Meet white-collar Criminal Defense attorney Carol “Jodie” Breece. Jodie was born in Seoul, Korea.  Her father, an American who was working for the U.S. Department of Defense, first met her Korean mother while she was working for the U.S. State Department in the same building.  When Jodie was four, her family moved to Okinawa, Japan, where she attended Department of Defense schools.  The family then moved to California, and finally to Washington, D.C. where Jodie attended high school, college and law school.

After graduating from law school at Catholic University, Jodie continued the family tradition of government service, and went to work for the State Attorney’s office in Miami under the leadership of Janet Reno.  In 1994, Jodie went to work for the Office of Statewide Prosecution in Orlando, and by 1999, she was the Deputy Chief.  Jodie then took on the challenge of opening the Miami Office of Statewide Prosecution, which she ran until 2007.

Jodie then went into the private sector, performing project management for a forensic accounting and litigation support firm.  She managed cases where members of the firm were hired as expert witnesses, and helped to plan and organize their accounting work from an attorney’s perspective.  Jodie also worked on receivership projects, both liquidating and maintaining businesses.  

Jodie found herself at a crossroads in 2009 when that firm went out of business, and she decided it was the right time to challenge herself to start her own law firm, Carol J. Breece, P.A., specializing in white collar criminal defense.  This is Jodie’s first experience in running a business, but she says she gets support from her husband, as well as the five other independent attorneys with whom she shares office space, ideas and referrals.  

Jodie is also a Certified Fraud Examiner and currently serves as a traffic hearing officer one day per week, which she describes as being “a lot of fun.”  Jodie says being in criminal court is always interesting, and in her years of practice, she has seen a number of crazy antics – from chairs thrown at a prosecutor, to birds being released in a courtroom for good luck.  

In her spare time, Jodie enjoys cycling, cooking, and attending meetings of her Movie Club with a group of friends.  Jodie boasts that the group is very good at picking Oscar contenders and holds its own awards ceremony called the “Groovies.”  This year, the group was nearly in sync with the Academy, picking five or six out of the eight Oscar winners.  Jodie also describes herself as an “awesome cocktail inventor and maker.”

Jodie is a member of the WCC Board of Directors and says she enjoys the WCC’s networking opportunities and the chance to meet people outside of the legal profession.  Jodie says the people at WCC events “are always very nice, and are all interested in meeting new people and making business opportunities.”  If you are in need of a criminal defense attorney, Certified Fraud Examiner, or cocktail inventor, look for Jodie at the next WCC event!