Ceci Culpepper Berman

Practice Areas

Board certified in appellate practice, Ceci focuses her practice on complex commercial appeals and has a proven track record of winning high-stakes, bet-the-business cases. In addition to traditional commercial litigation appeals, her experience also includes bankruptcy, family law, and land use appeals. Ceci regularly speaks and writes on these and other appellate topics.

Before joining Brannock Berman & Seider, Ceci was a shareholder with the statewide law firm Fowler White Boggs, P.A., now Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, P.C., where she served on both the Writing Committee and the Associate Evaluation Committee. A leader in the Florida Bar, Ceci is a past Chair of the Appellate Practice Section, and she has served on the Appellate Court Rules Committee. She is also a past Chair of the Civil Procedure Rules Committee.

Ceci is an active participant in the local community and bar. She has served as Chair of the Hillsborough County Bar Association’s Appellate Practice Section, as a Barrister in the Cheatwood American Inn of Court, and as a longtime volunteer with the Junior League of Tampa. Ceci is a graduate of Leadership Tampa and Leadership Tampa Bay. She earned her B.A. with honors from the University of Florida and her J.D. from Georgetown Law.

Professional Memberships

• Appellate Practice Section of The Florida Bar

o Former Chair of the Section

o Former Vice Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer of the Section

o Former Chair of the Programs and Continuing Legal Education Committees

o Program Co-Chair of the Advanced Appellate Practice and Appellate Certification Review Course

o Program Chair of the Family Law Appeals seminar and the Bankruptcy Appeals seminar

o Marketing Chair of The Art of Objecting: A Trial Lawyer’s Guide to Preserving Error for Appeal seminar

• Florida Civil Procedure Rules Committee

o Former Chair of the Committee

o Former Vice Chair of the Committee

o Former Secretary of the Committee

o Former Chair of the Drafting Subcommittee

• Florida Appellate Court Rules Committee

o Former Chair of the Civil Practice Subcommittee

o Former Chair of the Orientation Committee

o Former Vice-Chair of the Civil Practice Subcommittee

o Record Subcommittee

• American Bar Association

o Member of the Litigation Section

o Member of the JD Appellate Judges Conference Section

o Former Co-Chair of the Litigation Section’s Young Lawyers Subcommittee of the Products Liability Committee

• Hillsborough County Bar Association

o Appellate Practice Section

 Former Chair of the Section

o Construction Law Section

o Marital & Family Law Section

o Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section

o Former Chair of the Law Week Committee’s Proclamations Subcommittee

• Leadership Tampa, Class of 2013

• Leadership Tampa Bay, Class of 2006

• Business Law Section of The Florida Bar

• Family Law Section of The Florida Bar

• American Bar Foundation, Fellow

• Florida Bar Foundation, Fellow

• Florida Association for Women Lawyers

• Hillsborough Association for Women Lawyers

• Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association

• J. Clifford Cheatwood American Inn of Court (Barrister)

• United States Supreme Court Historical Society

• Florida Supreme Court Historical Society

• Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals Historical Society

• Second District Court of Appeal Historical Society

• Third District Court of Appeal Historical Society

• Trial Law Institute, Member

Publications

• “When Bankruptcy Appeals Attack: Refining the Flexible Approach to Finality in Bankruptcy Proceedings,” 94 Florida Bar Journal 22, September/October 2020

• “Bankruptcy Appeals: A Stealthy and Different Kind of Appeal,” 88 Florida Bar Journal 35, April 2014

• “The Proper Use of Commercial Mechanisms in Family Law Matters,” The Florida Bar Family Law Section Commentator, Summer 2010

• “Enforcing Proposals for Settlement and Offers of Judgment in Federal Court: Mission Impossible?” 83 Florida Bar Journal 32, December 2009

• “Chapter 2: Pulling Together the Record on Appeal,” Chapter Author and Assistant Editor, The Pro Se Handbook: Representing Yourself on Appeal, 2008

• “The Importance of Transcripts for the Record on Appeal,” Lawyer (Hillsborough County Bar Association), March 2008

• “When and Where Can Lawyers Cite Unpublished Opinions?” The Record (The Florida Bar’s Appellate Practice Section), Lawyer (Hillsborough County Bar Association), Summer 2007, October 2007

• “Bankruptcy Appellate Procedure,” The Florida Bar Bankruptcy Appeals Seminar, March 8, 2007

• “Appeals During and After Arbitration—State and Federal Issues,” 79 Florida Bar Journal 35, January 2005

• “Responding to Requests for Electronic Documents and Data Bases: An Inside and Outside Perspective,” Co-Author, ABA Journal Meeting Published Materials, April 2003

• “Standard for Design Defect: A Monograph,” Chapter Author for Georgia and South Carolina, ABA Section of Litigation’s Product Liability Committee’s 50 State Survey, 2003

Education

Awards