Earleen H. Cote

Equity Partner, Executive Board Member, DEI Committee Co-Chair

overview

Earleen Cote is a shareholder in the Fort Lauderdale office and a member of the firm’s Executive Board. She is “AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell and specializes in all aspects of personal injury defense with a primary focus on products liability, catastrophic damages cases and other high exposure tort defense matters involving significant injury and wrongful death.

Earleen is no stranger to the courtroom -- she has tried well over 150 cases to verdict in various jurisdictions throughout Florida. Her tremendous people skills not only enable her to convince juries of her client’s position, but these skills also have great influence on the talent she brings into the firm as the partner in charge of hiring. Earleen takes pride in recruiting the finest professional staff she can find while maintaining the firm’s diverse work force and upholding the core values the firm was founded on -- commitment, integrity and excellence.

Earleen is a Certified Continuing Education Instructor for the State of Florida and enjoys lecturing and presenting seminars to claims professionals and attorneys throughout the United States. She is a member of the Florida Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (FLABOTA), American Bar Association and Florida Association of Women Lawyers.

In addition to her skills in hiring and in the Courtroom Earleen has a special talent for conveying confidence and easing the concerns of her clients whether an individual or a large company who may not know what to expect and have fears about being dragged into litigation. Her calm common sense approach has paid off in excellent results in her 30+ years as a trial attorney.

Earleen is married and is the mother of two sons. She cites her mother's influence as encouraging her to be the best she could be and as the major reason she chose to become a lawyer -- the first in her family.

Practice Areas
Credentials

Education

  • Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law School, Ft. Lauderdale, FL (J.D., 1980)
  • Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL (B.A., 1978)

Admissions

  • State of Florida, 1981
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, 1981

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Kubicki Draper First Party Practice Group, Member
  • Kubicki Draper Pre-Suit Practice Group, Member
  • Kubicki Draper Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, Co-Chair
  • Florida Bar Association
  • Florida Association of Women Lawyers
  • American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), Florida Chapter (FLABOTA)
  • Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM), Member

Certifications / Specialties

  • Certified Continuing Education Instructor, State of Florida

Special Awards and Recognitions

  • "AV Preeminent" Rating by Martindale-Hubbell
  • Named, Florida Super Lawyer, Personal Injury Defense Practice Area (2007)
  • Advocate, American Board of Trial Advocates (2006)
  • Listed, Florida's "Legal Elite" by Florida Trend Magazine (2005)
  • Superlawyers 
  • ABOTA 
  • Martindale-Hubbell 
Presentations

Speaking Engagements / Presentations

  • "Premises Liability Update," Sedgwick, 2023
  • "The New Knew or Should have Known: Slippery Substances and Recent Impacts On Motion for Summary Judgment Standards," Sedgwick, 2021
  • "Social Media, Technology and Its Use in Claims Handling," Sedgwick, 2020
  • "Florida 5-Hour Law and Ethics Update," CNA, 2019
  • "Florida 5-Hour Law and Ethics Update," GEICO, 2018
  • "Florida 5-Hour Law and Ethics Update," Rimkus Consulting Group, Inc. - Ft. Lauderdale 10th Annual CE Event, 2018
  • "Proposals for Settlement," CNA, 2018
  • "Florida 5-Hour Law and Ethics Update," Sedgwick, 2017
  • "Social Media and Good Faith Handling," GEICO, 2017
  • "Proposals for Settlement," CNA, 2016
  • "Florida 5-Hour Law and Ethics Update," GEICO, 2016
  • "Risk Allocation: Contractual Indemnification, "Insured Contract" Coverage and "Additional Insured" Coverage & Restaurant and Fast Food Liability," CJW, 2015
  • “Staged Accidents,” Allstate, 2015
  • “Florida 5-Hour Law and Ethics Update," GEICO, 2015
  • "Defending Difficult Medical Claims & Ethics for the Claims Professional," CNA, 2015
  • "Florida 5-Hour Law & Ethics Update," Star & Shield, 2014
  • "Florida 5-Hour Law & Ethics Update," GEICO, 2014
  • "Negotiating Small Limits, Trying Cases with an Excess Verdict, Mild Brian Traumatic Brain Injury, Ethics, Alcohol, Cell phones & the Law, Fraudulent Claims - Staged Accidents/Medical Coding, " GEICO, 2014
  • "Premises Liability and Fraudulent Claims," Liberty Mutual, 2014
  • "Negligent Security and Indemnity Clauses in Construction Contracts," National Claim Services, 2014
  • “Swimming Pool Liability, Premises Liability 2014 Update & FL Condo Law: First and Third Party Claims," CJW, 2014
  • “Ethics for the Claims Professional, Negligent Security and SIU: Tips & Tactics,” CNA, 2013
  • "Desperately Seeking Summary Judgment: Strategies in Premises Liability Cases" & Ethics for the Claims Professional," Kubicki Draper Claims Management Conference, 2012
  • "Products Liability," Kubicki Draper Claims Management Conference, 2010
  • "Products Liability Hot Topics Defense Strategies" & "Negotiating Small Limits with Multiple Claims," Kubicki Draper Claims Management Conference, 2009
  • Overview
  • Practice Areas
  • Credentials
  • Presentations

