Karen Haynes Curtis

Partner

kcurtis@csclawfirm.com

(305) 347-1555

Areas of Expertise in Litigation

Appellate Practice
Commercial Litigation
Employment Law
Insurance Coverage

Professional Experience

With over 28 years of experience in appellate practice and litigation support in state and federal courts, Ms. Curtis heads Clarke Silverglate & Campbell’s Appellate Practice Group.

After graduating first in her class from Nova University Law Center, she clerked for United States District Judge William Hoeveler.  Ms. Curtis then joined Shutts & Bowen, where she was a Partner for 10 years.  In January 1995, she and four other Shutts & Bowen Partners founded their own firm, Gallwey Gillman Curtis & Vento, P.A., where Ms. Curtis served as President.  In November 2004, Ms. Curtis joined Clarke Silverglate & Campbell, P.A. as a partner.

Board Certified in Appellate Practice by the Florida Bar, she has handled matters in diverse substantive areas, including antitrust, banking, civil rights, commercial torts, contract disputes, covenants not to compete, defamation, employment law and discrimination, ERISA, fraudulent transfers, insurance (life, health and disability claims, coverage issues, rescission, bad faith, and agency disputes), lender liability, medical malpractice, minority set-asides, mortgage foreclosure, products liability, professional liability, probate and guardianship, and securities fraud.

Admitted to the Florida Bar in 1978, Ms. Curtis is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida, the U.S. Court of Appeals (5th and 11th Circuits), and the United States Supreme Court.  She is Board Certified in Appellate Practice by the Florida Bar, and is listed in Leading American Attorneys in the area of Civil Appellate Law.  In 2006, she was voted a Florida Super Lawyer in the area of appellate law.  She was also named one of Florida’s “Top 50 Female” laywers.  Her other areas of expertise include banking litigation, general commercial litigation, federal practice, insurance law, and employment discrimination.

Ms. Curtis served for more than a decade on the Appellate Court Rules Committee of the Florida Bar.  She is currently serving on the Appellate Courts Committee of the Dade County Bar Association, and has also served as Vice Chair of the Appellate Advocacy Committee of the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) of the American Bar Association.  Ms. Curtis is also a member of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, the Florida Association for Women Lawyers (FAWL), and the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL).

Bar Admissions

Florida Bar, 1978

Court Admissions

United States Supreme Court
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
United States District Court, Southern District of Florida
United States District Court, Middle District of Florida

Activities & Memberships

Florida Bar (Appellate Court Rules Committee 1993-2002; Grievance Committee 1988-91; Appellate Practice Section 1993-present)
Dade County Bar Association (Federal Court Committee 1981-88 (Chair 1985-86); Insurance Law Committee (Chair 1991-92); Banking and Corporate Litigation Committee (Vice Chair 1992-93); Professionalism Committee 1990-91; Appellate Courts Committee 1990-present; Southern District Digest Board of Editors 1982-87)
Former Chair of Subcommittee of the Federal Court Committee for Proposal and Drafting of Amendments to Local Rules for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
Former Member Federal Court Admissions Committee
ABA (Women Rainmakers Group; Vice Chair Appellate Advocacy Committee of the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS); Council of Appellate Lawyers)
Federal Bar Association
American Judicature Society
Supreme Court Historical Society
Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers
Florida Association for Women Lawyers (FAWL)
National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL)
Church by the Sea (Board of Directors 1994-present; Treasurer, 1995; Co-Treasurer 2003-05)

Honors & Awards

AV Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
Board Certified in Appellate Practice since 1996
Voted by peers as a Florida Super Lawyer
Voted by peers as among the “Top 50 Female” lawyers in Florida
Designated a Leading Florida Attorney in the specialty of Civil Appellate Law by Leading Attorney Network, Inc.
Selected by Florida Trend as one of the 2007 Florida Legal Elite
Listed in Who’s Who in America
Listed in Who’s Who in American Law
Listed in Who’s Who of American Women
Listed in Who’s Who in the World

