Marlow, Connell, Abrams, Adler, Newman & Lewis

Experienced and successful attorneys providing the highest levels of integrity, commitment and responsive service.

Marlow, Connell, Abrams, Adler, Newman & Lewis, founded in 1956, offers its clients extensive experience and a proven track record in representing the full range of defense and litigation claims throughout Florida while upholding the highest professional and ethical standards.

With over 50 years litigation experience, Marlow Connell’s team of seasoned attorneys has the knowledge and capabilities required to ensure successful outcomes in handling defense claims across an impressive spectrum of practice areas, doing so with superior dedication and discretion. The firm represents professionals, manufacturers, employers, corporations, businesses, insurance companies and third party administrators.

With unwavering adherence to the spirit of the law in its service to clients, Marlow Connell is known for its proactive legal expertise, steadfast commitment and responsive service to every individual client. Marlow Connell appreciates its clients’ financial concerns and fully understands the results to be achieved. The firm handles all cases with courtesy, efficiency and a rigorous standard of professionalism.

Marlow Connell is recognized by the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers in the area of Insurance Defense. The Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers has been the premier guide to the legal community's most distinguished professionals for nearly 100 years. The Bar Register includes a selective list of law practices that have garnered the highest rating in the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory and have been designated by colleagues as unparalleled in their field. Marlow Connell is proud to be recognized by ALM's Corporate Counsel Magazine as a "Go-To Law Firm" for the nation's leading 500 companies.

Marlow Connell has offices in Miami-Dade County and Broward County, Florida, and is empowered to practice in all state and federal courts of Florida.

News

HOWARD STONE and BRUCE MARX win defense verdict rendered by a jury in a federal court trial involving severe facial fractures suffered by a resort guest in Jamaica. In December, 2012, Howard Stone and Bruce Marx successfully defended an all-inclusive resort located in Negril, Jamaica in a week long jury trial. The Plaintiff, a 43-year-old medical doctor from Hershey, Pa., suffered multiple severe facial fractures while engaging in a bench press exercise at the resort’s fitness facility. Plaintiff claimed that a heavy barbell fell onto his face as the result of a defective “power rack” and that the fitness facility was not reasonably safe for guests of the resort. Our trial lawyers demonstrated through physical evidence, as well as expert testimony from a certified exercise physiologist and a registered professional engineer, that the power rack was not defective and that the incident was caused exclusively by the Plaintiff’s own carelessness. Plaintiff claimed that the incident has caused him to suffer chronic facial pain, vision problems and post-traumatic stress disorder. Plaintiff sought to recover damages relating to medical expenses, physical and emotional pain and suffering and loss of earning capacity. Plaintiff’s wife brought a loss of consortium claim. Plaintiffs sought damages totaling $5-million.

JOSH LEVY wins summary judgment in commercial coverage dispute involving catastrophic injury. Josh Levy recently won a summary judgment in federal court in an insurance coverage dispute on behalf of a commercial liability insurer. The case arose out of a catastrophic accident at a construction site in Deerfield Beach, Florida. The insured was a general contractor. The contractor’s president hired his company and used its employees to construct his new home. One of the employees suffered a spinal cord injury when a masonry wall he was reinforcing collapsed. The employee collected workers’ compensation through the contractor’s workers’ compensation policy. After collecting over $2 million in benefits, the employee sued the contractor for personal injury damages, claiming that he was a guest of the contractor’s president, rather than an employee, at the time of the accident. The contractor’s general liability policy contained an Employer’s Liability Exclusion, which excluded coverage for work-related injuries to employees. The court ruled that this exclusion applied to the employee’s personal injury lawsuit, because his injuries were clearly work-related, and his claim that he was the president's guest was inconsistent his earlier claim in that he was the contractor's employee eligible to receive workers’ compensation. The ruling eliminated the client’s potential exposure to a multi-million dollar judgment. (see opinion).

MARLOW CONNELL is proud to be recognized by U.S. News - Best Lawyers® as a BEST LAW FIRM for 2011-2012. Additionally, Joel Adler and Andrew Connell were named in Best Lawyers® for 2011-2012.

SCOTT NEWMAN was recently appointed to the Managing Partner Task Force of the International Association of Defense Counsel. Scott, along with six other defense practitioners throughout the country, has been asked by this internationally recognized defense organization to develop strategies for law firms working closely with 21st century business.

JENNIFER HOFFMAN recently spoke on "Managing and Responding to a Crisis" along with a co-presenter as part of the CLE program to the Retail and Hospitality Law Committee at the DRI Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

SALLY SELTZER was recently elected to the Board of Directors for the Florida Defense Lawyers Association.

JENNIFER HOFFMAN has been appointed as Vice-Chair of DRI's upcoming Retail and Hospitality Seminar to be held at the Swissôtel in Chicago May 10 and May 11, 2012.