locations

Miami

Miami Office

9100 South Dadeland Blvd., Suite 1800
Miami, FL 33156

T: 305.374.1212 F: 305.374.7846

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Miami-Dade

Key West

Key West Office

402 Applerouth Lane, Suite 2C
Key West, FL 33040

T: 305.509.7300 F: 305.374.7846

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Monroe
Ft. Lauderdale

Ft. Lauderdale Office

110 East Broward Blvd., Suite 1400
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301

T: 954.768.0011 F: 954.768.0514

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Broward
West Palm Beach

West Palm Beach Office

1700 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd., Suite 800
West Palm Beach, FL 33401

T: 561.640.0303 F: 561.640.0524

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Indian River | Martin | Okeechobee | Palm Beach | Saint Lucie

Tampa

Tampa Office

400 North Ashley Drive, Suite 1200
Tampa, FL 33602

T: 813.204.9776 F: 813.204.9660

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Hernando | Hillsborough | Manatee | Pasco | Pinellas | Polk | Sarasota
Orlando

Orlando Office

201 South Orange Avenue, Suite 475
Orlando, FL 32801

T: 407.245.3630 F: 407.245.7685

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Brevard | Highlands | Orange | Osceola | Seminole
Ocala

Ocala Office

1396 NE 20th Avenue, #500
Ocala, FL 34470

T: 352.622.4222 F: 352.622.9122

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Alachua | Citrus | Dixie | Gilchrist | Lake | Levy | Marion | Putnam | Sumter | Volusia
Jacksonville

Jacksonville Office

1 Independent Drive, Suite 1601
Jacksonville, FL 32202

T: 904.396.0062 F: 904.396.0380

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Baker | Bradford | Clay | Columbia | Duval | Flagler | Hamilton | Nassau | Saint Johns | Union
Pensacola

Pensacola Office

125 West Romana Street, Suite 550
Pensacola, FL 32502

T: 850.434.0003 F: 850.434.0223

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Escambia | Holmes | Okaloosa | Santa Rosa | Walton

Tallahassee

Tallahassee Office

1705 Metropolitan Boulevard, Suite 202
Tallahassee, FL 32308

T: 850.222.5188 F: 850.222.5108

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Bay | Calhoun | Franklin | Gadsden | Gulf | Jackson | Jefferson | Leon | Liberty | Wakulla | Washington | Madison | Lafayette | Taylor 

Ft. Myers

Ft. Myers Office

13350 Metro Parkway, Suite 201
Fort Myers, FL 33966

T: 239.334.8403 F: 239.939.0700

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Charlotte | Collier | DeSoto | Glades | Hardee | Hendry | Lee

Mobile

Mobile Office

11 North Water Street, Suite 10290
Mobile, AL 36602

T: 251.308.3351 F: 251.287.1624

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Baldwin | Washington | Clarke | Escambia | Covington | Geneva | Houston | Henry |  Dale | Coffee | Barbour | Pike |Crenshaw | Butler  | Monroe | Clarke | Choctaw | Wilcox | Bullock | Russell

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Our Firm

our hi(story)

In 1963, Gene Kubicki founded the firm based on dedication to excellence. The same high standards have been maintained for over five decades -- years which have seen the firm’s ranks swell to over 200 attorneys.

ourattorneys

Our team knows return clients are the life blood of any law firm and this is why we ensure client satisfaction by an exacting attention to service and quality.  Client service coupled with a spectacular work ethic, makes our team hard to beat.

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ourDIVERSITY

Kubicki Draper is committed to fostering an environment of equal opportunity for success and believes diversity is not only a moral imperative, but is also sound business practice.

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ourPractices

In response to the growing needs of its clients, the firm began expanding in the early 1980's and today is a diverse full-service law firm providing trial, appellate, coverage, commercial and real estate transaction services.

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ourresults

Kubicki Draper enjoys a national reputation for expertise in the handling of complex, high stakes litigation matters, as well as, appellate, general commercial and real estate practice.

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ourreach

With a dozen offices throughout the State of Florida and other key points in the southern parts of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississipi, our firm is familiar to every venue statewide and will never get home-teamed.

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