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Lydecker is pleased to announce the addition of five new attorneys. The attorneys will be based in Lydecker’s New Jersey, Miami, Boca Raton, and Los Angeles offices and include one partner, one senior associate, and three associates.

Michael Douglass, Debbie Maken, Danielle Strauss, Jose Negreira, and Raul Alvarez join the firm at a pivotal time at Lydecker as we celebrate our milestone of reaching 100 attorneys.

At Lydecker, they will provide legal guidance on a full spectrum of insurance law issues including representing corporate and municipal clients in complex, high-exposure general liability claims, as well as in professional, employment, and municipal liability matters. Additionally, the new attorneys will deepen our focus on bad faith litigation, trucking and transportation, general liability, government liability, product liability, professional liability, and consumer finance.

“Our new attorneys have an excellent and established reputation in their respective specialties,” says Mark Hendricks, Managing Partner at Lydecker. “They will expand our national capabilities by providing services to our growing list of insurance carrier clients, and broaden our services to our many municipal clients.”

The new attorneys include:

Michael C. Douglass is an experienced trial attorney with a diverse civil litigation practice, who is eligible to practice in all California state and federal courts. Mr. Douglass focuses on the defense of corporate and municipal clients in complex, high-exposure general liability, professional liability, trucking, employment, insurance bad faith, consumer finance, and product liability matters. He has defended clients in arbitrations, tried cases to verdict, and successfully argued before the California Court of Appeal, resulting in reported decisions. Mr. Douglass is pragmatic, seasoned and well-versed in providing his business clients with strategic counsel to help them make better-informed decisions to assist in managing their legal risks and protecting their brands.

Debbie Maken has substantial experience in handling appellate matters. Over her career, she has authored hundreds of briefs filed in the Florida Supreme Court, Florida’s district courts of appeal, the Eleventh Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. Her practice areas include banking-foreclosure law, commercial litigation, torts, insurance defense, employment law, parental rights, criminal law, and challenging unconstitutional state action. She is a former Assistant United States Attorney with the Southern District of Florida, and clerked at the Third District Court of Appeals and the Mississippi Supreme Court. She works with the Bankruptcy and Insurance Receivership Group at Lydecker.

Raul Alvarez is an Associate Attorney at the firm’s Boca Raton office. Mr. Alvarez began practicing law by defending first-party insurance and property claims shortly after graduating cum laude from the Florida State University College of Law. In law school, Mr. Alvarez completed a Business Law Certificate with honors and served as a judicial extern twice, first under federal Magistrate Judge John O’Sullivan in Miami and again under Chief Justice Charles T. Canady at the Supreme Court of Florida. Mr. Alvarez also worked at a large international law firm during law school, where he assisted business organizations and institutional lenders in complex litigation and transactional matters. Mr. Alvarez served as the Managing Editor of the Florida State University Law Review and as the President of the Cuban American Bar Association (CABA) at FSU Law. He was the recipient of the CABA/ FSU Raoul Cantero Merit Scholarship and the Distinguished Pro Bono Service Award.

Danielle Strauss is an associate attorney at the firm’s Boca Raton office. Ms. Strauss received her undergraduate degree from the University of Florida, where she majored in Psychology and received two minors in Innovation and Disabilities in Society. Ms. Strauss attended Nova Southeastern University’s Shepard Broad College of Law and graduated in May 2020 with honors. During law school, Ms. Strauss was a member of the National Trial Association, and was the Co-President of the Jewish Law Student Association. Ms. Strauss participated in the Pro Bono Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Clinic, in which she assisted clients in becoming guardian advocates. She also was a Certified Legal Intern at the State Attorney’s Office of the 17^th Judicial Circuit, in which she tried a misdemeanor case and argued motions in front of the Honorable Judge Deborah Carpenter-Toye. Ms. Strauss was admitted to practice law in Florida in November 2020.

Jose Negreirais.

About Lydecker

Lydecker provides a wide range of legal services to insurance clients throughout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, and California. The firm’s major practice areas include Appellate Practice, Business, Government, Industry, Insurance, Litigation, and Professional Liability. For more information, please visit www.lydecker.com.