DeSoto County Family Lawyers

With more than 15 years of experience in criminal law, as well as experience as a prosecutor, I am able to offer innovative criminal defense representation. If you have been arrested and charged with an offense, then contact my firm immediately for a free case evaluation.

When you come to the law office of Leskovich Law Group, P.A. you can rest assured in the help you can receive from a criminal defense attorney. Criminal charges of any kind are extremely serious and should never be treated lightly. If you have been accused of committing a crime of any kind, it is imperative that you take action and obtain the aggressive defense you need. Attorney Steven S. Leskovich, Esq., attended Kent State University, where he earned his Bachelor of Business Administration Degree. He later attended the Thomas M. Cooley Law School, where he earned his law degree....

Mrs. Patel is a local resident of North Port, Florida where she lives with her husband and their 2 small children. She graduated from Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Florida in 2022 and is passionate about family law. Mrs. Patel is a firm believer in helping clients set their financial and family goals before a divorce is filed, and planning the process out to ensure a mutual resolution is achieved. If a divorce has already been filed, Mrs. Patel will work with her clients to understand what the other side is requesting, and zealously advocating for her client's...

I am a former prosecutor in both Sarasota, Florida and Maui, Hawaii. I have prosecuted and defended some of the most serious crimes.

My focus is provided the highest caliber legal representation to all of my clients in contested legal matters. Your right to a trial by jury is a fundamental right if you have been injured in an accident, accused of a crime or suffered a wrong at the result of someone else's behavior. I differentiate my practice in that I routinely try cases before juries and courts.

I am authorized to practice in all state and federal courts for...

Experience, Respect and Reputation in the community for over 19 years. Dedicated and Aggressive Trial Defense, Criminal Defense, Juvenile Law, Domestic Violence, Family Law/Divorce, Probate, Estate Planning and Guardianship cases. Member United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, July 17, 1998 Member United States Middle District of Florida, August 14, 1998 Member of Sarasota County Bar Association, 1998-2017 Founding Member and Board of Directors of the Collaborative Family Law Professionals of Sarasota/Manatee Graduated Nova Southeastern University, Juris Doctor, January 31, 1998 Associate Editor for Nova Southeastern University Journal of International & Comparative...

I am a practicing attorney with over twenty-seven years experience in Florida and New York. I currently actively litigating family law cases including modification of alimony, domestication of a foreign decree and dissolution of marriage cases. Additionally, I am appearing as local counsel for Plaintiff’s in debt collection, mortgage foreclosure and insurance subrogation cases. I previously served as a Child Support Hearing Officer/Magistrate for the Twelfth Judicial Circuit, Bradenton, Florida.

I have 25 years experience in the legal field as a law clerk, judicial clerk, legal intern and attorney. Since 2000, I've had my own private law practice which has been a general law practice in the past. In the last several years, I have limited my practice areas to certain legal fields. Now approximately 95% of my practice is focused on divorce and family law.

Born and raised in Sarasota, Florida, Richard Ellis graduated with honors from the University of Florida in 1976 and received his law degree from Loyola University New Orleans in 1979. Mr. Ellis has served on the City of Sarasota Planning Board, City of Sarasota Board of Adjustment, and currently serves as Special Magistrate for the City of Sarasota, a position he has held since 1999.

Mr. Ellis has filed in excess of 5,000 Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases over the past three decades and has handled hundreds of family law matters since beginning practice in 1979.

Mr. Ellis spends his...

Ms. Loftus offers a concierge approach to her clients. She begins with the assumption that each case calls for special handling, since no two family law cases are alike. After the initial consultation, she works with her clients closely, to provide them with a basic understanding of Florida family law proceedings. Ms. Loftus and the client are then able to work together to ensure that there are articulated, agreed-upon, legitimate and realistic goals. After the goals are established, Ms. Loftus provides her clients with a range of options designed to meet those objectives. She reviews the advantages and disadvantages of...

