Wegis, Ralph B.

Marsha L. Weaver was born and raised in Petal, Mississippi. Ms. Weaver graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi before attending and graduating from Mississippi College School of Law in 1993. During her third year, Ms. Weaver was accepted and attended Stetson University College of Law as a visiting third year student. Ms. Weaver was a President and Dean's List Scholar and was selected for Who's Who Among American Law Students in 1993. In October 1993, Ms. Weaver was admitted to The Florida Bar and has nearly 17 years of experience practicing law.

Civil and Criminal Experience

At the beginning of her career, Ms. Weaver was associated with a law firm in Pensacola, Florida which devoted its area of practice to civil litigation, primarily practicing in the area of personal injury. Ms. Weaver also focused on the representation of clients on family law cases. In 1994, Ms. Weaver joined the Office of the Public Defender as an Assistant Public Defender assigned to the County and Circuit Courts of Escambia and Okaloosa Counties in which she represented clients on thousands of misdemeanor and felony cases.

Judicial Staff Attorney

In 1995, Ms. Weaver was selected as a judicial staff attorney for the judges of Okaloosa County. In her position as staff attorney, Ms. Weaver assisted the Circuit Court judges with complex civil litigation cases and criminal cases, including murder trials wherein the state was seeking the death penalty during both the guilt and penalty phases of the trial.

General Magistrate of the First Judicial Circuit

In 2004, Ms. Weaver was honored to be appointed as a Magistrate for the First Judicial Circuit and was assigned to the Circuit Court of Okaloosa County. As Magistrate, Ms. Weaver was assigned to the family law division. Ms. Weaver presided over a family law division docket hearing and deciding family law cases, including, but not limited to divorce, custody, child support, alimony modifications, visitation/timesharing, contempt/enforcement motions, paternity and military divorce issues. Further, she was assigned to the dependency division of the juvenile court and presided over hundreds of cases involving abandonment, abuse and neglect of children. As part of her duties in the dependency division, she presided over the Family Focused Dependency Drug Court which provided an opportunity for parents with substance abuse and/or alcohol addictions to obtain treatment with court monitoring. To be able to preside over the drug court, Ms. Weaver received comprehensive drug court training at the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada which has proven to be invaluable in her representation of clients in criminal and family law cases. Ms. Weaver was also assigned to the probate division and presided over Baker Act and Marchman Act hearings and determined whether or not a person should be involuntarily committed to a mental health or substance abuse facility. In addition, Ms. Weaver presided over county civil matters and circuit civil matters including landlord/tenant, county civil suits, small claims and forfeiture cases.

Weaver & Weaver

In October 2008, Ms. Weaver joined the firm her husband, Timothy Weaver, founded in Navarre, Florida, which was renamed Weaver & Weaver, Attorneys at Law. At Weaver & Weaver, Ms. Weaver practices in the areas of family, civil and criminal law. Ms. Weaver serves as a mediator for family law and civil cases having been certified by the Florida Supreme Court as a Certified Family and Certified Circuit Civil Mediator. Ms. Weaver is a member of the family law section of the Florida Bar, a former chairman of the Unlicensed Practice of Law Committee of the Florida Bar, a member of the Escambia/Santa Rosa and Okaloosa/Walton County Bar Associations. In addition, Ms. Weaver is a member of the Florida Academy of Professional Mediators, the Navarre Area Chamber of Commerce, and member of the board of directors for the Community Drug and Alcohol Council (CDAC).