Tampa

Associate

Orlando Amador

Associate

Gabriela Cortes

Gabriela is a Associate Attorney, part of the Tampa Litigation Team at Groelle & Salmon P.A. Gabriela has a legal skillset that includes insurance defense, financial services, mortgage banking litigation, employment law, and trademark prosecution. Gabriela worked in the legal field as a paralegal for many years before becoming a lawyer, now concentrating in defending insurance companies in first-party property actions. Gabriela has handled all aspects of commercial litigation cases – from inception to trial including, appellate work – and has resolved countless cases, by focusing on counseling her clients to achieve their goals in the most cost-effective manner, often before reaching trial, avoiding its uncertainty.

Prior to joining Groelle & Salmon, P.A., Gabriela worked as a Litigation Paralegal for the intellectual property law firm, Sanchelima & Associates, P.A., then as a Litigation Paralegal and Attorney for Lapin & Leichtling, LLP, and then as a Senior Associate for Perlman, Bajandas, Yevoli & Albright, P.L, all Miami-based law firms. Gabriela has worked in the legal field for 23 years and has experienced all aspects of litigation, which has allowed her to gain a highly pragmatic view of the law through her work as a legal assistant before she became a lawyer herself. She also holds a degree in fashion design, indicative of her ability to find creative solutions to legal disputes, and is a licensed real estate sales associate in Florida.

While representing servicers in mortgage foreclosure, Gabriela handled a highly-contested mortgage foreclosure case that was the subject of an appeal, which established new precedent in the state of Florida in the mortgage foreclosure context. See U.S. Bank, N.A. v. Becker, 211 So. 3d 142 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017) (Appellate Court reversed order of involuntary dismissal at trial based on Plaintiff’s alleged lack of standing due to original note containing an allonge bearing a special indorsement payable to a third-party, holding that Plaintiff sufficiently established its standing, and establishing precedent in Florida concerning the effect of an “anomalous indorsement” when a note is negotiated.)
Gabriela graduated with honors (Cum Laude) from Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad Law Center, was a member of the Nova Law Review, and also served as the Subscriptions Editor of the Law Review.
Born and raised in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Gabriela is fluent in Spanish and has some knowledge of French. She has a multinational and multicultural perspective that allows her to easily relate to clients and opposing parties through her candid approach and diligence.

Partner

Andrew A. Labbe

Mr. Labbe concentrates his practice on first and third party insurance defense. He has experience handling various property claims including windstorm, water damage, fire and sinkhole. Mr. Labbe also has experience defending third-party liability claims, coverage disputes, subrogation and construction defect. Prior to joining Groelle & Salmon, Mr. Labbe worked as an associate attorney at an insurance defense firm specializing in first/third party liability defense. Mr. Labbe is licensed to practice in all state courts of Florida, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Mr. Labbe is also Certified in Appellate Law.

Professional Background:

Groelle and Salmon, P.A.
-Tampa, Florida

Walton, Lantaff, Schroeder & Carson, L.L.P.
-Tampa, Florida

Education:

University of Florida J.D., cum laude

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts B.A.

Bar Admissions:

Florida Bar

Massachusetts Bar

New York

New Jersey

Pennsylvania

Associate

David B. McClelland

Mr. McClelland is an associate attorney focusing his practice primarily on subrogation, representing insurers in matters related to products liability, premises liability, negligence, construction defects, and contract disputes.

Mr. McClelland graduated from Stetson University College of Law in May of 2011. While in law school, Mr. McClelland interned for the Honorable Alexander L. Paskay in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of Florida. Prior to joining the Tampa office of Groelle & Salmon, P.A., Mr. McClelland practiced corporate bankruptcy, business litigation, and represented businesses making claims under the BP oil spill settlement agreement. Mr. McClelland is licensed to practice in all state courts of Florida and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Professional Background:

Groelle and Salmon, P.A.
Tampa, Florida

Education:

Stetson University College of Law, J.D.