Paul M. McDermott, Esq., practices exclusively in the area of Marital and Family Law. He has experience in litigation, mediation, and collaboration. After practicing law in Virginia for many years as a trial lawyer, he relocated to Florida and founded McDermott Law Offices, PLLC and now practices exclusively in the 12th Judicial Circuit of Florida, which includes Manatee County and Sarasota County.

Mr. McDermott is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Law Mediator. He is also trained in Collaborative Divorce Law, an emerging field within the Alternative Dispute Resolution realm focused on resolving cases with a "team" approach...

Kimberly Erwin attended Bishop Verot High School and was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2006, after attending Florida State University and Florida Gulf Coast University, graduating cum laude with a B.S. in Forensic Psychology. Honors included Moot Court Honor Society, Phi Alpha Delta, the Family Law Clinic and the Order of the Barristers Award. After graduating from Nova Southeastern University School of Law, she began her practice in insurance defense and criminal law. As a prosecutor, Kimberly gained extensive trial experience and became the court chief of the juvenile division and head of the special victims unit, prosecuting cases...

I am a Partner in the Law Office of Ayo & Iken PLC, focused on all facets of Family Law. My practice areas include Uncontested and Contested Divorces (Equitable Distribution, Alimony, Time Sharing, Child Support), Paternity (time sharing and child support), Adoptions (Step-parent and relative), Dependency (DCF), and Domestic Violence (DVI).

I received my B.A. in Political Science from the University of South Florida in 2005. My J.D. was completed at Florida Coastal School of Law in 2008. For over 10 years, I have been practicing Family Law in Florida.

Confidence in my abilities and a fearlessness in the courtroom set...

James "Jay" Horne, Jr., is an AV Preeminent Rated trial attorney. He focuses his practice on medical malpractice, personal injury and wrongful death matters. He has successfully represented clients from intake through trial in state and federal court.

Jay and his team of medical professionals can handle any complex medical malpractice case. He has handled cases involving Sudden Unexpected Postnatal Collapse (SUPC), misdiagnosis and misreading of MRIs and other diagnostic methods, which resulted in catastrophic injuries to the patient. A new study published by John Hopkins Professor of Surgery, Martin Makary, indicated that Medical errors,...

Alina Gonzalez-Dockery Life Law Planning Owner/Attorney Born and raised in Lakeland, Florida, the youngest of 3 children; her parents, Cuban refugees, instilled in Alina at an early age the importance of family, community, education, and pride in this country. These values are the reason why she is dedicated to representing her clients and their families for 26+ years in the areas of Divorce, Family Law, Estate Planning and Probate. Alina began her career in private practice, as an associate and then a partner in Harris & Gonzalez, a small law firm in Lakeland, Florida, where she concentrated in Family Law. ...

Paul Rocuant has extensive experience in family law. He graduated from New England School of Law in Boston in 1993 and completed his undergraduate work at the University of Connecticut. Paul has lived in Estero since 1994 and has two children. We are a boutique law firm that strives to provide the best personal service, representation and legal counseling available. Over the years, we have assisted thousands of clients in resolving disputes through negotiation, collaboration, cooperation, mediation, arbitration and litigation.

After law school I was a prosecuting attorney for the State of Florida. This provided invaluable preparation for my future career in litigation. While working as a prosecutor, I recognized a need for attorneys with real litigation experience in Family Law.

I often represent clients that are having their first legal experience through a divorce. I am dedicated to client education as the first step towards achieving a successful outcome. By providing information and legal knowledge, our clients can then be active participants in their cases.

I have represented hundreds of clients with divorce and family law needs. Clients benefit from clear...

Originally from Buffalo, New York with an NY bar license still in effect, I have been living in Sarasota for the last 25 years. My Florida Bar license was obtained in 1978 and I have been practicing since then in the fields of personal injury and family law. I believe in settling cases with mediation when possible and saving clients both time and money whenever possible. I am a member of the Florida Justice Association and believe my motto of "Talk to a lawyer who cares " should be followed. My web page is www.divorcelawyersarasota.com where additional information including client...