Significant Reported Decisions

Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. First Union Nat. Bank of Florida, 711 So. 2d 1166 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)
AFM Corp. v. So. Bell Tel. & Tel. Co., 515 So. 2d 180 (Fla. 1987)
B.C.S., S.r.l. v. Wise, 910 So. 2d 871 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005)
Computer Task Group, Inc. v. Palm Beach County, 809 So. 2d 10 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002)
Computer Task Group, Inc. v. Palm Beach County, 782 So. 2d 942 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)
Daeda v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Florida, Inc., 698 So. 2d 617 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997)
DeMoya v. Fernandez, 559 So. 2d 644 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)
DeMoya v. Moriarty, 584 So. 2d 654 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991)
Department of Banking and Finance v. U.S. Trust Corp., 610 F. Supp. 919 (S.D. Fla. 1983)
Engineering Contractors Ass’n of South Florida, Inc. v. Metropolitan Dade County, 122 F.3d 895 (11th Cir. 1997)
First Miami Securities, Inc. v. Sylvia, 780 So. 2d 250 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001)
Gravas v. Mackle Co., Inc., 444 So. 2d 1159 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984)
Guardian Life Ins. Co. of America v. Muniz, 101 F.3d 93 (11th Cir. 1996)
Guardian Life Ins. Co. of America v. Cioppa, 710 So. 2d 110 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)
Hall-Kimbrell Environmental Servs., Inc. v. Douglas Entrance Holdings Ltd. Partnership, 605 So. 2d 604 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)
HIH Marine Services, Inc. v. Fraser, 211 F.3d 1359 (11th Cir. 2000)
Hudson v. U.S. Dept. of Treasury, 135 Fed. Appx. 201, 2005 WL 1395967 (11th Cir. 2005)
Hutchison v. Prudential Ins. Co. of America, Inc., 645 So. 2d 1047 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994)
In Re College Bound Consol. Litigation, 1995 WL 450486 (S.D.N.Y. 1995)
In Re College Bound Consol. Litigation, 1994 WL 236163, Fed. Sec. L. Rep. P 98,328 (S.D.N.Y. 1994)
In Re College Bound Consol. Litigation, 1994 WL 172408, Fd. Sec. L. Rep. P 98,310 (S.D.N.Y. 1994)
In Re Estate of Conn, 901 So. 2d 125 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005)
Iglesia Cristiana La Casa Del Senor, Inc. v. L.M., 783 So. 2d 360 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001)
Iglesia Cristiana La Casa Del Senor, Inc. v. L.M., 783 So. 2d 353 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001)
Intrinsic Values Corp. v. Superintendencia De Administracion Tributaria, 806 So. 2d 616 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002)
James P. Driscoll, Inc. v. Gould, 521 So. 2d 301 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)
Levine v. First Union Nat. Bank of Florida, 666 So. 2d 196 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)
Lopez v. First Union Nat. Bank of Florida, 129 F.3d 1186 (11th Cir. 1997)
Lopez-Infante v. Union Cent. Life Ins. Co., 809 So. 2d 13 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002)
Lufthansa German Airlines Corp. v. Mellon, 444 So. 2d 1066 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984)
Maccabees Life Ins. Co. v. Saberi, 611 So. 2d 537 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)
Martinez v. North Cent. Life Ins. Co., 654 So. 2d 1289 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)
McCarthy v. Barnett Bank of Polk County, 876 F.2d 89 (11th Cir. 1989)
Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Daniels, 745 So. 2d 1062 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)
No. Miami Gen. Hosp. v. Central Nat. Life Ins. Co., 419 So. 2d 800 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982)
Petmi Corp. v. Bank of America Nat. Trust and Sav. Ass’n, 597 So. 2d 886 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)
Powell v. So. Bell Tel. & Tel. Co., 448 So. 2d 72 (Fla. 3d DCA 19894)
Pruett v. Browning, 444 So. 2d 1121 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984)
Restrepo v. First Union Nat. Bank of Florida, 591 So. 2d 1157 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)
Restrepo v. First Union Nat. Bank of Florida, 616 So. 2d 48 (Fla. 1993)
Scadif, S.A. v. First Union Nat. Bank, 344 F.3d 1123 (11th Cir. 2003)
Schlesinger v. Chemical Bank, 707 So. 2d 868 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)
Schnebelt v. Schnebelt, 718 So. 2d 147 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)
Scotts Co. v. Hacienda Loma Linda, 942 So. 2d 900 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006)
Secretary of Labor, U.S. Dept. of Labor v. Burger King Corp., 955 F.2d 681 (11th Cir. 1992)
State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Compupay, Inc., 654 So. 2d 944 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)
Tramel v. D’Angel Bedding Corp., 917 So. 2d 982 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005)
Transoil (Jersey) Ltd. v. Belcher Oil Co., 950 F.2d 1115 (11th Cir. 1998)
Weiler v. LaSalle Bank Nat. Ass’n, 919 So. 2d 450 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006)
William Penn Life Ins. Co. of New York v. Sands, 912 F.2d 1359 (11th Cir. 1990)

Education

J.D., Nova University Law Center, summa cum laude, 1978—Graduated first in class; Member, Law Review
B.S., Tulane University, 1973