Twenty-four FIU Law alumni have been named to the 2014 Super Lawyers‘ list of Rising Stars. No more than 2.5 percent of lawyers in Florida are named Rising Stars. The honorees include: Rafael Alonso (Alonso & Perez, LLP), Alejandro R. Alvarez (Piedra & Assoc., P.A.), Denise Ben-David (WNF Law, P.L.), Erica Cañas (Fitzgerald & Isaacson, LLP), Susan Capote (Wargo French), George Castrataro (The Law Office of George Castrataro), Daniel Cervantes (Hogan Lovells (US) LLP), Daniel Cruz (Brown Sims), Lourdes De Armas-Suarez (Walton Lantaff Schroeder & Carson LLP), Kimberly Jordan Donovan (Squire Patton Boggs), Gaspar Forteza (Blaxberg, Grayson & Kukoff, P.A.), Kim R. Greenberg (Kim R. Greenberg, P.A.), Mendy Halberstam (Jackson Lewis P.C.), Brett Kaplan (Klein Glasser Park Lowe & Pelstring, P.L.), Brian Karpf (Young, Berman, Karpf & Gonzalez, P.A.), Marco Leyte-Vidal (Leyte-Vidal & Mazzitelli), Gabriel D. Mazzitelli (Leyte-Vidal & Mazzitelli, P.L.), Ivan J. Parron (Parron Law), Lucia V. Pazos (Brown Sims), Sue-Ann Robinson Caddy (Robinson Caddy Law), Eduardo F. Rodriguez (Avila Rodriguez Hernandez Mena & Ferri LLP), Rick Ruz (Rick Ruz, PLLC), Cristina M. Suárez (Astigarraga Davis) and Alex Tirado-Luciano (Lydecker | Diaz).
“Congratulations to the honorees. It is wonderful to be recognized by your peers for contributing to the profession,” said FIU Law Dean R. Alexander Acosta. “I am proud of our alumni and everything the faculty at FIU Law does to prepare our students for the profession.”
“Each year, more and more of my colleauges are recognized as some of the best in their respective fields,” said FIU Law Alumni President Robert Scavone Jr. “I am proud to be an FIU Law alumnus and very happy for the honorees.”
Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high rating of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations. The Rising Stars list is developed using the same patented multi-phase selection process used for Super Lawyers. To be eligible for inclusion in Rising Stars, a candidate must be either 40 years old or younger or in practice for 10 years or less. No more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state are named to Rising Stars.