CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
As Chief Operating Officer, Chris Kammeier exercises full command over the firm’s operational, financial, and strategic infrastructure. With more than 20 years of executive leadership in high-risk, high-accountability environments, he enforces discipline, precision, and absolute operational control across every function of the firm. His tireless work behind the scenes allows the attorneys to focus on providing the absolute best representation possible without distractions.
Chris holds direct authority over billing, financial governance, and internal controls, ensuring uncompromising accuracy, transparency, and ethical compliance. He designs, implements, and enforces firmwide standard operating procedures (SOPs) that drive consistency, reduce risk, and eliminate inefficiencies across both criminal defense and family law matters—where outcomes carry profound consequences for clients and their families.
He leads staffing, training, and performance management with a results-driven mandate, building teams that operate with urgency, professionalism, and accountability. Chris also commands the firm’s marketing and growth systems, deploying data-driven strategies and CRM infrastructure to expand reach while preserving credibility, discretion, and ethical standards essential to criminal defense and family law practice.
As the architect of the firm’s technology and operational systems, Chris ensures seamless execution, strict oversight, and scalable performance. His leadership style is decisive, direct, and uncompromising—providing the operational force necessary in practices where liberty, parental rights, financial security, and family stability are at stake.
Chris drives and embodies the firm’s mission of delivering justice with integrity and precision, guided by unwavering ethical principles and a relentless client-first philosophy. His role is clear and absolute: build, enforce, and protect the systems that empower attorneys, safeguard clients, and uphold the highest standards of the legal profession.
FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY
Tara K. O'Cain serves as Lead Family Law Attorney at Seidlich Law, bringing over 20 years of litigation and child advocacy experience to every case. A former Assistant State Attorney in Florida's 10th Judicial Circuit and Senior Attorney with the Florida Department of Children and Families, she has conducted hundreds of trials — including dependency proceedings, termination of parental rights, and high-conflict custody disputes. Her early career as a Guardian ad Litem and certified Probation and Parole Officer in Louisiana gives her a rare, comprehensive understanding of how family, criminal, and child protection law intersect. A Florida Bar member since 2009 and Barry University School of Law graduate, she is known for her strategic preparation, confident courtroom presence, and relentless commitment to protecting children and families during life's most difficult moments.
At Seidlich Law, Tara leads the firm's family law division with integrity, precision, and compassionate advocacy — guiding Florida clients through divorce, child custody, timesharing modifications, and complex family litigation. Her decades of experience on both sides of the courtroom, combined with deep expertise in child welfare law, give her clients a decisive advantage in Florida's most challenging family law cases.
FAMILY LAW PARALEGAL
Amanda Young is a highly dedicated Florida Registered Paralegal with extensive experience in family law, real estate, foreclosure, civil matters, and estate planning. She earned her Associate of Science in Paralegal Studies in 2014 and has since cultivated a well-rounded legal career across a broad spectrum of practice areas.
Ms. Young began her legal career at a family law firm, where she spent three years developing a strong foundation in domestic relations. She subsequently joined a real estate and foreclosure law office, where she also served as a closing agent’s assistant for two years. During this time, she expanded her knowledge to include estate planning, further diversifying her legal skill set.
In 2019, Ms. Young returned to the family law sector, continuing her commitment to assisting clients through some of life’s most complex and sensitive challenges. In her most recent role prior to joining Seidlich Law, she broadened her responsibilities to include civil litigation, deepening her expertise in general legal practice.
In 2019, Ms. Young returned to the family law sector, continuing her commitment to assisting clients through some of life’s most complex and sensitive challenges. In her most recent role prior to joining Seidlich Law, she broadened her responsibilities to include civil litigation, deepening her expertise in general legal practice.
Ms. Young recently joined Seidlich Law, where she continues to apply her diverse experience and uphold the highest standards of professionalism and client service.
Outside the office, Ms. Young is a devoted partner and mother to four children, including one bonus child. Her personal and professional lives are guided by a strong commitment to integrity, compassion, and excellence.
Operations Coordinator & Intake Specialist
Ivonne Muñoz serves as the Operations Coordinator and Intake Specialist at Seidlich Law, where she is the first point of contact for individuals and families reaching out to the firm for help. Bilingual in English and Spanish—both conversational and written—Ivonne brings clarity, warmth, and calm under pressure to every conversation, ensuring that prospective clients feel heard and supported from the very first call.
Ivonne brings more than five years of administrative, client-service, and legal support experience to the role. She began her legal career at Verderamo Law in Naples, Florida, where she supported attorneys with calendar management, client communications, and case documentation, building a strong foundation in legal practice. She most recently served as a Legal Assistant in criminal law with Escobar, Michaels & Associates in Tampa, where she managed client intake, scheduling, and documentation in a high-volume practice—experience that translates directly to the demands of criminal defense and family law work.
In addition to her client-facing and operational responsibilities, Ms. Muñoz is also skilled in paralegal work and is actively pursuing her paralegal certification. That combination of intake expertise, operational discipline, and substantive paralegal training makes her a key contributor to the firm today—and positions her for a long and meaningful career growing alongside Seidlich Law in the years ahead.
At Seidlich Law, Ms. Muñoz guides every new client through the intake process, from the first phone call through retainer, and partners with the firm’s leadership on the day-to-day operational work that keeps the practice running smoothly—from client coordination and CRM management to vendor relations and calendar control. Her dual focus on client experience and operational excellence allows the firm’s attorneys to stay focused on what matters most: delivering the strongest possible representation.
