Russomanno Suzette L. - Hamilton Miller & Birthisel

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SUZETTE L. RUSSOMANNO

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Suzette L. Russomanno is a partner at the firm’s Miami office. She focuses her practice on commercial litigation, complex tort litigation, construction defect litigation, and medical malpractice defense.

Russomanno is a trial attorney who defends companies against claims involving contractual disputes, catastrophic personal injuries involving a wide variety of negligence claims, and wrongful death claims. She has also litigated medical malpractice matters for hospitals, doctors, and other healthcare providers. Mrs. Russomanno has successfully tried cases to verdict, including obtaining favorable verdicts in favor of a Fortune 500 corporate client.

She interned for the Honorable Jose E. Martinez, United States District Court judge for the Southern District of Florida, as well as for the Miami-Dade Office of the State Attorney.

Honors

PRACTICE AREAS

Insurance Coverage
Personal Injury & Wrongful Death
Commercial Litigation
Medical Malpractice Defense

Education

J.D., St. Thomas University School of Law

B.A., University of Miami

Memberships

Miami-Dade Bar Association
- President-2023-2024
- President-Elect, 2022
- Vice President, 2021
- Treasurer, 2019
- Board of Directors, 2014-2017
Dade County Bar Association Young Lawyers Section
- President, 2012-2013
- President-Elect, 2011-2012
- Secretary, 2010-2011
- Treasurer, 2009-2010
Cuban American Bar Association
St. Thomas University School of Law Alumni Council Member (former)

Honors

Miami-Dade Bar Circle of Excellence Award Winner in the Personal Injury category (2024)
Best Lawyers®, Admiralty and Maritime Law & Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants (2024)
Florida Super Lawyers “Rising Star” for 2009 & 2019
The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s 40 Under 40 Outstanding Lawyers of South Florida Award in 2015
Young Lawyer of the Year Award by the Dade Legal Aid in 2013
Florida Trend’s Florida Legal Elite “Up and Comers” List for 2011

Admissions

Florida
United States District Courts for the Southern, Middle, and Northern Districts of Florida

Experience

Successfully represented a self-insured, obstetrician gynecologist in a medical malpractice lawsuit where plaintiff alleged the doctor fell below the standard of care while delivering her baby, which caused the baby to suffer shoulder dystocia and a permanent nerve injury.
Successfully represented a gastroenterologist and assisted in the favorable resolution of a medical malpractice lawsuit where plaintiff alleged the doctor failed to timely diagnose the patient with esophageal cancer.
Assisted the litigation team in obtaining a complete defense verdict in favor of an anesthesiologist who the plaintiff alleged improperly intubated a pediatric patient during a surgery to remove a cancerous tumor and caused him to suffer brain damage.
Successfully represented internists and assisted in the favorable resolution of a medical malpractice lawsuit where plaintiff alleged the doctors failed to timely diagnose the plaintiff with a DVT, which caused her to undergo a subsequent above the knee amputation.
Successfully represented a rehabilitation hospital in a medical malpractice lawsuit where plaintiff alleged the hospital staff failed to timely diagnose and provide medical treatment to the decedent when he suffered a pulmonary embolism while at their hospital.
Obtained order granting summary judgment in slip and fall case where the Court found Plaintiff failed to establish Wal-Mart had actual or constructive notice of the condition on which Plaintiff slipped. Elimaniel Gonzalez v. Wal-Mart Stores East, LP, Case No. 8:21-cv-02077-KKM-JSS, M.D. Fla., July 12, 2022.
Obtained summary judgment in a False Imprisonment and Malicious Prosecution case. The Court agreed with Defendant that it was immune from a false imprisonment claim by virtue of Florida’s shopkeeper immunity statute and that it did not commence or cause the commencement of criminal proceedings against the Plaintiffs. Michael Alhofen and Myshel Alhofen v. Wal-Mart Stores East, L.P. CASE NO. 6:20-cv-2138-PGB-GJK, United States District Court Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division.
Assisted lead counsel in obtaining a complete defense verdict after a 4-day jury trial. The jury agreed that Walmart had no knowledge of the water on which Plaintiff slipped. Tomasa Fortaneli Ponce v. Walmart Stores East, LP, Case No. 20-CV-61608-RAR (in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Fort Lauderdale Beach Division, 2021)
Assisted in obtaining an order granting summary judgment on the basis that it did not have actual or constructive notice of the liquid on the floor prior to the alleged incident which retailer did not owe a duty to warn of and the incident was not foreseeable. Wendy Donnelly v. Wal-Mart Stores, East, LP., Case No. 2:19-CV-14112 (In the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, West Palm Beach Division Feb 2020)
Assisted lead counsel in obtaining a complete defense verdict in favor of a major retailer after a jury determined that the retailer did not have actual or constructive notice of the oily spill on which the customer slipped, it owed no duty to warn her of the condition, and the incident was not foreseeable. Fabiola Ortega Guzman v. Sam’s East, Inc. d/b/a Sam’s Club, Case No. 16-CV-81977-Rosenberg/Reinhart (in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, West Palm Beach Division, Feb. 2020)