Board Members
Ranger Jackson
President
Ranger Jackson is an Attorney with Battaglia, Ross, Dicus, and McQuaid, P.A., Ranger is admitted to practice law in Florida, California, and Colorado and his background includes working as a felony and misdemeanor prosecutor for over six years at the State Attorney’s Office in Pinellas County. During his career, he tried over forty cases to verdict including DUI, domestic violence offenses, drug possession and sales, and white collar-crime. Ranger prides himself on using the latest technology to achieve results. During his tenure in Pinellas County, he was promoted to the head of the electronic investigations unit where he specialized in prosecuting crimes involving digital evidence such as GPS trackers and cell phone location information. Now in private practice, Ranger strives to achieve the best possible outcomes for his clients.
Rachel Wise
Vice President
Rachel Wise is a Florida native who was born and raised in the Tampa Bay Area. She received a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Florida in 2016. Throughout her time in school and post-undergraduate, she worked in the political world with various campaigns, elected officials, and the Florida House of Representatives.
In 2017, she started at the Stetson University College of Law. While in law school, she was a member of the Trial Team where her teams won various regional and national competitions. As a 3L, she served as President of the Student Bar Association where she worked with her board to donate more than $20,000 to COVID relief for Stetson students. Ms. Wise knew she wanted to do defense work early on in her law school career. While in school, she studied Comparative Trial Advocacy at Oxford University, interned at the Federal Public Defender for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa, and later worked as a Certified Legal Intern at the Public Defender’s Office of the Sixth Circuit Court. She graduated from Stetson in 2020 with a Juris Doctorate and a Certificate of Concentration in Advocacy.
After graduation, Ms. Wise continued working at the Public Defender’s Office as an Assistant Public Defender, where she has been for the last 2+ years. In that time, she has tried a wide variety of cases from simple misdemeanors and domestic violence to violent felonies and drug charges.
She strongly believes that a good attorney should not only advocate passionately for their clients, but also should share their knowledge to help inspire other attorneys who are new to the field and help them grow. As such, she has returned to Stetson where she coaches for the Trial Team and mentors budding attorneys in her free time.
Daviana Braniff
Secretary
Daviana Marie Braniff was born in Clearwater, Florida, but primarily grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. After receiving a scholarship for women’s soccer, Daviana attended Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia where she received her degree in Psychology. Daviana then attended the University of Georgia School of Law where she interned with the Office of the Fulton County District Attorney. After graduating, she moved back to the sunny state of Florida to be with family. Daviana worked as an Assistant State Attorney in the Sixth Judicial Circuit from October 2015 until January 2019 prior to joining the firm. She is an experienced trial attorney who handles all criminal matters with a focus on major crime. Daviana and her husband Daniel have two children James and Henry and two lovable dogs named Stella and Benno together.
Julia Seifer-Smith
Treasurer
Julia Seifer-Smith is an Assistant Public Defender in the Capital Team at the Law Offices of Sara B. Mollo, Public Defender of the Sixth Circuit. She is a Board Certified Specialist in Criminal Trial Law and is first-chair death penalty qualified. Julia has been an Assistant Public Defender since her graduation from law school in 2010, initially in Miami and now Clearwater, and earlier supported and advocated for the underrepresented all over the world, including indigenous people in New Zealand and Australia, asylum seekers in England, and indigent criminal defendants in San Francisco and New York City. Julia has a B.A. from New York University, an M.A. from the University of London, and a J.D. from the City University of New York School of Law.
Kali deVlaming
Immediate Past President
Kali deVlaming was born and raised in Clearwater, Florida. She received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at the University of Central Florida (2011). After graduation from college, Ms. deVlaming moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she worked for a Commercial Real Estate company. While there, she became interested in law and received her paralegal certificate from Emory University (2015). She then made the decision to go to law school and graduated from Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida (2017). Ms. deVlaming has been a member of the Florida Bar since April of 2018.
After graduating from Stetson, Ms. deVlaming was given an appointment as an Assistant State Attorney for the Sixth Judicial Circuit of Florida and worked in that capacity for three years from 2018 through 2021. While at the State Attorney’s Office, Ms. deVlaming gained invaluable courtroom experience, handled thousands of cases including drug trafficking, sex crimes, property crimes, crimes of violence, and DUI. She ran several Motions to Suppress, Motions to Dismiss, and Stand Your Ground hearings. Ms. deVlaming tried over 25 jury trials (both misdemeanor and felony crimes). Ms. deVlaming enjoyed her time at the State Attorney’s Office, but now is excited to be practicing criminal defense at her father’s law firm; deVlaming & Rivellini, PA. Ms. de Vlaming has handled everything from traffic citations to Attempted Murder and truly enjoys being an advocate for her clients.