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Dr. D. Denise Wallace, Esquire
Vice President and General Counsel

Dr. Wallace serves as the Chief Legal Officer for Florida A&M University Board of Trustees and legal advisor to the President, Provost, Vice Presidents, and other University Administrators.


Shira R. Thomas, Esquire
Deputy General Counsel

Practice Areas:

• Contract Law
• Research Transactional/IP
• Labor and Employment Law
• Higher Education Law
• Administrative Law

Shira R. Thomas, Esq. serves as the Deputy General Counsel at Florida A&M University. Attorney Thomas provides advice and counsel on transactional matters to each Department and Division within the University, with concentration in the areas of Sponsored Programs and Technology Transfer, Licensing, Procurement and Immigration. Ms. Thomas has a long history of legal service in Florida’s public sector. After graduating from the Florida State University College of Law as Virgil Hawkins Fellow, she joined the Florida Department of Environmental Protection legal team from 1994 through 1999. From November 1999 through September 2004, Attorney Thomas served as Assistant General Counsel with the Office of the General Counsel at Florida A&M University. In September 2004, she was promoted to Associate General Counsel and again promoted to Deputy General Counsel in July 2008.She also served as Acting General Counsel from December 2015 through September 2016 and again from January 2017 through May 2019.   She is a member of the Tallahassee Women Lawyers, the National Association for College and University Attorneys, and various other civic and legal organizations.

David C. Self, Esquire
Associate General Counsel

Practice Areas:

• Real Property
• Public Finance
• Debt Management
• Leasing

As an Associate General Counsel, David C. Self, II brings more than twenty five (25) years of private sector experience to the University’s legal staff.  Mr. Self specializes in real property, leases, debt management, public/private partnerships, public finance and general contract law.  In that capacity, Mr. Self advises the University on matters involving the campus “physical plant” – construction, expansion, campus leases and other contracts.  Mr. Self is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, B.J. and the University of Florida, College of Law where he served on the Law Review.  Mr. Self is an active member of several legal and civic organizations.

Candace Stuart Morris
Assistant General Counsel

Practive Areas:

• Student Affairs
• Public Records and Subpoenas
• Discovery Coordination

Abigail V. Raddar
Executive Assistant

Mrs. Raddar received a B.S. Degree in Office Administration from Florida A&M University and commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Armed Forces in 1990.  Currently, Mrs. Raddar serves as Executive Assistant to the General Counsel and the University’s Agency Clerk.


Cornelia Collins
Executive Secretary

Ms. Collins coordinates contracts, public records, and subpoenas  for the Office of the General Counsel and serves as the University's  Deputy Agency Clerk.