The firm strengthens its Insurance Litigation and Securities practices in Florida, Alabama, and Texas.
Fort Lauderdale, FL (June 5, 2024) – Bressler, Amery & Ross, P.C. is pleased to announce the addition of attorneys Jessica Aldeguer, Brett Baker, Derek Betts, Jessica Bonds, and Clinton Edgar in Florida, Alabama, and Texas. These Fort Lauderdale, Birmingham, and Austin-based attorneys bring depth to the firm's first-party property insurance defense, insurance litigation, and financial institutions practices.
After its recent leadership restructure, Bressler is focused on strategic growth and enhancing its services. The firm is actively seeking to add to its team of skilled, dedicated attorneys. Bressler aims to expand its presence in Texas, Alabama, and Florida to better serve clients across various industries and practices.
"Bressler is at an exciting point in our evolution. We continue to add top-quality lawyers to our firm, and we expect to continue to add lawyers in response to our clients' growing demand for legal services in key markets and practice areas," said Hope C. Zelinger, Managing Principal of the firm's Florida office and member of the firm's Management Committee. "We are very excited to welcome this outstanding group of attorneys."
Jessica Aldeguer joins the firm’s Fort Lauderdale office as Counsel and focuses on first party property insurance defense and pre-litigation investigations and coverage evaluations. She brings with her more than twelve years of experience practicing law, including a background in criminal law as an Assistant State Attorney. She also has experience in foreclosure litigation, personal injury protection litigation, and first party property insurance litigation. She has appeared in every circuit court within the state of Florida. In her most recent position as a law firm partner, she handled all aspects of litigation for multiple insurance carriers relating to first party property lawsuits. She earned her law degree from Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law School and her undergraduate degree from the University of Central Florida.
Brett Baker joins the firm’s Fort Lauderdale office as an Associate and focuses his practice on insurance defense litigation. Before joining Bressler, he gained experience as a plaintiff’s personal injury trial attorney in Florida after law school. Baker earned his juris doctorate from New York Law School and his undergraduate degree from The University of Texas at Austin with a certificate from the Red McCombs School of Business. Brett is a native to the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area.
Derek Betts joins the firm’s Fort Lauderdale office as an Associate. He represents clients in insurance defense litigation. Prior to joining Bressler, he gained more than five years of experience practicing law and negotiating various contracts and agreements. He successfully represented multiple insurers in declaratory judgment, bad faith, and breach of contract actions in various jurisdictions throughout the state of Florida. Betts received his law degree from Nova Southeastern University and his master’s degree in business administration and bachelor's degree from Rollins College.
Jessica Bonds joins the firm’s Birmingham office as an Associate in the Financial Institutions practice group. Bonds focuses her practice on defending financial institution clients. She brings several years of experience in a wide range of litigation to Bressler. Jessica earned her law degree from Wake Forest University and her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University.
Clinton Edgar joins the firm’s Austin office as Counsel in the Financial Institutions practice group. He focuses his practice on representing financial institutions. He previously worked at the Texas State Securities Board in various roles, most recently as the Deputy Securities Commissioner, where he worked on maintaining fair, efficient, and transparent securities markets that protect investors and promote market integrity. His experience includes managing legal staff in connection with legal proceedings regarding firms and individuals licensed with the Securities Commissioner, coordinating with other state securities regulators, federal regulators, and self-regulatory organizations concerning regulatory policy matters, and participating in multijurisdictional enforcement matters involving regulatory issues on a national scale. Edgar earned his law degree from Texas Tech University School of Law and his bachelor’s degree from Baylor University.