Attorneys

Contact

South Florida Office
One Financial Plaza, 23rd Floor
100 Southeast Third Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, Florida  33394
(954) 492-4010 (tel)
(954) 492-1144 (fax)

Assistant Name: 
Karen Purdy

Assistant E-mail: 
kpurdy@cftlaw.com

Assistant Phone: 
(954) 492-4010 x1215

    

Maria Elena Abate
Shareholder
mabate@cftlaw.com
Direct Dial: (954) 492-4010

Since joining Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate in 1992, Maria Elena Abate has built her reputation and expertise in the areas of civil rights claims, class action litigation, governmental affairs and insurance matters representing individuals, corporations and state agencies in cases dealing with discrimination, constitutional violations, insurance, employment and health care issues.

Being named partner in 1997 and shareholder in 2001 affirmed Ms. Abate’s strengths as an attorney, client advocate and respected leader among her peers.

Prior to joining the Firm, Ms. Abate served as a staff attorney for The Honorable Arthur M. Birken, the Honorable Miette K. Burnstein, the Honorable Robert L. Andrews, the Honorable Patricia W. Cocalis, the Honorable Mel Grossman the late Honorable Joseph E. Price, and the late Honorable Stephen R. Booher of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County, Florida.

An attorney skilled in complex insurance issues, Ms. Abate has been involved in the representation of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation and has represented the Florida Residential Property and Casualty Joint Underwriting Association, as well as the Department of Insurance, Division of Rehabilitation and Liquidation Services.

For six years, Ms. Abate served as General Counsel to the South Florida Workforce Board for Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. 

A member of the Florida Bar, Ms. Abate is admitted to practice in all Florida state and appellate courts, the United States District Court for the Southern, Middle, and Northern Districts of Florida, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. She is a member of the Florida Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Broward County Bar Association, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida Legal Panel in Miami-Dade County, and the Stakeholder’s Committee for the United States Equal Opportunity Commission Miami District Office.

Ms. Abate chairs the Florida Bar’s Public Interest Law Section's Legal Needs of Children Committee and is a member of the Bar's Public Interest Law Executive Committee. 

She also is a founding board member of the Florida Breast Health Initiative, a charitable organization dedicated to providing free mammograms to uninsured women.

Fluent in Spanish, Ms. Abate received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Miami, cum laude, and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Miami School of Law, cum laude.


Practice Areas

·  Bad faith insurance claims
·  Employment law
·  Class action litigation
·  Children’s rights
·  Civil rights
·  Government in the sunshine




Education

· University of Miami, J.D., cum laude
· University of Miami, B.A., cum laude



Professional Associations and Memberships

· The Florida Bar, admitted 1988
· District Court/Southern and Northern Districts of Florida
· Court of Appeals/11th Circuit
· The American Bar Association
· The Broward County Bar Association
· The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida Legal Panel
· Equal Opportunity Commission Stakeholders Committee
· American Trial Lawyers Association
· Stephen R. Booher American Inn of Court (2008)



Civic and Community Involvement

· Florida’s Children First
· Florida Bar Public Interest Law Section Chairman, 2008-2009
· Florida Bar's Public Interest Law Section Legal Needs of Children Committee Co-Chair
· The Florida Breast Health Initiative
· Springview Elementary EESAC Committee




Special Recognition

· AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell
· Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities
· 2005 South Florida Legal Guide Top Lawyer
· 2006, 2008 Super Lawyer

 

Conferences Attended

· Florida Bar Public Interest Law Section and Legal Needs of Children Committee Annual Reception, June 19, 2008
· State of the Florida Insurance Market Summit:  2006, 2007, 2009
· Class Actions hosted by CLE International, Oct. 2007
· Interviewing/Examining Child Witnesses hosted by the National Constitution Center Conference, July 2007
· Changing Mental Health hosted by the Florida Bar, Jun. 2007
· Leadership in the Law hosted by the Stephan R. Booher American Inn of Court, Mar. 2007
· Do You Hear Me Now? Child Hearsay Considerations hosted by the Florida Bar Association, Mar. 2007
· Panelist for the Panel Discussion Practical Issues with Child Hearsay from Various Perspectives
· Case Management/ECF hosted by the United States District Court, Apr. 2006
· Catastrophic Insurance Claims Seminar, Mar. 2006
· Children's Legislative Conference, Jan. 2006
· 2005 ACLU Lawyers' Conference hosted by the Florida ACLU, July 2006
· Employment Law hosted by the Broward County Women's Law Association and the Florida Bar, May 2005
· After the 2004 Hurricane Season, Dec. 2004
· 2003 Masters Seminar on Ethics hosted by the Florida Bar, Jun. 2004



Recently Published Articles and Media Appearances

· June 4, 2009--"Florida Supreme Court:  Motion to Compel Appraisals Now Immediately Appealable Under Amended Appellate Procedure Rules"  In-depth analysis of the revised Rules of Appellate Procedure adopted by the Florida Supreme Court on January 30, 2009.

· Federation of Regulatory Counsel ("FORC") Quarterly Journal of Insurance Law and RegulationVol. 19 Edition 1, Spring 2008--"Putting a Stop to the Parade of Horribles", co-authored by Maria Abate and Amy Koltnow. This past September, 2007, after three long years of claims handling and litigation chaos, the Florida Supreme Court put an end to the havoc wreaked by the 2004 appellate court decision in Mierzwa v. Florida Windstorm Underwriting Ass'n, 877 So.2d 774 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004), that shifted the burden of paying for non-covered flood damage to homeowner insurance companies.

· Sept. 27, 2007--"A Judicious End to the Parade of Horribles" In-depth analysis of the September 25, 2007 Florida Supreme Court reversal of Florida's Valued Policy Law, by Maria Elena Abate, Shareholder, Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate.

· The Miami Herald, Oct. 23, 2007--"Breast cancer survivor raises awareness"Front page feature article on the Florida Breast Health Initiative ("FBHI"). CFTKA Shareholder Maria Elena Abate is a founding board member of the FBHI, a charitable organization dedicated to providing free mammograms to uninsured women by targeting neighborhoods likely to have the highest concentrations of the uninsured and underserved.

· A.M. Best 12th installment of the Insurance Law Podcast--To listen to a podcast of attorneys Maria Abate and Amy Koltnow from the law firm of Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate, P.A. in Florida discuss an important Supreme Court decision favoring major insurance companies, click here.

· The Florida Bar News, Volume 35, Number 3, Feb. 1, 2008--"Public Interest Law Section Advocates for a Just Society" Ms. Abate was featured in this article about the Public Interest Law Section in her capacity as Vice-Chair.