Submitted by FAMU Public Relations
ORLANDO, FL. – Cecil Howard, associate provost for academic programs and interim dean at Florida A&M University (FAMU) College of Law, has named Orange County Judge Faye Allen as chair of the Dean’s Advisory Council. Roberta Walton Johnson, general counsel and legislative director for the Orange County Clerk of Circuit and County Courts, has been named vice chair.
Howard announced the appointments during the council’s meeting on Jan. 23, 2025, after welcoming 23 legal practitioners, elected officials, business leaders, and community partners as new and continuing members.
“We are honored to have these two distinguished legal professionals leading the council as we build upon our successes and advance our mission to develop lawyers and leaders who will make a transformative difference in their communities,” Howard said.
Allen served as vice chair from 2021 to 2024 and has been a judge in the Ninth Judicial Circuit County Court since September 2005. She earned her undergraduate degree from FAMU and her Juris Doctor from Florida State University. Dedicated to enhancing the legal profession through volunteerism, mentoring, and teaching, Allen has instructed on topics including landlord-tenant law, ethics and professionalism, and trial skills. She has also served as a faculty member with various legal organizations, including the Conference of County Court Judges of Florida, and as an adjunct professor at FAMU Law and Valencia College.
Johnson has been a member of the council since its inception in 2019. She earned both her undergraduate degree and Juris Doctor from FAMU, graduating in 2005 as a member of the inaugural class of the re-established College of Law. After graduation, she joined Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida to provide litigation and advocacy for low-income clients.
Throughout her career, she has served with the Orange County Government and as an associate with Voight P.A. Before practicing law, she was a nonprofit director for several community organizations in the Big Bend area.
Howard also recognized the immediate past chair, attorney Ava Doppelt, a shareholder at Allen, Dyer, Doppelt + Gilchrist, P.A., for her leadership from 2021 through 2024. Doppelt will continue serving on the council. He acknowledged past leadership contributions, including John Crossman, a FAMU Board of Trustees member and president of Crossmarc Services, who was the council’s first chair, and Emerson Thompson, a retired senior judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit and Fifth District Court of Appeal, who was the first vice chair and remains on the council.
“We have been fortunate to have a core group of committed individuals with stellar credentials serving as ambassadors for the College of Law,” Howard said. “We look forward to collaborating with this distinguished group of leaders to strengthen the law school’s engagement with the community.”
FAMU Law recently added 10 new members to the council, the largest number of FAMU Law graduates to join since the council was established six years ago. Through its Mentoring and Judicial Relations Committees, council members support the college’s strategic goals by helping to secure financial and other resources to advance student academic and professional success.
