Colodny Fass Shareholder Maria Elena Abate Named 2010-2011 Broward County Bar Association Employment and Labor Law Section Chairman
Sep 17, 2010
Above: Colodny Fass Shareholder Maria Elena Abate
Colodny Fass Shareholder Maria Elena Abate has been named as 2010-2011 Chairman of the Broward County Bar Association’s Employment and Labor Law Section.
“With joblessness being one of the fundamental cornerstones of our nation’s economic woes, it’s even more vital than ever for our members to understand the complexities of employment law,” Ms. Abate explained in reference to her chairmanship goals. “Arming our members with additional expertise will help them guide their clients toward smoother and more successful business operations, thereby contributing to overall financial recovery.”
Ms. Abate recently concluded a successful chairmanship of the Florida Bar’s statewide Public Interest Law Section, for which she substantially increased membership and held various high-profile membership events and continuing education opportunities.
She formerly served as General Counsel to the South Florida Workforce Board for Miami-Dade and Monroe counties and is frequently called upon to compound her expertise in employment law, employee benefits and risk management by providing human resources counsel specifically related to investigations, interventions and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issues.
As Shareholder at Colodny Fass for nearly a decade and a member of the Florida Bar since 1988, Ms. Abate has built her practice in the areas of employment law, insurance matters and civil rights claims and represents individuals, corporations and state agencies in litigation and class actions dealing with discrimination, constitutional violations and other labor-related matters.
She is admitted to practice in all Florida state and appellate courts, the United States District Court for the Southern, Middle, and Northern Districts of Florida, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. She is a member of the Florida Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Broward County Bar Association, and has served on the Miami-Dade County American Civil Liberties Union of Florida Legal Panel and the Stakeholder’s Committee for the United States Equal Opportunity Commission, Miami District Office.
As a founding board member of the Florida Breast Health Initiative, Ms. Abate also raises substantial funds to ensure the provision of free mammograms to uninsured women and walks door-to-door in poor neighborhoods each month to personally deliver information about testing availability.
Fluent in Spanish, Ms. Abate received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Miami, cum laude, and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Miami School of Law, also cum laude.