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.