Homestead Maritime Lawyers

I worked for the insurance companies for 10 years before becoming a trial lawyer for the past 37 years. While working for the insurance companies I learned how insurance companies operate and gained valuable inside information. I have concentrated my practice in the area of personal injury including automobile accidents, premises liability, in adequate security, brain damage, and a variety of other types of cases. I am bilingual in English and Spanish.

I pride myself on the personal service we give to every client. I provide my cell phone number for 24/7 access to me personally. I...

Maria Isabel Amaro was born in Colombia, South America in 1970. Ms. Amaro relocated to Miami, FL in 1985 and has lived in Miami for the last 24 years.

Ms. Amaro graduated from Nova Southeastern University with her Bachelors in Business Administration and a minor in Professional Management in 2005. Ms. Amaro attended Saint Thomas University School of Law receiving her Juris Doctor in 2008.

She was also a certified legal intern for Legal Aid of Greater Miami in the Family Law department for two semesters.

Upon being admitted to the Florida Bar in 2008, Ms. Amaro joined the law firm of Friedman,...

ROBERT L. GARDANA is a graduate of the University of Florida (B.A. 1975) . He obtained his Juris Doctor from St. Mary’s University of San Antonio Law School in 1979. He is admitted to the Florida Bar, the Supreme Court of the United States, the Fifth and Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, United States District Court, Southern, Middle and Northern District of Florida. He is a member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States, Southeast Admiralty Law Institute, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, American Bar Association, Florida Bar Admiralty Law Committee. His practice...

Mr. Margulies is board certified by the Florida Bar as an expert in Admiralty and Maritime Law. To achieve this status, Mr. Margulies had to demonstrate a substantial background in handling maritime cases and maritime law continuing legal education. In addition, Mr. Margulies was rigorously evaluated by the board as to character, ethics, and reputation for professionalism and was required to pass a written examination on all areas of admiralty and maritime law.

Spencer Aronfeld, is a board-certified civil trial lawyer who has earned international recognition as being a “lawyer for the people.” Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Wichita, Kansas, Aronfeld graduated cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 1991. Upon graduation, he founded his own firm, Aronfeld Trial Lawyers, based in Coral Gables, Florida.

He has dedicated his life to representing individuals against corporate giants, such as Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruise Lines, Disney Cruise Lines, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Holland America Cruise Lines, Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, Stryker, Target, Publix, Walmart, Mt....

Attorney Jason M. Melton, is a founding partner of Whittel & Melton. As a former state prosecutor, he continues fighting for victims bringing in some of the largest single event results in Central Florida. Jason is a lifetime member of the Multi-Million and Million Dollar Advocates Forum, AV-Rated by Martindale-Hubbell and continues to be listed among SuperLawyers in Florida by Thomson Reuters. He is a Founding Member of the National Academy of Motorcycle Injury Lawyers, and in 2023 was named President. Attorney Melton is dedicated to providing clients with personalized, high-quality representation. We handle Auto Accidents, Slip and Fall, Injury, Nursing...

Jason Turchin, Esq. is an Attorney, Author, Media Correspondent, Producer and Entrepreneur who has handled more than 6,500 Personal Injury, Accident, Product Liability, Life Insurance, and Wrongful Death Claims. Jason has appeared throughout the national and international news on various legal topics, including car accidents, wrongful death, product liability, Takata airbag shrapnel claims, exploding pressure cooker claims, life insurance, personal injury and more. Several major media outlets have turned to Jason for legal opinions or stories on his cases, including CBS Evening News, Wall Street Journal, Miami Herald, Bloomberg News, CBS Miami, Orlando Sentinel, Sun Sentinel, Telemundo, The New...

Charles R. Lipcon has represented victims of cruise ship personal injury and cruise line sexual assault and claims for more than 50 years. His firm, Lipcon, Margulies & Winkleman, P.A., has successfully handled more than 3,000 cases and recovered well over $450 million on behalf of their clients. Mr. Lipcon was named "Lawyer of the Year" in Admiralty & Maritime by US News & World Report (Miami) in 2020 and his firm is named to "Best Law Firms" by US News & World Report. Mr. Lipcon and his firm can assist with the following types of accidents and injuries: - Cruise...

