better together

After Hurricane Ian hit Fort Myers in September 2022, many people felt powerless. Better Together sprang to action with a team of staff and thousands of caring volunteers knocking on more than 10,000 doors to serve every single family that asked for the nonprofit organization’s help. Here are just a few photos of those efforts in action.

After The Storm

Meet the Honorable Christopher Brown

On November 8, the duly elected Judge Christopher Brown was commissioned by Governor Ron DeSantis to fill the vacancy left by Judge Mike Provost upon his retirement in August.

He is currently assigned to the Collier County civil docket where he presides over lawsuits, evictions and a myriad of other matters. Through cross-designation as a Circuit Judge he backs up other judges by covering such matters as civil injunction hearings and felony trials. He will, of course, also cover criminal trials for other county judges, when necessary.

Before taking the bench, Judge Brown practiced criminal, civil and appellate litigation for more than 16 years at the firm of Brown, Suarez, Rios & Weinberg, P.A. Judge Brown tried well over 150 cases to verdict in state and federal courts, in addition to arguing dozens of appeals, before taking the bench.

Judge Brown received industry recognition for his work as an attorney. In 2007, he was awarded the FACDL’s “Extra Mile” Award. From 2012 to date, he has maintained an AV rating with Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest rating given regarding both competency and ethics. He has also maintained a 10/10 rating from Avvo since that service began to rate him in 2010. In 2018, the Florida Bar Board certified Judge Brown as an expert trial lawyer. Finally, for the last four consecutive years of his law practice, Judge Brown was featured in Super Lawyers magazine as one of the best criminal defense attorneys in Florida.

Judge Brown grew up in Naples and graduated from Gulfview Middle School and Naples High before going on to become a Double Gator by getting his bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Florida (JD 99’). His wife Lynn Brown was born in Naples and also graduated from Naples High before going on to Princeton (99’). Married in 2011, the couple have three children in school in Naples. Therefore, when not working as a Judge, Judge Brown spends most of his time with his kids at practices, games, plays and recitals.

By Lauren Baugh