Blake H. Fiery, is a shareholder in the Ft. Lauderdale office. Blake chose South Florida and the University of Miami initially because it had a bit of a "wild west” reputation in terms of its litigation culture, and her earliest years didn’t disappoint. Blake began in a small but busy boutique litigation firm where she was quickly exposed to a high volume of complex cases to defend. It was trial by fire. She spent the first several years of her career defending tough cases and learned by doing and also by watching, both her adversaries and co-defense counsel.

After this "apprenticeship," Blake arrived at Kubicki Draper last year toting an S&P 500 client and a specialty in negligent security and premises liability. Properly defending negligent security cases requires a certain level of expertise derived only in the trenches, and Blake has been involved in a great number of very significant such cases.

Blake’s negligent security cases run the gamut from HUD subsidized properties to high-end luxury residences.

There is a trend in the area of negligent security where certain potentially damaging information obtained in key manager depositions can be recycled and shared among plaintiff firms, and then used to the detriment of institutional property owners elsewhere. Accordingly, Blake believes that every deposition matters in these cases as each has potentially wider ramifications.

Blake cares deeply, not just about the result in a given case, but also how a high-stakes litigation experience might affect a business or an insurance carrier. She takes her cases and her clients very seriously and personally.

One lawyer in our firm was struck recently listening to Blake during a mediation presentation. After listening to opposing counsel portray his client as the "sympathetic plaintiff" against a corporation, Blake deftly put a human face on the defendant corporation. She talked about how that corporation was comprised of people, and was the product of the dreams of successful individuals trying to provide a good service but also trying to do things safely. And she emphasized that her clients should be afforded the same level of respect and compassion as the plaintiff.

Knowing how important compassion can be to decision makers, Blake believes this is a big part of her job as a case approaches trial.

Blake’s clients know they can call her at any time for her assistance. She strongly believes that the key to a successful relationship with her clients starts with excellent customer service. Clients hire her because she makes them believe she will be "all in" with every case she handles.

Blake has learned to never underestimate an issue, or a lawyer, or the impact any piece of evidence might have at trial.

Blake still believes strongly in our jury system, and reminds her clients that – even in the "Wild West" of Southeast Florida – the Plaintiff bears the burden of proof so that, approached correctly, Defendants should remain confident to push forward to a trial absent the ability to reach some other satisfactory result.