Thanks for visiting my Injury Board page. I feel that Injury Board is a wonderful platform to inform members of the public about their rights if they’ve suffered injuries as a result of negligence. It’s wide-reaching and innovative. Most importantly, its members are of equal mind when it comes to providing quality service to their clients, while upholding the integrity of our profession.
I think it is important for each and every trial lawyer to take their jobs very seriously. It is all too easy for trial lawyers to gain a bad reputation, so the trial lawyer in today’s society must also be an advocate for the profession itself, and in doing so must absolutely do “no harm”. Bad publicity for one trial lawyer doesn’t just hurt them, it hurts the image of every other trial lawyer, therefore hurting the image of the people that the trial lawyers are representing.
But what about me? I was born and raised in Titusville, Florida. After graduating high school, I went to college at Loyola University in New Orleans, where I earned a B.A. in journalism. After earning my B.A., I decided to go on to law school, and in 1994, I earned my law degree from Stetson University. Upon graduating from law school, I Moved to Polk County, where I have been practicing law ever since.
I became a trial lawyer for many reasons, including my experience of having worked for a few trial lawyers before, but the most important reason was that I knew I could be an effective trial lawyer without having to change who I am or the beliefs that I hold dear. Since I speak Spanish fluently (I am Cuban-American), I also enjoy being able to connect with Hispanic clients in a way that would be difficult for non-Spanish speaking lawyers.
I am an active member of the Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Lake Wales, and am also very involved in several organizations around my community, such as the Lake Wales Arts Council and the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida.
I love living in Lake Wales, and have been so blessed that my husband Keith and I have been able to raise our two beautiful children, Isabel and Harris, in this community. There are some jobs that would force me to behave in a way that I would find unethical, or force me to give up my hobbies due to time constraints, but being a trial lawyer is not one of those jobs.
I represent plaintiffs in trial law because of my previous work experience. I used to clerk for insurance defense firms, and in my time there I was able to learn how exactly insurance adjustors and defense attorneys approach claims.
While the insurance companies were justifiably frustrated with obviously frivolous claims, I was discouraged to see how that frustration would then negatively impact their opinions about valid claims. Having learned how the cards were stacked against plaintiffs, I knew I could be an effective advocate for people who were fighting uphill battles in order to merely pursue their rights.
In addition to being able to see both sides of the story in a case, I think that the good trial lawyer is the person that can be convincing and effective and still retain his or her composure. I have had many opposing attorneys approach me (after the case was over, of course!) and compliment me on my professionalism, stating that it was a relief to deal with an attorney who was not difficult for the sake of being difficult. These comments always come as a shock to me, since I myself have often had the pleasure of working with and working against extremely intelligent, diligent and professional lawyers and adjusters.
While I have had the pleasure of working with many wonderful people, and on many rewarding cases, the cases that I have found the most meaningful are the ones in which our odds of success were slim. One such case went all the way to the Florida Supreme Court, and so did I (four months pregnant with morning sickness to boot). I was elated when the favorable decision came down almost a year later. It is such a good feeling to be successful when so many people think that you will fail.
I love working with Lilly, O’Toole, and Brown, because we are accessible and responsive to our clients. We do not insulate ourselves behind droves of caseworkers, and are very much personally invested in our cases. It is very rewarding to work in an environment where everyone around me has the same passion for law and justice that I do.