Florida Board Certified Admiralty & Maritime Attorney; "AV" Preeminent Rated with Martindale-Hubbell; Member of Multi-Million & Million Dollar Advocates Forum; Super Lawyer Member & Lecturer ... Southeastern Admiralty Law Committee; Member & Lecturer ... Ft. Lauderdale Mariner's Club; Three U.S. Coast Guard Marine Engineering Licenses (Inactive); Sailed seven (7) years aboard Offshore Drilling Platforms; Specialties: Personal Injury, Wrongful Death, Resort-Vacation, Negligent Security, Sexual Assault, Premises Liability, Pool & Hot Tub Entrapment Drowning Claims. Admiralty & Maritime Lawyer licensed in Florida & Massachusetts.

Mitchell J. Panter is Board Certified as a Civil Trial Lawyer by the Florida Bar and National Board of Trial Advocacy, primarily practicing in the areas of Personal Injury, Wrongful Death, Product Liability, Sexual Assault, Food Contamination and Premises Liability Cases. Mitchell Panter is also Board Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in Civil Trial Advocacy since 1996. At the age of 31, Mitchell Panter argued the case of American Aerial Lift v. Jose Perez in the Florida Supreme Court addressing the issue of Strict Liability and Product Liability. This precedent setting case involved the award of a...

Jack Hickey is the lead trial attorney at Hickey Law Firm, P.A. For the first 17 years of his practice he represented Cruise lines and insurance companies. For the last 17 years, he has been trying personal injury and wrongful death cases in the areas of cruise ship accidents, sexual assault and rapes on cruise ships, admiralty and maritime, medical malpractice, premises liability including inadequate security, car, truck and bus crashes, product liability, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and other catastrophic, life changing injuries. Hickey is Board Certified in 2 areas, Civil...

Michael A. Winkleman is one of the nation’s top maritime lawyers. An active trial and appellate attorney, Mr. Winkleman is also a frequent contributing expert on maritime and cruise ship law. He has made more than 100 national television appearances regarding cruise ship law, including The Today Show, Dr. Oz, Good Morning America, 20/20, Inside Edition, OutFront with Erin Burnett, Fox News Channel’s ‘American’s Newsroom,’ ‘Fox & Friends,’ ‘America Live,’ ‘Happening Now,’ ‘Justice with Judge Jeanine’; and ‘Imus in the Morning.’ Mr. Winkleman has received numerous honors and accolades in recognition of his contributions to the field of maritime law

Philip M. Gerson is a board certified civil trial lawyer who has practiced law in Miami, Florida for more than 40 years. He is a cum laude graduate of the University of Miami Law School, where he was a member of the editorial board of the Law Review, a Moot Court winner and student instructor in legal research and writing. Mr. Gerson is admitted to practice in all Florida Courts, the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Claims, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits, and the United States District Court for...

Nicholas I. Gerson is a personal injury attorney whose practice consists of representing plaintiffs in serious, catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases. Mr. Gerson focuses on auto, truck, and motor vehicle accidents, cruise ship accidents, maritime and marine related injuries, negligent security, premises liability, victims of crime, and other complex litigation.

Mr. Gerson is known within the legal community for his hard work, dedication and providing zealous legal representation. He has secured over 25 million dollars in jury verdicts and personal injury settlements in his first 13 years of practice. Some of Mr. Gerson's highlights include a $1.7 million dollar jury...

Holzberg Legal is a Maritime and Personal Injury Law Firm in Miami, Florida. We are uniquely positioned to represent passengers and crewmembers against all major cruise lines as the majority are headquartered in Miami, Florida, including Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, and Norwegian Cruise Line. Most Cruise Lines require that if you are injured, you must file suit in Federal Court in the Southern District of Florida. For over 30 years, we have been representing passengers and crew injured on cruises, on pleasure boats, yachts, jet skis. we specialize in medical malpractice by ships doctors and...

Brett Rivkind is a world renowned Maritime Personal Injury Lawyer. He has decades of experience handling maritime and admiralty cases. Mr. Rivkind represents individuals and families who have been the victims of accidents and crimes onboard all types of boats and ships, including incidents occurring aboard cruise ships. Well recognized for his dedication and excellence, Attorney Rivkind has testified before the United States Congress as a maritime expert, and has appeared on numerous television show including Larry King Live, MSNBC, Good Morning America, The Today Show, 20/20, Court T.V., Nancy Grace, Scarborough, Rita Cosby Show, The Early Show, Geraldo at...

