Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics

Michael H. Kugler, the Director of Litigation at Demand the Limits, Personal Injury Attorneys, has dedicated his career to obtaining justice through our court system on behalf of all categories of victims. He approaches his cases with tenacity, compassion, and respect. He has the ability to relate with all victims in a unique and honest way that they know he is fighting for them.  Mr. Kugler litigates cases on behalf of individuals and families who have been wronged by the negligence of others.  He handles also personal injury matters including automobile and trucking crashes, premises liability, nursing home negligence, medical malpractice, and product liability.

Mr. Kugler began his legal career at the Office of the State Attorney in Palm Beach County. With over 100 jury trials, Mr. Kugler prosecuted every crime from DUI to Capital Sexual Battery to the Death Penalty. As a vital member of the Special Victims Unit, Mr. Kugler prosecuted the most violent predators in our community and gave a voice to child victims of sexual abuse. Mr. Kugler is a member of the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) for Palm Beach County, which created and runs the county's first dedicated sexual assault examination site. The examination site coordinates the medical, law enforcement, forensic, and legal response to sexual violence in the community. Mr. Kugler gained national media attention with his prosecution of a former WPTV Weatherman who sexually preyed on young and vulnerable teenagers.

Originally from California, Mr. Kugler came to South Florida on an academic scholarship to the University of Miami where he obtained his Bachelor of Business Administration. Before attending law school atNova Southeastern University, Mr. Kugler was a licensed stock broker working for a boutique broker dealer in Boca Raton. While at Nova Southeastern University Law School, Mr. Kugler was a member of multiple mock trial teams, and the Vice President of the school's trial organization.

Danielle A. Sherriff, an attorney for the School District of Palm Beach County, is an experienced trial attorney, having tried over 100 jury and non-jury trials. Prior to joining the School District, Ms. Sherriff was a personal injury attorney and an Assistant State Attorney in Palm Beach County for over 13 years. While at the State Attorney’s office, she was chief of the Traffic Homicide Unit where she supervised a team responsible for the prosecution of crimes such as DUI Manslaughter, Vehicular Homicide, and Leaving the Scene of a Crash Involving Death in addition to other criminal traffic offenses. Prior to that role, she prosecuted felony cases of all levels, including burglaries, robberies, sexual batteries, and attempted homicides.

Ms. Sherriff has a strong commitment to the legal community and the community at large. She has served as President of the Palm Beach County Chapter of the Florida Association of Women Lawyers and as President of the F. Malcolm Cunningham, Sr. Bar Association. She is also an active member of several committees within the Palm Beach County Bar Association and the Florida Bar.  Ms. Sherriff also serves as a mentor for both high school and law school students, and she regularly speaks at local schools in her efforts to help educate students about the law, ethics, and civics.

Originally from Queens, New York, Ms. Sherriff moved to South Florida in high school.  She earned her Juris Doctor from Florida State University College of Law and her Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice with a minor in Political Science from Florida International University.

Peter Cruise is Executive Director of the LeRoy Collins Public Ethics Academy and Affiliate Associate Professor at Florida Atlantic University. Both his academic and professional careers have been focused on improving the ethical climate in public sector programs and organizations.

Since graduating with his Ph.D. in Public Administration from FAU in 1995, Dr. Cruise taught ethics and organizational behavior to both undergraduate and graduate students atuniversities such as California State University-Chico, Golden Gate University, Louisiana State University and Mary Baldwin University. Before beginning his academic life, his professional career started in West Palm Beach in the early 1980s, working at St. Mary’s Hospital, the Palm Beach Blood Bank, and later at Martin Memorial Hospital in Stuart.

In addition to many published articles, he is the co-editor of the Handbook of Organization Theory and Management: The Philosophical Approach (2nd Edition, 2006). In April 2015, Dr. Cruise was selected as a Distinguished Alumnus by the faculty of the College of Design and Social Inquiry at Florida Atlantic University.

Michael Kridel is a Certified Public Accountant and Shareholder in Michael S. Kridel, C.P.A., P.A., in Delray Beach. He holds the Certified in Financial Forensics, Certified Information Technology Professional and Certified Forensic Consultant designations as well as others. Mr. Kridel has practiced public accounting in South Florida since graduation from The George Washington University. Prior to reestablishing his named practice in 2018, he was a Partner in Daszkal Bolton for 17 years and then a Principal in Rehmann Robson for nearly 5 years. He previously practiced as a sole practitioner. Mr. Kridel has provided accounting, tax and litigation services in a broad range of matters including family law, stockholder actions, financial damages, fraud detection, criminal and civil tax matters, wrongful discharge and professional malpractice defense.

Mr. Kridel is a frequent speaker and author, garnering numerous awards, at national and local conferences for accountants and attorneys on topics such as litigation services, professional ethics, eDiscovery, practice management, information technology and human resources. He is a certified ethics instructor for CPAs in Florid , an online instructor in forensic accounting courses for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a guest instructor at Florida Atlantic University and other institutions. He is a longtime member of the Editorial Review Panels of the Journal of Accountancy and Florida CPA Today. Mr. Kridel has been a Rotarian since 1986 and is a board member of multiple not-for-profit organizations.

For more than 25 years, Mr. Kridel has facilitated an award-winning seminar, Ethical Decision Making in the Workplace and Society, for Broward County high schools, positively influencing in excess of 15,000 seniors. He is also the accounting profession’s representative member of the Education Advisory Committee of the Florida Board of Accountancy.

Rodney Romano is a Florida Licensed Attorney and Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil Mediator. He founded Matrix Mediation in 2006 to bring a next level of excellence and consistency to the mediation profession. Mr. Romano has conducted more than 22,000 hours of circuit civil mediations and has been a member of the Florida Supreme Court appointed Mediator Qualifications and Disciplinary Review Board since 2009. Rodney is a former Board Certified Civil Trial Attorney and served 4 terms as Mayor of the City of Lake Worth, Florida.

Mr. Romano earned his law degree from Nova Southeastern University and his Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory University. Prior to admission to the Florida Bar, Rodney was a Florida Licensed Nursing Home Administrator and a Florida Certified General Contractor.

Rodney is a licensed (non-current) private pilot and Nitrox certified scuba diver, and a lifelong resident of Palm Beach County. He is married to Lynnette and has five children and three grandchildren.
For a more detailed resume, please see www.matrixmediation.com.