Our firm has extensive experience in both state and federal courts, and we are admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Whether you have been charged with a misdemeanor, a felony, or a federal crime, we will aggressively defend your case. With a former prosecutor and a board certified criminal trial expert at our firm, it is clear why we have earned a reputation for our strong trial work. Additionally, the firm takes a special interest in assisting minor clients facing juvenile charges. We firmly believe in protecting the futures' of our...

The Martin Law Firm, P.L. has proudly represented thousands of individuals in Florida with their legal matters.

Mr. Brook received his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida with high honors and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law in 2002, and has been practicing law ever since.

Prior to joining Men’s Rights Law Firm, Mr. Brook was a prosecutor for the State Attorney’s Office for three years and then defended numerous clients in family law and criminal defense cases while operating his own law firm.

Being a very involved father of two children himself, Mr. Brook understands how important it is for men to have their rights protected as co-equal parents, not only...

Attorney Brian Monk has lived in the Central Florida area nearly his entire life. In 2000, he graduated from the University of Florida with a B.S. in Business Management and a B.A. in Political Science. Thereafter, Brian earned a Law degree, a Master’s of Education degree and Specialist degree in counseling from the University of Florida. While in law school, Brian earned a Certificate in Family Law and was named a Fellow of the UF Law Center on Children and Families. Following law school, Brian worked as an Assistant State Attorney in Ocala, Florida, prosecuting felony and misdemeanor cases...

A Lee County, Florida native, Theresa Daniels received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Hodges University (formerly International College) in Fort Myers. She later graduated with honors from Barry University School of Law in Orlando. While in law school, she was a Senior Editor for the Barry Law Review, Executive Board Member of the Barry Association of Women Lawyers, Member of the Student Trial Advocacy Team, and Certified Legal Intern representing juvenile defendants through the school's Children and Families Clinical program. Prior to attending law school, Theresa was the President, Founder and Non-Attorney Claimant...

For over 30 years Edward B. Sobel has provided specialized advice and representation for individuals involved in complex family law matters. Since 1991 he has been board certified by the Florida Bar as an expert in marital and family law. His areas of practice include Florida and interstate divorce, jurisdictional issues, prenuptial agreements, post nuptial agreements, domestic violence, paternity, parent, nonparent and grandparent child custody and timesharing, and alimony and child support. Mr. Sobel appears in original and modification cases. He has represented clients in numerous appeals, with many published opinions. His office is in Bradenton,...

Matthew Trail has represented hundreds of children and parents across the state of Florida in IEP meetings, discipline referrals and due process complaints. As a former legal aid attorney, judicial clerk and Peace Corps volunteer, Matthew had dedicated his career to ensuring justice for those most in need. Matthew grew up in Tennessee and received his undergraduate degree in 1999 in communications-journalism from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He worked for two years as a journalist in Texas and North Carolina before returning to Tennessee for law school. After graduating law school from the University of Tennessee College of Law in...

Whitney C. Coyne received his Juris Doctorate from The Florida State University College of Law in 2001. He has been a member of the Florida Bar since 2002 and during that time has had the opportunity to litigate thousands of cases.Coyne Law, P.A. is dedicated to zealously advocating on behalf of our clients. Attorney Whitney Coyne has been practicing in the Sarasota/Bradenton area for over 15 years. During that time, he has accumulated a wealth of knowledge to assist his clients with any situation or need that has arisen due to their legal issues. Mr. Coyne began his career as...

I am a native of central Georgia until I moved to Florida in 2011. While in Georgia, I attended Georgia Institute of Technology for Aerospace Engineering and obtained my degree in Business Administration and Business Economics from Georgia State University. After graduating from Georgia State in 2010, I moved to central Florida to attend Barry University School of Law, starting August 2011. In summer of 2012, I began an internship for a criminal defense attorney in Orlando, focusing on white collar defense. By late 2012, I was gaining experience family law matters and made the decision to shift...