David Pollack is an AV rated attorney who specializes in complex business litigation and appeals. His practice focuses on maritime, labor and employment, defamation, and construction litigation. In 2006, Mr. Pollack obtained the largest verdict in an internet defamation case in the United States, which was later affirmed on appeal. Mr. Pollack regularly represents businesses in cases involving defamation, employment discrimination, wage and overtime claims, and other commercial matters. He also represents passengers and crew members in cases involving maritime personal injuries. Mr. Pollack has written and argued more than 50 appeals before the Third District Court of Appeal, the...

Edward S. Schwartz has practiced law in Miami, Florida since 1982. He graduated magna cum laude from Williams College and cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law, where he served as Articles and Comments Editor of the Law Review. He is admitted to practice in all Florida courts. He is a member of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers and of its Appellate Practice Section. He has also served on the Amicus Committee of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, in which capacity he has prepared and submitted amicus briefs on behalf of that organization. His practice...

Curtis J. Mase is the Managing Shareholder and founder of Mase Mebane & Seitz. He is board certified in civil trial law by the Florida Bar and National Board of Trial Advocates (NBTA). Mr. Mase is also board certified in pretrial practice by the NBTA. His main area of practice is civil litigation with an emphasis on maritime and admiralty, personal injury and class actions. Mr. Mase has tried hundreds of jury and non-jury matters. Born in Coral Gables, Florida, Mr. Mase earned his B.A. with a dual major in English and Business from Florida State University in 1982. He graduated...

Justin B. Shapiro is a partner at Leesfield & Partners, a renowned personal injury law firm located in Miami, Florida. Upon graduating Magna Cum Laude from the University of Miami School of Law, Mr. Shapiro joined the firm and immediately focused his practice on catastrophic injury cases and wrongful death cases. Upon being named Partner, Justin Shapiro obtained a record verdict of $36,960,000.00 in a wrongful death.

Raul G. Delgado II is personal injury attorney who is a lifelong resident of Miami, Florida. Mr. Delgado’s practice focuses exclusively on the representation of injured passengers and crew members who were hurt on cruise ships around the world, in addition to those who are the victims of catastrophic injury or wrongful death involving auto, truck, motor vehicle accidents, recreational boating, negligent security, premises liability, and victims of crime. He is a member of the Florida Bar’s Admiralty Law Committee which is responsible for studying developments in this niche area of the law and informing members of the Bar of...

James Hannon is a native of Miami, Florida and a founding shareholder of the law firm, Hannon Legal Group. The firm began on Brickell Avenue in the heart of Miami's financial district and relocated to central downtown Dadeland. The Firm specializes in serious personal injury, medical malpractice, wrongful death, negligent security, dialysis errors, pharmacy errors, premises liability, defective products, crime victim's rights, cruise line negligence and insurance claims.

Mr. Hannon holds an AV Preeminent Rating - the highest rating for legal skill and ethics - in the Martindale-Hubbell Legal Directory and has been repeatedly recognized as one of the "Best Lawyers...

“Achieving substantial compensation for our seriously injured clients in a way that dramatically improves the quality of their lives is the most satisfying thing about the work that we do.” Robert B. Boyers

Elizabeth Estrada is a Partner at Friedman Rodman Frank & Estrada, P.A. she represents clients in the areas of Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice Claims, Products Liability, Motor Vehicle Accidents, Insurance Coverage Disputes, Negligent Security, Wrongful Death, Catastrophic Injuries, Nurse Home Negligence, Workers' Compensation Claims, Long-shore, and Harbor Act Based Claims. She has litigated, arbitrated, and mediated cases throughout the State of Florida.

Ms. Estrada has obtained several million-dollar settlements, judgments, and jury verdicts on behalf of her clients during her career. She is a member of Million Dollar Advocates Forum, a membership for trial lawyers who have won million-dollar settlements and...

Ricardo V. Alsina is an active trial attorney and maritime lawyer at Lipcon, Margulies, Alsina & Winkleman, P.A. Mr. Alsina has been a member of the Florida Bar since 1991 and has earned a Martindale-Hubbell rating of AV – the highest rating for legal ability and professional and ethical standards in the industry. He focuses his practice on maritime related matters including cruise ship personal injury, cruise ship rape matters and wrongful death claims. He is also experienced in handling a number of personal injury areas including aviation disasters, automobile accidents, medical malpractice and class action civil lawsuits.

Patrick W. Harland, Jr. is a seasoned litigator and personal injury attorney having tried cases in both Florida State and Federal Court.

