Mariko Shitama Outman

Mariko Shitama Outman represents clients in a wide range of commercial matters in state and federal court at both the trial and appellate level. Mariko’s focus at the trial level is on legal issues, motions practice, preservation of error, and jury instructions. She has handled all aspects of appeals, including development of issues and arguments for appeal, jurisdictional briefing, merits briefing, and oral argument.

Mariko previously served as a law clerk on Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal to the Honorable Chris W. Altenbernd, who served on the court for twenty-seven years.

Mariko is also very active in pro bono matters. She is committed to advocating on behalf of indigent criminal defendants and for equal access to justice. Her note on the unconstitutionality of life without parole for juveniles convicted of felony murder was published during law school by the Florida Law Review and was cited in a decision by the Wyoming Supreme Court. Mariko clerked for the Equal Justice Initiative during law school, when the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision abolishing mandatory sentences of life without parole for juveniles in Miller v. Alabama, a case argued and won by the Equal Justice Initiative. She continues to represent pro bono clients on this issue and others. She recently obtained the reversal of two life sentences for a client who was convicted of felony murder as a juvenile.

Publications

• Co-author with Sylvia Walbolt, Jurors Are Only Human: Proper Instructions Can Aid Their Good-Faith Deliberations, Litigation Journal (publication of the ABA Section of Litigation), Vol. 46, No. 2 at 44 (Winter 2020).
• Co-author with Peter Webster, More Is Usually Better: One Objection to An Expert’s Opinion Will Not Necessarily Preserve a Challenge to Its Admission, “I Object! A Blog On Preservation of Error,” by Carlton Fields, March 5, 2019.
• Careful What You Ask For: Think Twice Before Asking the Appellate Court to Uphold Pleadings You Failed to Fix in the Trial Court, “I Object! A Blog On Preservation of Error,” by Carlton Fields (November 12, 2018).
• Co-author, Good for the Goose, Good for the Gander: Waiver of a Waiver Objection, “I Object! A Blog On Preservation of Error,” by Carlton Fields (June 12, 2018).
• Washington Court Finds Coverage For “Collapse” Is Not Set In Stone, Property Casualty Focus, Blog by Carlton Fields (August 5, 2016).
• Note, Bringing Our Children Back from the Land of Nod: Why the Eighth Amendment Forbids Condemning Juveniles to Die in Prison for Accessorial Felony Murder, 65 Fla. L. Rev. 813 (May 2013).
• Comment, A Pioneer in Prison Reform: Costello v. Wainwright and its Paradoxical Legacy in Florida Prisons, 92 Fla. Hist. Q. 381 (Spring 2013).

Speaking Engagements

• “Preservation of Error for Construction Lawyers,” the Hillsborough County Bar Association Construction Law Section, CLE (February 13, 2020).
• “Preservation of Error for Appeal,” the Florida Bar Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section, Construction Law Committee Telephonic Conference, CLE (January 14, 2019).
• “Settling Appeals: A Look at Issues That Arise as an Appeal Settles,” Carlton Fields Appellate & Trial Support CLE (July 12, 2018).
• “Update for Trial and Appellate Lawyers: Decisions and Rules,” Carlton Fields Appellate & Trial Support CLE (March 1, 2018).
• Judicial Panel at the Hillsborough County Bar Association Appellate Law Section, 19th Annual Bench Bar Conference (October 27, 2015).
• Presented Comment published in the Florida Historical Quarterly, “A Pioneer in Prison Reform: Costello v. Wainwright and Its Paradoxical Legacy in Florida Prisons,” Florida Historical Quarterly, at the Middle District of Florida’s 50th Anniversary Academic Symposium (2013).

Clerkships

• Hon. Chris W. Altenbernd, Florida Second District Court of Appeal

Education

• University of Florida Levin College of Law (J.D., cum laude, 2013)
  • Order of the Coif
  • Executive Notes and Comments Editor, Florida Law Review
• University of California, Santa Cruz (B.A. Philosophy, 2005)

Bar Admissions

• Florida

Court Admissions

• U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
• U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida
• Florida State Courts

Background

• Associate, Carlton Fields (2016-2019)
• Law Clerk to the Honorable Chris W. Altenbernd, Florida Second District Court of Appeal (2014-2016)
• Associate, Carlton Fields (2013-2014)

Professional Activities

• Co-Chair, Appellate Law Section, Hillsborough County Bar Association (2015-2016)
• J. Clifford Cheatwood Inn of Court (2014-2016)