Family Law

• Child Abuse
  Mr. Joyce is an Orlando native who has spent the majority of his life in Central Florida. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1982. He then returned to Orlando and became active in the investigation and prosecution of suspected child abuse and neglect cases. For two and a half years, he worked for the Department of Health & Rehabilitative Services as a child abuse investigator. For a year and a half, he worked for the Child Protection Team at Orlando Regional Medical Center investigating and documenting suspected child abuse and neglect and coordinating abuse investigations. Thereafter, he attended the Florida State University Law School receiving his Juris Doctor Magna Cum Laude in 1991. While in law school, Mr. Joyce was a legislative aide for the Department of Health & Rehabilitative Services Committee at the Florida House of Representatives.

Criminal Law

• Criminal Defense
  Prior to joining Dean, Ringers, Morgan and Lawton, Alyssa focused her practice on criminal defense and mass tort litigation. Alyssa earned the designation as a Top 40 Under 40 criminal defense attorney by the National Trial Lawyers Association. Alyssa is a member of the Orange County Bar Association, the OCBA’s Young Lawyers Division, and the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, and she currently serves as the Chair of the District Paralegal Committee for Orlando.
• Wrongful Death
  He joined Dean, Ringers, Morgan & Lawton in 1996, where he specializes in personal injury, wrongful death, automobile negligence, and insurance defense litigation. He is admitted to practice in all Florida State Courts, as well as the United States District Courts for the Southern, Middle, and Northern District of Florida and the Supreme Court of the United States.
• Sex Crimes
  Born in Memphis, Tennessee and having grown up in Florida, Mr. Morris has lifelong ties to both states. He received his Bachelor of Science from Florida State University in 1982 and his Juris Doctor from Memphis State University in 1987. Not one to fit into any particular box, Mr. Morris was part of the Flying High Circus at Florida State University. He returned to his roots in Memphis to attend law school near family. Upon graduation, he made his way back to Florida to serve as an assistant state attorney in Seminole County where he prosecuted sex crimes and child abuse cases.
• Misdemeanors
  He has been a member of the Florida Bar since 1982 and is a 35-year practicing Workers’ Compensation attorney. He previously served the citizens of Orange County and the State of Florida as an Assistant State Attorney in the Orange County State Attorney’s Office prosecuting felony, misdemeanor and child abuse cases. From the beginning of his career with Dean, Ringers, Morgan and Lawton in 1985, he has specialized in the defense of Workers’ Compensation cases and has been Board Certified in Workers’ Compensation by the Florida Bar since 1991. He has also been awarded the highest rating of AV by Martindale Hubbell and was selected as a Super Lawyer in Florida in 2006.

Business and Corporate Law

• Corporate Law
  Our Business Litigation attorneys focus on complex civil litigation in both State and Federal Court, including Business Court, arising out of a variety of matters, including business torts, breach of contract, class actions, corporate disputes, interference, defamation, unfair trade practices and other statutory causes of action, and shareholder and partnership disputes. The team takes an aggressive yet creative approach to handling these types of disputes to reach a resolution that makes sense and benefits our clients. We take pride in our record of success, evidenced by defense verdicts and favorable pretrial resolutions, service to its clients.
• Business Disputes
  An Orlando native, Alyssa attended Stetson University, where she received a Bachelor of Business Administration and minors in Russian Language and Business Law. Alyssa attended law school at Florida State University College of Law. While at Florida State, Alyssa attended a summer semester abroad at Oxford University, and she clerked at Dean, Ringers, Morgan, and Lawton. Alyssa was also actively involved in the Student Bar Association and volunteered as a student ambassador and student mentor.

