Partner
As a consumer advocate, Valorie focuses her practice on insurance coverage litigation by pursuing claims for insureds against their insurance companies.
Valorie was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She is a graduate of DePaul University. Valorie worked her way through college, and continued her formal education by attending St. Thomas University School of Law. While attending St. Thomas, Valorie participated in the St. Thomas Law Review, and was awarded the Best Students Award in Appellate Advocacy, Torts II, and Family Law. Prior to graduating from St. Thomas, Valorie completed an internship with Chief Judge Gersten of the Florida Third District Court of Appeal.
In addition, Valorie was selected by St. Thomas to participate in a semester long externship program working for the Florida Supreme Court. Valorie graduated from St. Thomas University School of Law ranked in the top fifteen percent of her class with Cum Laude honors.
After graduation, Valorie began practicing in the areas of insurance coverage litigation, bad faith litigation, construction litigation, and commercial litigation, including achieving the following results:
Valorie represented a class of insureds in an action against Florida Peninsula Insurance Company, where she assisted in reaching a landmark class-action settlement where Florida Peninsula agreed to refund fifty percent of the deductible that it previously required its insureds to pay when it invoked its option to repair. This was a significant victory that affected countless Florida homeowners as detailed in the June 18, 2013 Daily Business Review: Insurance Settlement A Victory For Florida Homeowners
More recently, Valorie spearheaded a class action on behalf of insureds who made claims for property damage under policies issued by Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company whose claims were denied due to alleged misrepresentations in the insurance policy application(s). This practice has been identified as post-claims underwriting. Valorie took on the challenge of representing this class of insureds in a civil lawsuit when their claims were rejected by many other consumer lawyers based upon the state of the law.
Valorie is a member of the Florida Bar, and has been an active member of the Broward Chapter of the Federal Bar Association since 2007. In 2015, Valorie was sworn in as the President of the Broward Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. During her year of service as the President, the Chapter was awarded the Presidential Achievement Award for its programming and pro-bono work. Valorie is a current member of the Florida Bar’s Consumer Protection Law Committee. She has been recognized as a Rising Star by Super Lawyers.
Valorie has spoken at the Windstorm Insurance Network Conference in 2014, 2015 and 2016 on topics that include: “The Law and Effectiveness of Examinations Under Oath: A Practical Approach;” “Late Notice of Property Insurance Losses;” and “Beyond the Crystal Ball: How Your Pre-Suit Actions Effect Claim Litigation.”
Valorie is admitted to practice in the State Courts of Florida, as well as the United States District Courts for the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida.
Valorie currently resides with her husband and three children in North Miami, Florida. She is very active volunteering her time with Legal Aid of Broward and the JCS Kosher Food Bank.
St. Thomas University
Juris Doctor
DePaul University
Major
Florida
Broward Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, President
Florida Bar Consumer Protection Law Committee, Member
Legal Aid of Broward, Volunteer
JCS Kosher Food Bank, Volunteer