Barry S. Balmuth

What do the areas I practice in, Eminent Domain, Personal Injury & Wrongful Death, Bankruptcy Litigation, and Business/Commercial Litigation, have in common? If not settled, cases of these types will be decided by a trial. Many lawyers describe themselves as justice lawyers, trial lawyers, or litigators or use similar terms meant to suggest that they have some special competence in pursuing a lawsuit for damages.

BOARD CERTIFIED

However, just over 1,000 of over 86,000 Florida lawyers, or a little more than 1 percent of all Florida attorneys, are Board Certified by the Florida Bar, which regulates the practice of law in Florida, as Civil Trial Lawyers. Only Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyers are allowed by the Florida Bar to identify themselves as specialists in the trial and litigation of civil cases - cases where the party filing suit (or, in eminent domain cases, the party being sued) is seeking money damages or some other kind of relief from the party being sued. The requirements to become a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer include having had a sufficient number of trials including jury trials, passing an examination, and obtaining positive reviews from other lawyers and judges. While most civil cases are settled, some are not and, if your case does go to trial, it is good idea to have an attorney who is certified as a specialist in the trial and litigation of civil cases representing you. Also, you are more likely to get a satisfactory settlement of your case if the party and lawyers on other side know you have an attorney representing you who is ready, willing, and able to try your case.

In addition to being Board Certified by the Florida Bar as a Civil Trial Lawyer, I am a Board Certified Business Litigation Lawyer and, therefore, I am allowed to identify myself as a specialist in business litigation. Just over 200 Florida attorneys, or a fraction of 1 percent of all Florida attorneys, are Florida Bar Board Certified Business Litigation Lawyers. An even smaller number of lawyers are Board Certified in both civil trial law and business litigation law. Information from the Florida Bar on its certification programs for civil trial lawyers and business litigation lawyers can be found in the following pamphlets located on its Web site: Florida Bar pamphlet regarding board certification of civil trial lawyers and Florida Bar pamphlet regarding board certification of business litigation lawyers.

AV RATED, ETC.

Please also consider that the leading rating service for lawyers, Martindale-Hubbell, has rated me "AV," its highest rating for legal ability, indicating such ability is "very high to preeminent," and ethics. More information on Martindale-Hubbell's ratings can be found at Martindale.com. I was also selected by a blue ribbon panel for inclusion in Super Lawyer magazine, an honor bestowed on less than 5 percent of lawyers. More information on the selection process for Super Lawyers magazine can be found at Super Lawyers. I am a life member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, a group whose membership is limited to attorneys who have obtained a verdict, settlement, or award in excess of $1,000,000.

RESULTS

In the results section of this web site, we have listed proven results in cases of these types, many of which were high profile matters. While every case has different parties, facts, judges, and juries and we can not guarantee any specific result, we can guarantee that, if you hire us, we will work hard and use all of our abilities to obtain the best possible result for you.

HISTORY

After obtaining law and MBA degrees in 1990 from law and graduate business programs at Emory University that are consistently ranked in the top 25 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report , I was admitted to the Florida Bar. I began my legal career with a full service law firm and then gained valuable civil trial and civil jury trial experience at the Palm Beach County Attorney's Office. At the County Attorney's office, I handled most of Palm Beach County's eminent domain proceedings and bankruptcy proceedings and many of its personal injury, wrongful death, paramedic malpractice, and other high profile lawsuits. Among these was the litigation over a 9 million dollar contract to buy property known as the Yamato Scrub and the recovery of 2.5 million dollars that the South Lake Worth Inlet District attempted to dissipate just before it was dissolved. In 1997, I established Barry S. Balmuth, P.A.

HIRING A SOLE PRACTITIONER

Since I am a sole practitioner, when you hire Barry S. Balmuth, P.A., you get me, Barry S. Balmuth, an AV rated Florida Bar Board Certified Civil Trial lawyer and Business Litigation lawyer who has been practicing since 1990 working on your case, not a junior associate with limited experience as is the case at some larger firms.

REASONABLE FEES

Finally, please consider our reasonable fees. If you are a property and/or business owner being affected by the government or a utility's use of its eminent domain power to take property, you will not have to pay us any fees. This is because the Florida constitution and Florida statutes require an entity using the power of eminent domain to pay full compensation for the property acquired and to pay for the damages to a qualified business resulting from that property acquisition. As part of that obligation, an entity using the power of eminent domain must pay an owner and qualified business' attorney's fees and expenses IN ADDITION TO ANY COMPENSATION IT MUST PAY.

Like virtually all attorneys handling personal injury and wrongful death cases, we handle personal injury and wrongful death cases on a contingency basis. The attorney's fees are contingent on the outcome - you don't pay any fees if there is no recovery. You also won't pay any expenses of the case unless we obtain compensation for you. However, our fees are lower than many other attorneys handling such cases. The Florida Bar allows attorneys to be paid a fee of up to one-third of the recovery if a case is settled without suit being filed and up to 40 percent of any recovery after an action is brought if fault is contested. If we take on your personal injury case, we will ask you to instead pay 30 percent of the recovery if the case settles before suit is filed and 36 percent if the recovery comes after the case is filed and fault is disputed. Therefore, our fees are 10 percent less than what the Florida Bar allows and this could mean you keep a greater portion of any recovery. My staff and I welcome you to our Web site. On this site, there is more information on my education, experience, qualifications, and area of practice as well as links to other informative sites. We hope you will find our site informative and useful.

OUR GOAL

Our goal is to provide high quality legal services in a timely fashion. We consider the representation of our clients a privilege and we promise you we will work hard to get the best possible result for you or your loved one.  We welcome the opportunity to discuss how we can help youwith no cost or obligation.*  Please contact usby calling 561-242-9400 or, toll-free, at 866-452-9400 or E-mail us by clicking one of these contact ushyperlinks. 
 

* We also file individual and corporate bankruptcy cases where significant litigation is not expected and charge a modest amount for initial consultations in such cases.  However, we credit the amount to the overall fee for the case.