Employment Law

• Workers Compensation
  Mr. Lowe, a Winter Park native, received his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida College of Law. While in Law School, Mr. Lowe was awarded the Trial Practice Book Award as the Most Outstanding Trial Practice Student in spring 2003. He concentrates his practice in workers compensation. Mr. Lowe has been invited to lecture on the subjects of employment law, workers compensation, risk management, and trial strategy.
• Wrongful Termination
  In the past ten years, Mr. Lawton has represented governmental entities in approximately a thousand cases involving various types of negligence claims, which have included wrongful death and significant serious injury matters, as well as sexual harassment, discrimination, police brutality, wrongful termination, etc.
• Employment Discrimination
  Ms. Bradford entered private practice in 2002, but has continued to represent and advise governmental employers since that time. She has significant experience in labor and employment matters and her practice concentrates on employment law, primarily on behalf of employers, civil rights litigation, and municipal and governmental liability, primarily with regard to public safety matters. She has defended clients in administrative hearings and state and federal civil litigation, including employee discipline and termination hearings and claims alleged under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), and Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) claims. She regularly counsels and advises clients regarding their obligations in addressing Charges of Discrimination filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Florida Commission on Human Relations (FCHR), and prepares detailed responses to such Charges. She also regularly counsels clients regarding specific workplace matters to avoid claims and litigation and drafts memoranda of law regarding that research and advice. Along those same lines, she assists clients in development and application of employment policies and practices to avoid or limit claims and exposure. She represents the firm’s clients at all stages of litigation, from pre-suit claim analysis, to trial, and through appeal in administrative, state, and federal venues. In addition, Ms. Bradford conducts workplace investigations regarding employee complaints and concerns.
• Employment Litigation
  Mrs. Chapman’s experience includes representing employers in the major areas of employment litigation, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Florida Civil Rights Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, the public and private Whistleblowers Acts, drug free workplace, USERRA, avoidance of unfair labor practice claims, and other contractual and tort claims.
• Sexual Harassment
  Mrs. Chapman routinely represents clients during administrative investigations done by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Florida Commission on Human Relations, and other state agencies across the United States. Through this representation, Mrs. Chapman advises employers on the scope of investigations, how to conduct internal investigations when needed, analyzes potential exposure to isolate claims suitable for early resolution, and drafts position statements for the investigating agency’s consideration. Mrs. Chapman has also consulted and assisted employers in drafting personnel policies and procedures, as well as has provided training sessions for employees, in both Spanish and English, on employment topics like avoiding sexual harassment claims in the workplace and how to defend against Charges of Discrimination.

Property Law

• Premises Liability
  In addition to focusing her practice on labor and employment, Mrs. Chapman also practices general civil defense litigation in areas including, but not limited to, Auto Negligence, Federal Civil Rights Claims, Products Liability, Professional Liability, and Premises Liability. Mrs. Chapman is admitted to practice in all Florida Trial and Appellate Courts, as well as in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and the United States Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. She has tried claims in both the Middle and Southern District Courts of Florida, as well as in numerous Florida state courts. She has also handled appeals before appellate courts in Florida, as well as before the Eleventh Circuit. In handling various claims through trial and appeal, Mrs. Chapman has successfully defeated multiple claims on Motions to Dismiss, Motions for Summary Judgment, Directed Verdicts, and Defense Verdicts.
• Construction Litigation
  Mr. Joyce joined the firm in 1995 and since that time has concentrated his practice in the area of First Party Property defense, workers’ compensation defense, third party liability defense, commercial litigation and construction law. He has many years of trial experience in both the County and Circuit Courts as well as before the Judge of Compensation Claims. He has represented numerous municipalities and governmental entities, including the cities of Maitland, Casselberry, Rockledge, Jacksonville Beach, and St. Augustine. Mr. Joyce has lectured extensively on workers’ compensation, as well as on civil liability law and practice.
• Property Damage
  Dean, Ringers, Morgan, & Lawton has represented thousands of individuals, insurance companies, corporations, cities, counties, municipalities, and other governmental entities in litigation relating to claims of personal injury and property damage for over 40 years. The firm’s attorneys have vast experience in all aspects of trial and appellate work relating to bodily injury, insurance defense, property damage, product liability, wrongful death, premises liability, and insurance bad faith.

Health Law

• Personal Injury
  Throughout his career, Mr. Acevedo has represented numerous individuals, business entities, municipalities, and governmental entities. He concentrates his practice in the defense of personal injury cases and general liability insurance defense. He has also presented seminars on the topics of Liability Case Law Updates, the First Amendment, Workplace Drug Testing, and Motion Practice.
• Medical Malpractice

Trusts and Estates

• Probate
  An Orlando native, Mr. Robinson graduated with honors from the University of Central Florida in 1978 and received his Juris Doctor from Mercer University in 1982. He is a civil trial lawyer with extensive trial experience (over 25 trials) and is rated AV by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. His emphasis is on insurance defense and personal injury, as well as corporate and probate law. He has handled civil litigation in all 20 circuits across Florida. He is a member of the Florida Bar Association (including the Trial Lawyers section), the American Bar Association (including the Tort and Insurance Practice section), the Florida Defense Lawyers Association, the Orange County Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute, and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). He is also admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Finance Law

• Foreclosure
  Ms. Carr is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil and Appellate Mediator. She takes a solution-focused, results driven approach to her mediation practice. She has mediated numerous cases which involved personal injury, premises liability, contract disputes, foreclosure, catastrophic injury, wrongful death and first party property amongst other civil matters. Her concierge approach to complex mediations may include multi-day, evening or weekend sessions, and pre-mediation consultation with the parties to maximize the potential for a negotiated resolution.