At Seidlich Law, Ms. Muñoz guides every new client through the intake process, from the first phone call through retainer, and partners with the firm’s leadership on the day-to-day operational work that keeps the practice running smoothly—from client coordination and CRM management to vendor relations and calendar control. Her dual focus on client experience and operational excellence allows the firm’s attorneys to stay focused on what matters most: delivering the strongest possible representation.
Paralegal
Shawna Jerkins joins Seidlich Law as a Paralegal whose career has been built at the intersection of the courthouse, the courtroom, and the field. With more than two decades of combined experience across paralegal practice, criminal court administration, process serving, private investigation, and legal document preparation, she brings a uniquely well-rounded perspective to the firm’s criminal defense and family law clients.
Ms. Jerkins began her legal career as a Paralegal at Reid & Agee PLLC, where she drafted wills, trusts, and probate documents, prepared court pleadings and e-filings, and organized evidence for trial and hearings. She also managed client meetings, accounting and billing, and real estate transactions, and conducted legal research and case law preparation. The role grounded her in the discipline of a busy law practice and in the research skills she continues to rely on today.
She later served as a Criminal Court Clerk with the Sarasota Clerk of Courts, where she prepared court dockets, issued warrants, processed bond releases, and scheduled court events. She coordinated directly with judges, state attorneys, public defenders, and private counsel on case administration, and managed e-filings, evidence review, record keeping, and the redaction of sensitive information. The position gives her a rare, inside understanding of how Florida criminal cases move through the system from the court’s perspective.
During the same period, Ms. Jerkins served as a Process Server, Private Investigator, and Security Officer with Sarasota Security Patrol, preparing and serving court documents in compliance with Florida statutes, managing e-filing workflows, conducting surveillance operations, processing evidence, and producing investigative reports. She is also the founder and owner of Jerkins Secretarial Services LLC, an active legal document preparation and notary services company, where she handles client intake, secure recordkeeping, and compliance with Florida’s evolving notary and document-preparer guidelines.
Ms. Jerkins holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Public Safety and Emergency Management and an Associate in Applied Science in Paralegal and Legal Assisting from the State College of Florida, where she graduated with honors, ranked in the top 10% of her class, and was inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society (Nu Zeta Chapter).
Her professional credentials include active appointments as a Florida Notary Public and E-Notary and as a Loan Signing Agent, together with a Statewide Firearm License (Class G), a Security Officer License (Class D), a Florida Concealed Weapon License, and membership in the Florida Association of Legal Document Preparers. She also holds a Private Investigator Intern License and has completed the 40-Hour Class D Security course, 40-Hour Private Investigation training, 28-Hour Firearm and Self-Defense training, 16-Hour Court Administration course, and Guardian ad Litem coursework. She maintains current CPR and AED certifications.
At Seidlich Law, Ms. Jerkins applies the full breadth of that background to support the firm’s attorneys and clients with precision, professionalism, and the kind of practical knowledge that only comes from working every side of the legal process — from the clerk’s desk to the front door with a subpoena in hand.
Paralegal
April Franzen joins Seidlich Law as a Paralegal whose career has been built at the demanding intersection of criminal defense and family law. With more than five years of experience supporting attorneys across domestic relations, juvenile, probate, and high-volume criminal matters in both Florida and Alabama, Ms. Franzen brings a steady hand, sharp organization, and an instinct for the rhythms of litigation to every client and every case.
Ms. Franzen began her paralegal career in November 2019 at The Brogden Law Firm, LLC, where she spent more than five years supporting Kerrie Ogden, Esq. across a broad portfolio of domestic, juvenile, probate, and criminal cases in both Florida and Alabama courts. During that tenure, she managed a high-volume caseload for a state criminal contract attorney that frequently exceeded 200 active matters at a time, tracking attorney time, preparing monthly state reports, drafting pleadings and discovery, scheduling hearings and collateral meetings, and processing subpoenas and records requests — including sensitive CAC interviews and DHR documentation. She also served as the firm’s primary point of contact for clients, providing case updates, explaining court procedures, and resolving routine matters so that the attorney could remain focused on advocacy.
In July 2025, Ms. Franzen transitioned to a fully remote paralegal role with Kaelyn Fillingim, Attorney At Law, where she continues to draft pleadings, motions, affidavits, discovery, and correspondence; e-file with the courts using Alafile and the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal; maintain meticulous electronic and physical case files; and assist with trial preparation, exhibit organization, and case summaries. Her work in a fully remote environment has sharpened her independence, her communication, and her command of cloud-based legal platforms — the kind of self-directed reliability that translates seamlessly to a modern, fast-moving firm.
Ms. Franzen holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from St. Petersburg College and an Associate of Applied Science in Paralegal Studies from Enterprise State Community College. Her technical toolkit includes MyCase, Clio Manage, Alafile, Alacourt, the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal, and the full Microsoft Office suite, along with extensive experience supporting hearings, mediations, and depositions through Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
At Seidlich Law, Ms. Franzen applies that combined background in criminal defense and family law to support the firm’s attorneys and clients with precision, discretion, and the kind of calm, deadline-driven focus that makes complex cases manageable. Whether the matter involves a high-stakes criminal charge or a sensitive family law dispute, she brings the organization, confidentiality, and client care that define the Seidlich Law standard.
