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This year has been filled with demanding justice and transforming lives for our attorneys at Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen. As a premier South Florida trial law firm, we are proud to be at the forefront of the state’s groundbreaking litigation—and to be recognized by our peers and clients along the way.
GRYC’s 2021 Highlights
A Brief Overview of Our Individual Cases
At the start of the year, we were retained to represent the families of two University of Florida students subjected to wrongful deaths in pedestrian vs. vehicle accidents on University Avenue. For these cases, we are also working in conjunction with two advocacy groups, the Gainesville Citizens for Active Transportation (GCAT) and Gators Against Student Pedestrian Deaths (GASPD), in their ongoing push for safer university roads.
From our Boca Raton offices, GRYC partner Gary M. Cohen took on a medical malpractice case on behalf of the family of Onystei Castillo-Lopez, who died under the care of Dr. Berto Lopez. He soon found that Dr. Lopez’s track record includes six dead women and babies, two botched circumcisions, and various catastrophic injuries. Attorney Cohen not only represented the family of Mrs. Castillo-Lopez but also successful sued Dr. Lopez to lose his medical license. This story made national headlines.
Another pivotal case that GRYC has filed this year is being handled partner Andrew Yaffa on behalf of Esperanza Cruz, a woman who has unfortunately suffered irreversible vision loss because of stem cell therapy malpractice.
And after years in the making, a bitter-sweet resolution has come from the case involving one of our youngest victims, Haile Brockington—a 2-year-old who tragically died when she was left inside a hot daycare van for almost six hours—inspired a movement that has led to new legislation: All childcare vehicles in Florida must now have alarms installed to alert adults of any children left behind.
Our Advocacy in Class Actions and MDLs
We are well-known for taking on class actions and multidistrict litigation (MDL), and 2021 was no different:
- A federal judge appointed partner Rachel Furst to serve as liaison counsel for plaintiffs in the January 2021 Short Squeeze Trading Litigation against Ameritrade, Citadel, E*TRADE, Robinhood, TD, and Sequoia Capital, among others.
- A circuit court judge appointed Attorney Furst as co-chair lead counsel for the Champlain Towers South Collapse Litigation. GRYC co-founder Stuart Z. Grossman was appointed as wrongful death damage liaison counsel, as well. This class action lawsuit seeks to win justice for those directly affected by the Surfside condo collapse.
- Attorneys Grossman and Furst were appointed as co-class counsel in a landmark class action lawsuit against Ford Motor Company, which alleged that the Shelby GT350 Mustang was faulty.
- Partners Alex Arteaga-Gomez, Neal Roth (GRYC co-founder), and Grossman helped achieve a $127.5 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice for those lost and wounded in the Parkland massacre.
Awards, Accolades, and Accomplishments
In 2021, our attorneys were met with much acclaim, some of which includes:
- Six of our firm’s attorneys were chosen for selection in the 2021 Florida Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars lists.
- Five GRYC attorneys were selected to the 2021 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers list.
- Seven attorneys made the cut for The Best Lawyers in America© by Best Lawyers®, with one receiving a “Lawyer of the Year” award. One of our firm’s early career partners was also selected to the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch list.
- Attorney Grossman had the honor of being inducted into the 2021 Lawdragon Hall of Fame, as well as the Coral Gables Senior High 2020 Hall of Fame.
- Our firm as a whole earned several rankings in U.S. News — Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” for 2022, a trusted publication that showcases the nation’s top-rated law firms.
- Attorney Grossman was honored with the 2021 AJC Judge Learned Hand Award by AJC Miami and Broward. To date, he has raised more than half a million dollars for this renowned organization.
Within the same vein as acclaim, this year has been chock-full of media appearances for Attorney Yaffa, who has been featured on podcasts to discuss a variety of topics. He has had the great privilege of speaking to the media and fellow attorneys about the Astroworld tragedy and Surfside condo collapse, as well as life as a premier trial attorney.
Giving Back to Our Community
At Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen, we made it a point to support numerous charitable organizations this year, such as:
- American Jewish Committee
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami
- Legal Services of Greater Miami
- Lotus House
- Dade Legal Aid
- Informed Families
- Voices United
- Jewish Federation
- Feeding South Florida
- Casa Valentina
- Miami Foundation
- Mathew Forbes Romer Foundation
- SightLife, Inc.
- FOP Lodge 50
- The Wayne Barton Study Center
- Addison Mizner School PTA
- The Pan-Mass Challenge
- Sundari Foundation, Inc.
- ACLU-FL Foundation
- The Gail D Serota JD 79 Fund
Attorney Roth deserves a notable mention in this area, as he raised over $37,000 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. His charity work has even been featured in Forbes Magazine. All proceeds went toward supporting patients and their families, as well as funding blood cancer research.
We at Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen genuinely care about our community. That’s the reason why we find our legal work so rewarding. Since 1988, we have aimed to achieve legal excellence without compromising integrity. Whether you need representation in a case concerning medical malpractice, a mass casualty event, corporate fraud, or anything in between, we are here to help you win justice.
To contact Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen, call (866) 629-1061 or send us a message online.