University of Florida:

B.A. Criminology and B.S. Public Relations

Bar Admissions:

Florida Bar

Partner

S. Scott Ross

Mr. Ross’ practice is devoted to third-party liability defense issues, the defense of businesses and professionals. He has substantive trial and mediation experience throughout Florida. Additionally, Mr. Ross has extensive experience in large-loss liability defense including, construction defect; wrongful death; catastrophic personal injury; premises liability; restaurant; theme park; hospital; and physician liability. He has defended clients in complex business matters, as well as professionals in licensure investigations and disciplinary proceedings before Florida Administrative Agencies. Mr. Ross is active in writing and presenting on cutting-edge legal topics, having been published by The Florida Bar Health Law Section; Florida Hospital Association; American Health Lawyers Association; and Florida Society for Risk Management & Patient Safety. He previously practiced with the Tampa office of a national law firm representing healthcare clients in complex business, medical malpractice and licensure matters.

Bar Admissions:

Florida Bar

Education:

St. Thomas University School of Law, Cum Laude

University of Louisville, Cum Laude

Professional Associate:

Hillsborough County Bar Association
-United States District Courts for the Northern, Middle and Southern

Districts of Florida

Associate

John J. Schreiber

John J. Schreiber is originally from Clifton, New Jersey. He graduated from Pace University School of Law in White Plains, New York in 2003. Upon graduating he practiced law in New York until moving to Clermont, Florida in 2007. John has experience in the areas of first-party insurance defense, real estate, medical malpractice defense and construction law. John is admitted to practice law in New York, New Jersey and Florida.

Partner

Jayson A. Serrano

Jayson Serrano graduated from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois in 2011. Since then he’s been practicing civil law and has successfully litigated numerous jury and bench trials. He was admitted to the Florida Bar in May 2018 and joined our firm soon thereafter. He practices in our Tampa office and focuses on first party property insurance defense and contract disputes.

Bar Admissions:

Florida Bar

Education:

University of Central Florida, B.A.

John Marshall Law School, J.D.

Partner

Keith G. Shevenell

Mr. Shevenell is a Partner in the Tampa office of Groelle & Salmon, P.A., focusing his practice primarily on first party property and insurance coverage matters. During his legal career, Mr. Shevenell has represented insurance companies and corporations in a variety of insurance-related matters throughout the State of Florida and New Jersey. He has also successfully represented condominium and homeowners’ association clients as both litigation and in-house counsel. Mr. Shevenell oversaw his prior firm’s expansion into New Jersey following Superstorm Sandy. Aside from his extensive civil litigation background, Mr. Shevenell has further represented clients in appeals before the Second District Court of Appeal. Mr. Shevenell is licensed to practice in all state courts in Florida, as well as Maine and New Jersey.

Associate

Anthoney Smith

Anthoney Smith is a graduate of the Michigan State University College of Law, Class of 2021. During his law school career, Mr. Smith spent his first summer working as a Summer Associate with Sirote & Permutt, P.C., where he gained insight into the areas of property law, probate disputes, and mortgage foreclosures.

During his second year in law school, Mr. Smith had the privileged opportunity to work under Judge Andrea Larkin for the State of Michigan 54-B District Court as her Judicial Law Clerk which brought him a first-hand experience of how the courts operate.

Upon entering his final year of law school, Mr. Smith was selected to participate in the Michigan State University College of Law’s Housing Clinic where he took on cases with a supervising attorney and worked directly with clients in handling primarily Landlord-Tenant disputes in addition to various other Housing conflicts.

After graduating law school in May of 2021, and being admitted to the Florida Bar, Mr. Smith moved back to his hometown of Tampa, Florida to serve as a Staff Attorney for HCI Group, Inc. where he worked as an In-House Defense Litigation Attorney specializing in first party property insurance disputes.

Education:

Michigan State University College of Law, JD
University of Central Florida, B.S.

Bar Admissions:

Florida Bar

Associate

Rivkah Jaff

Rivkah Jaff is an associate attorney at the Tampa office focusing on first party property liability insurance defense. She has experience handling first party property liability insurance litigation related to commercial and residential properties and labor and employment litigation.

