If you are looking for a lawyer who will represent you well and treat you with respect, you are in the right place. I am a St. Petersburg attorney, and over the years I have represented many LGBTQ clients, mostly in criminal defense and DUI cases, and I bring that same care to personal injury and wrongful death work. This is not a slogan on a page. It is how I practice: without judgment, with real skill, and with an understanding that the person in front of me deserves a strong defense or a strong claim and to be treated with dignity while I fight for it.
How I can help
Criminal defense and DUI, handled with skill and discretion
Criminal and DUI cases are the heart of my practice. I came up as a public defender, trying cases and cross-examining witnesses constantly, and I bring a forensic, science-driven approach to DUI defense that most lawyers cannot match, reading breath, blood, and field sobriety evidence the way the lab does. What matters just as much to many of my clients is how a case is handled. I understand that a charge can carry a fear of being outed to family, to an employer, or to a community, sometimes at the worst possible moment in someone’s life. I handle these matters quietly and carefully, I talk through what is and is not part of the public record before anything happens, and I never treat a client as anything less than a full person. When a case can be resolved discreetly, I look for that path, and when it needs to be fought, I fight it. You can read more about my criminal defense and DUI defense work.
Personal injury, wrongful death, and your family’s rights
When you are hurt or you lose someone because of another person’s negligence, you deserve a lawyer who will fight for the full value of your claim and who understands your family for what it is. A married spouse, including a same-sex spouse, has the same right to bring a loss of consortium claim when a husband or wife is seriously injured, and the same standing in a wrongful death case, as any other married couple in Florida. There is one piece of this that matters especially for same-sex couples. Florida’s older common law rule generally required a couple to have been married before the injury, which was unfair to couples who were legally barred from marrying before 2015. Florida courts have begun to correct that. In Philip Morris USA Inc. v. Rintoul, No. 4D2020-1963 (Fla. 4th DCA Oct. 23, 2024), a Florida appellate court recognized a surviving spouse’s consortium claim where the couple would have married but for the unconstitutional ban, and in Ripple v. CBS Corporation, No. SC2022-0597 (Fla. May 9, 2024), the Florida Supreme Court held that a spouse who married after the injury can still recover as a surviving spouse in a wrongful death case. This is an evolving and increasingly fair area of the law, and it is one I watch closely. You can read more on my personal injury and wrongful death pages.
Bias in the system, and why it matters
It would be good to say that bias no longer shapes how cases are handled, but it can still show up in quiet ways, in how a police report is written, in how a person is treated after an arrest or a crash, and in the assumptions a jury may carry into the courtroom. Part of representing you well is seeing that clearly and working against it, with evidence, with preparation, and with a plain, credible account of what really happened. I have spent my career holding the state and the insurance companies to their proof, and that is the same work whether the bias in a case is about who you are, how you look, or anything else. You should not have to carry that weight on top of the case itself, and with me, you will not carry it alone.
The communities I serve
I am based in St. Petersburg, which holds one of the strongest records for LGBTQ inclusion of any city in the country and is home to a large and visible community centered on the Grand Central District and the neighborhoods around it like Kenwood. Just to the southwest, Gulfport is a genuine hub with its own community and events, and across the bay, Tampa’s Ybor City has long been a center of the area’s gay community. To the south, Sarasota has an established community of its own. I represent clients throughout these areas and across the six Gulf Coast counties I serve, which are Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Manatee, Sarasota, and DeSoto.
What to expect when you call
You will talk to me, not a screener, and the first consultation is free. I will listen to what happened, give you my straight read on it, and explain your options in plain terms. If you hire me, I handle your case personally from start to finish, I keep you informed, and I treat you and the people you love with respect at every step. Whether the matter is a criminal charge, a DUI, or a serious injury, you will have a lawyer in your corner who is ready to take it as far as it needs to go.
You deserve a lawyer who takes your case seriously and treats you with respect, and that is how I practice. I came up in the courtroom as a public defender, and I bring a forensic, science-driven approach to DUI and criminal defense along with real trial experience. I represent people from every walk of life, I handle each case personally, and I am ready to go to trial when that is what a fair result requires. Learn more about my background.
Common Questions
Do you represent LGBTQ clients in both criminal and injury cases?
Yes. Criminal defense and DUI are the core of my practice and where I have represented many LGBTQ clients over the years, and I bring the same respect and the same standards to personal injury and wrongful death cases.
Will my case out me to my family or my employer?
I understand that a charge or a lawsuit can carry that worry, and I handle these matters with discretion. A great deal of a case can be managed quietly, and I will walk you through what is and is not part of the public record before anything happens, so there are no surprises.
Can my spouse recover if I am seriously injured or killed?
A married spouse, including a same-sex spouse, has the same right to bring a loss of consortium claim, and the same standing in a wrongful death case, as any other married couple in Florida. The law on the timing of the marriage has been moving in a favorable direction for couples who were barred from marrying before 2015.
Do you serve Gulfport, Tampa, and Sarasota?
Yes. I am based in St. Petersburg and represent clients across the Gulf Coast, including Gulfport, Tampa and its Ybor City community, Sarasota, and the surrounding six counties.
What will it cost to talk to you?
The first consultation is free. Criminal and DUI matters are handled on a flat or agreed fee, and injury cases are handled on contingency, so in an injury case you pay no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.