Managing Attorney of Bates-Buchanan & Savtisky Law Group since 2011 when the private law firm Bates-Buchanan Law Group, which is now Bates-Buchanan & Savitsky Law Group added Susannah Savitsky as a partner in October 2012. Specializes in Probate, Estate Planning, Trust Managment, Collaborative non- litigation family law cases, as well as animal trust planning, real estate and collections law, foreclosure defense, landlord/tenant law and bankruptcy. Dawn Marie is a graduate of Venice High School, Venice, FL and University of South Florida in Tampa. She graduated from Stetson University College of Law in 1998 and worked for Community Legal Services of...

Mark D. Drasites is a partner at Lusk, Drasites & Tolisano, P.A. where he handles a wide array of legal matters. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Drasites was an Information Systems Project Manager at ExxonMobil in the Washington, D.C. area. This unique background in navigating large corporate governance and intense project requirements has allowed Mr. Drasites to quickly make an impact in his practice of law and the legal community.

Mr. Drasites grew up in Fort Myers, FL and had always known he would make his way back to Southwest Florida to pursue his career. He has the...

For nearly three decades I have navigated the legal system, achieving the results my clients desire. As a former prosecutor with hundreds of trials under my belt, I understand that a successful lawyer is not just an aggressive one in the courtroom but also a compassionate one outside of it. Anyone can be aggressive; it takes experience and dedication to understand when to be each. You need a lawyer to preserve your interests during the worst of times. My job and my privilege is to assist my clients through the legal system and the pitfalls that are contained therein.

Ms. Williams obtained her Bachelors and Masters degree from the University of Florida. After working in corporate america for a few years, she attended law school at Stetson University College of Law. Upon her graduation from law school, Ms. Williams started her legal career in 2013 practicing family law at a small law firm in Fort Myers, Florida. In 2014, she accepted a position at a mid-size firm in Stuart, Florida. Her areas of practice included mortgage foreclosure defense, family law, personal injury and general civil litigation. In 2015, she began managing the firm's satellite office in Fort Myers, Florida....

I have been a resident of the Sarasota area for most of my life, attended Pine View School, and am fluent in Spanish. Upon obtaining my law degree, I knew I wanted to return to the Sarasota County area and started work immediately as an Assistant State Attorney in Sarasota County, where I worked as a misdemeanor and juvenile prosecutor for several years. Since leaving the prosecutor’s office, I have practiced in the areas of civil litigation, insurance defense, family law, domestic violence and criminal defense. My practice is focused on all aspects of the firm’s...

Paul Grondahl is a Massachusetts native who has made Florida home for twenty years. He earned a business degree from Bryant University in 1991 and his law degree from the University of Miami in 1996. Paul is Vice-Chairman of the Manatee County Family Law Section and a member of the Florida Bar's Family Law and Trial Lawyers Sections. Paul began his practice in 1996 as a personal injury trial lawyer in West Palm Beach, where he spent many years trying cases on behalf of prominent insurance companies. He now utilizes that trial experience to represent victims of automobile and other...

Mark Nelson is a third generation Florida lawyer. He was born in St. Petersburg Florida and moved to Bradenton Florida in 1987. He represents individuals, small businesses and large businesses primarily in civil litigation matters. In addition to being a licensed Florida lawyer, Mark Nelson is a Florida Supreme court certified circuit court mediator.

I am a graduate of Boston University School of Law and have practiced in the area for over 35 years. I was formerly the Director of Litigation and supervisor of the Immigration Unit at Gulfcoast Legal Services.I have represented clients in all types of immigration matters, including family petitions, U-Visas cases, Removal of conditions, VAWA Self Petitions, Citizenship, Consular Processing, Application for Green Card, 601-A Waiver Applications, Asylum, Cancellation of Removal and Removal Defense.I also have experience filing immigration appeals in federal court.
i have been a speaker for AILA CFC annual conference and for FILIAA on immigration matters as...