law, Probate, Bankruptcy, Foreclosure and Wills & Trusts; and is a member of the Labor & Employment Law, Real Property Law, Probate and Trust Law, and the Young Lawyers Divisions of the Florida Bar. In addition to state court, her other court admissions include: U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida; U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida; and Florida Southern District Bankruptcy Court. Her lists of memberships include: the Florida Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the Cunningham Bar Association.

E. Lesleigh Varner, Esq.

Ms. Varner is a summa cum laude undergraduate with a Bachelors degree in Social Work and a Masters degree in Public Administration. She has amassed nearly 20 years of experience in Family Law and was the 2005 recipient of the "Rising Star Award" from the Broward County Association of Women Lawyers. Ms. Varner's outstanding achievements and accomplishments have been recognized both locally and nationally, by the Riviera Beach City Council and U.S. Congressman Alcee Hastings.

Ms. Varner is also a writer uniquely qualified and knowledgeable with respect to the legal issues involved in the area of domestic violence. She has conducted extensive research in the area, and published her findings in the article: For Battered Immigrants: A call for Strides in Community Collaborations; a study which underscores the importance of community collaboration in providing services to immigrant victims of domestic violence. As a result of her work with victims of domestic violence, she is a recipient of the Broward County Domestic Violence Steering Committee Award. Her dedication to families is not only evident from her years of experience and scholarship, she is intrinsically motivated to aid families in crisis and she brings each of these attributes to her practice of Family Law. In fact, it is exactly these qualities that led one well-respected local agency to recognize Ms. Varner as having "unique insight... to an un-met need in an under-served population of our ever changing South Florida landscape."

Ms. Varner also practices in the area of Contracts and Disaster Planning and has assisted a variety of South Florida's non-profit organizations in establishing disaster plans, a critical area of planning for any Florida business.

Ms. Varner is a member of the Young Lawyers Division and the Family Law Section of the Florida Bar. In addition to state court, her court admissions include the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida. Her list of memberships include: the Florida Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Cunningham Bar Association, and the Christian Legal Society.