Directly prior to joining Groelle & Salmon, Rivkah served as a litigation associate attorney at a large law firm specializing in first-party property insurance defense where she gained invaluable experience and insight into contract law, pre-suit investigations, and all aspects of carrier defense (i.e. bad faith claims, complex commercial litigation, etc.).

Rivkah is licensed to practice in Florida, New York, New Jersey, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

State/Court Admissions

Florida Bar, 2013
New Jersey Bar, 2013
New York Bar, 2014
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 2017.

Education/Background

Ryerson University, Honors Bachelors of Arts in Broadcast Journalism, 2007
Brooklyn College, Masters in Comparative English Literature, 2009
Florida Coastal School of Law, Juris Doctor, 2012

Associate

Titania N. Haynes

Titania N. Haynes, Esq. was born in Buffalo, New York, and has been a resident of Florida since 1983. Ms. Haynes earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Florida International University. While attending FIU, Ms. Haynes was awarded the Political Science Book Award for her achievements in academics, and was also a Florida Bright Futures Merit Scholar, a BRACE Golden Opportunity Scholar and was on the Dean’s List.

Ms. Haynes earned her Juris Doctorate from Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad Law Center. While in law school, Ms. Haynes was awarded a Public Interest Law Summer Fellowship with Legal Aid Service of Broward County, Inc., where she assisted attorneys on special projects that provided legal services to the low-income community of Broward County, including ex-offenders. Because Ms. Haynes devoted much time to Legal Aid, she was part of Nova’s Pro Bono Honor Program and graduated with more than 70 hours of pro bono service work.

Ms. Haynes, having practiced law for over fifteen years, is experienced in litigation. She began her career defending condominium associations in various types of suits, as well as mortgage foreclosure and general commercial litigation.

Ms. Haynes was first introduced to the practice area of insurance defense law when she previously worked at Groelle and Salmon as an aspiring young attorney. Since then, she has represented numerous carriers in first party property loss claims, and personal injury protection (PIP) cases which included both first-party/insured disputes and third-party/provider disputes. Ms. Haynes also has experience in managed care disputes/health benefits claims, business contract review and consumer defense litigation. In 2022, Ms. Haynes returned to Groelle and Salmon after having gained invaluable experience working in-house at a homeowner’s insurance company where she successfully resolved numerous first-party property disputes, as well as disputes brought by third party assignees.

Ms. Haynes is admitted to the Florida Bar, as well as the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida. In her spare time, Ms. Haynes loves to travel with her husband and enjoys fishing. She is also actively involved in her church and enjoys singing.

Associate

Carolay Vargas

Ms. Vargas completed her undergraduate studies at the University of South Florida. She then obtained her Juris Doctor degree at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, Tampa Bay Campus, in 2017. Before joining Groelle & Salmon as an Associate, Ms. Vargas started her legal career as an Assistant State Attorney in Hillsborough County, 13th Judicial Circuit, Florida. As an Assistant State Attorney, she litigated various misdemeanor and felony cases. She gained extensive jury trial and courtroom experience and prosecuted violent felony offenders of special concern. Before joining the Groelle & Salmon team as an Associate, she spent over two years with McCue Reams Bucha & Associates as a plaintiff’s personal injury attorney prosecuting medical malpractice and nursing home negligence cases. Ms. Vargas is well versed in all phases of litigation, from preliminary negotiations to appeals. She is a strong advocate and is involved in the community as a board member of Are You Safe, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to helping victims of domestic violence.

Associate

Aja N. Williams

Aja Williams is an associate in the Tampa office where she primarily defends insurance carriers in first-party property claims. Prior to joining Groelle & Salmon, P.A., Mrs. Williams gained valuable litigation experience representing insurance carriers in first party property cases with damages resulting from hurricane, windstorm and water damages.

Aja obtained her B.A. in Political Science from the University of South Florida in 2014. She went on to attend Stetson University College of Law in 2016 graduating cum laude. While earning her degrees Aja worked full time in property management and has years of experience in understanding the needs and importance of risk mitigation for property owners.