Upon graduating from Stetson University College of Law in 1999, Mr. Harland focused his law practice on defending insurance companies as well as some of the nation’s largest nursing home chains in liability suits relating to patient care. Mr. Harland also defended physicians in correctional healthcare cases brought by inmates alleging civil rights violations due to inadequate healthcare.

Today, Mr. Harland uses that defense background to the advantage of St. Petersburg clients who have been injured by the negligence of...

David C. Rash is a graduate of Loyola University New Orleans School of Law. Mr. Rash is a recognized trial lawyer who handles catastrophic injury and death cases involving medical negligence, corporate negligence, maritime disasters and mass torts. He is Rated AV Preeminent® by Martindale-Hubbell®, which means he has earned the highest rating possible through rigorous peer reviews, and has been recognized as a Top 100 Trial Lawyer by The National Trial Lawyers, Florida Super Lawyers, Florida Trend's Legal Elite and Florida's Top Rated Lawyers. Mr. Rash has been practicing law for over 20+ years and has taken cases...

David Markel is a personal injury attorney whose practice consists of representing plaintiffs in serious, catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases. Mr. Markel focuses on auto, truck, and motor vehicle accidents, cruise ship accidents, maritime and marine related injuries, negligent security, premises liability, victims of crime, and other complex litigation.

Born and raised in Miami, Florida, Mr. Markel graduated from Ransom Everglades School in Coconut Grove where he was an All Dade County football player and AP Scholar. Mr. Markel attended Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he continued his football career and graduated with a degree in History...

I have been representing people who need help ever since I graduated from Suffolk University Law School in 1997. I am a member of good standing of the Florida Bar, the Washington DC Bar, the Federal Southern District of Florida Bar, the Rhode Island Bar, the Dade County Bar Association, a board member of the Miami-Dade Justice Association, and a member of the Italian American Chamber of Commerce in Miami. I handle cases all over Florida in both the Federal and State Court.

Manny Arce is a civil trial lawyer whose practice focuses on personal injury claims including medical malpractice, wrongful death, auto accidents, premise liability, and defective products. He prides himself in his aggressive negotiation skills and impassioned advocacy on behalf of his clients.

Manny is a second generation Cuban-American who received his undergraduate degree at the Florida International University where he majored in Political Science. While attending F.I.U., he was nominated to the Honor Society of Pi Sigma Alpha.

He received his law degree from the University Of Miami School Of Law. While attending U.M., Manny was an active participant in multiple organizations....

Michelle has concentrated in the area of plaintiffs’ civil trial practice since the beginning of her legal career. Her experience includes land-based and admiralty/maritime personal injury, wrongful death, and class action litigation. Michelle works closely with her clients and will always take the time to address their concerns and provide an honest assessment of their cases.

Michelle was co-lead counsel in a jury trial in Broward County resulting in one of the top 100 personal injury verdicts in Florida in the year 2017. She is fluent in Spanish.

Brandon Stein is a Florida based trial attorney born in Queens, New York, and was raised in East Brunswick, New Jersey. Being the son of an accountant that owns a large firm in New Jersey, owning and operating a business is something that was engrained within Brandon Stein from a very young age.

As owner and founder of SteinLaw, Brandon Stein focuses his practice on personal injury, wrongful death, car accident and slip and fall litigation, as well as a variety of other civil litigation areas. While SteinLaw is based out of Florida, Attorney Stein handles cases all around the country.

Being...

Jacqueline Garcell is a senior partner and active trial attorney in maritime law for Lipcon, Margulies & Winkleman, P.A. She routinely handles passengers’ personal injury, sexual assault and wrongful death claims, as well as non-maritime personal injury claims. Ms. Garcell is the fastest attorney to ever make partner at the firm, having been promoted to the partner position after being with us for a decade. Ms. Garcell has helped settle hundreds of cases on behalf of both cruise ship passengers and crew members. She achieved one of the Top 50 Personal Injury Verdicts in Florida in 2017 — this rare and...

Mr. Mermell has been the senior partner for the past twenty years in a firm that specializes in the representation of injured workers; Mr. Mermell has handled the claims of over 2,000 injured workers during the past 27 years; Mr. Mermell has tried numerous cases before the Office of Administrative Law Judges and has successfully handled appeals to the Benefits Review Board and the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit; Mr. Mermell was trained by Donald D. Gillis, Esquire, who had over 35 years of experience in handling DBA/Longshoremen’s claims; Mr. Mermell has been Florida Bar Board...