During her time at Stetson she served on the Student Bar Summer Advisory Committee and was Vice-President of Phi Delta Phi, International Legal Honor Society. In addition to her leadership roles she received the Victor O’Wehle Award for Excellence in Trial Advocacy and the William F. Blews Pro Bono Award.

When not serving clients and spending time in the office, Aja enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, and serving as the President of the Pinellas Park Youth Sports Association, a not-for-profit that focuses on providing sports and academic mentorship to children in the community.

Education:
Stetson College of Law , J.D.
University of South Florida, B.A.

Bar Admissions:
Florida Bar

Office Location: Tampa, FL

Associate

Andrew R. Davies

Andrew Davies was born in Cardiff, Wales and has lived in the US since 2017, having lived in 8 different nations around the world prior to moving to the US. Andrew attended Swansea University and graduated with a BSc in Business & Business Management in 2017. Following his graduation from undergraduate school, Andrew moved across the Atlantic in order to attend Rutgers Law School, from which he graduated in 2020, achieving two placements on the Dean’s list during his time at Rutgers. While at Rutgers, Andrew also became a member of Phi Alpha Delta, a legal fraternity which provides networking opportunities across the country. Andrew was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in January 2021 and admitted to the Florida Bar in 2022.

Having practiced in the arenas of criminal, personal injury with some experience in contract and insurance-related litigation in New Jersey, Andrew Joined the Groelle & Salmon team as an associate attorney at the Tampa office in December 2022. Andrew works primarily defending insurance carriers in first-party property claims.
When not defending Groelle & Salmon’s clients, Andrew spends his time Weight-lifting, swimming, traveling with his wife and family and reading.

Education:
Swansea University, BSc
Rutgers Law School- Newark, J.D.

Associate

Annie S. Antos

Annie Antos joined the firm in 2022 and is an associate in the St. Petersburg office in the insurance defense and first-party property litigation practice group.

During law school, Annie was a law clerk with Louison, Costello, Condon, & Pfaff, working with litigation lawyers with significant experience in state and federal trial and appellate courts. Annie also served as a Senior Staff Member for the Suffolk University Transnational Law Review, Team Captain for the 2020 Suffolk Law Bankruptcy and International Insolvency Law Moot Court Team at the Annual Ian Fletcher International Insolvency Moot Court Competition, Vice President of Suffolk’s Federalist Society, Admission Ambassador for the Suffolk University Law School Admission’s Office, and teaching assistant to Business Entities Professor Carter Bishop.

Annie is licensed to practice law in the state of Florida and is also a member of the St. Petersburg Bar Association. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia in 2015 and earned her Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School in 2021.

Education:
Suffolk University, J.D.
University of Georgia, B.A.

Bar Admissions:
Florida Bar

Associate

Alexander T. Dowding

Alexander Dowding is an associate attorney focusing on first party property liability defense. Mr. Dowding graduated from Florida State University where he earned a B.S. in Criminal Justice and went on to earn his Juris Doctor from St. Thomas University School of Law in 2013.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Dowding practiced bankruptcy law helping individuals navigate the Bankruptcy Code in the federal court system. Mr. Dowding has also defended nursing homes and medical personnel in lawsuits based in claims of negligence.

Mr. Dowding is licensed to practice in all state courts of Florida and all federal districts of Florida.

Partner

K. David Kelly

David Kelly is an associate attorney at the Tampa office of Groelle & Salmon, PA, focusing on first party property liability defense.

Mr. Kelly obtained his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and in 1996 his Juris Doctor from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. He later received an LL.M. in International Law, from the University of Miami School of Law.

Mr. Kelly has served as a trial attorney in the Tampa Bay Area and other venues throughout Florida, handling all phases of litigation in both state and federal court. Along with a variety of other legal areas, he also has experience in third-party insurance defense, including litigation involving catastrophic injury claims. In addition to handling numerous first-party property cases in both law firm and in-house settings, Mr. Kelly defended hundreds of personal injury protection lawsuits as a staff attorney for an insurance company.